Heterogenity of Top Management Teams and Performance of Insurance Firms in Kenya

Abstract

The0objective of the study0was to0establish the influence of top0management0team hetegenuinity and performance of insurance firms in Keny. demographics and innovation performance of Top Management Teams in Kenyan insurance organizations were the main subjects of this study. The goal was to determine how the heterogeneity of top management teams affected the performance of Insurance firms in Kenya. “The study employed A descriptive survey deaign was adopted. The study was cross-sectional as primary data was collected at a specific point in time. A census of 56 insurance firms was carried out. Primary data was collected using a semi structured questionnaire. Out of the questionnaires distributed, 35 were adequately filled and were used for further analysis. The study findings revealed a positive correlation between education, functional experience diversity and performance. However, age diversity of top management teams was found to negatively influence performance. Moreover, all the variables were found to be statistically significant except for education diversity.. The study recommends that insurance companies may consider hiring more age homogenous teams in their top management which would support faster decision making and alignment. They also should be aware of the statistical insignificance of educational diversity on innovation performance and may consider innovative talents when hiring for top management teams. Further, firms need to consider functional experience diversity within top management teams. Different experiences among the teams would increase diversity of ideas enhancing innovation performance in the firms. The study suggests that future research be carried our in other sectors such as the hospitality and manufacturing sector. Other research designs such as longitudinal and mixed method approach may be considered to establish the influence of the study variables