IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jfr/ijba11/v16y2025i3p42-62.html

Improving Public Service Delivery Through Good Corporate Governance: Lessons From the Embu County Government, Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Edwin Kariuki
  • S. Makau A. Muathe

Abstract

Poor service delivery in Embu County, marked by governance lapses, corruption, and inefficiencies, indicates a gap in understanding how corporate governance principles, such as stakeholder inclusivity, transparency, public participation, and accountability, influence effective service delivery in the context of devolved governance. This study therefore sought to examine the effect of stakeholders¡¯ transparency, inclusivity, public contribution, and accountability on service delivery. The theoretical basis for this research was anchored on SERVQUAL Model. The study was in addition underpinned by Agency Theory, Stewardship Theory, and Institutional Performance Theory and Resource-Based Theory. A descriptive survey research design was applied, targeting 248 workers from Embu County from which a sample of 153 respondents was selected using a proportionate stratified and simple random sampling technique. The findings revealed that stakeholders' inclusivity, transparency, public participation, and accountability jointly explained 62.9% of the variation in service delivery in Embu County Government (Adjusted R2 = 0.615). Regression analysis showed that stakeholders' inclusivity (¦Â = 0.208, p = 0.020), transparency (¦Â = 0.053, p = 0.007), public participation (¦Â = 0.465, p = 0.000), and accountability (¦Â = 0.164, p = 0.042) were all positively and significantly related to service delivery. The study concludes that stakeholders¡¯ inclusivity, transparency, public participation, and accountability significantly affect service delivery, with public participation having the most substantial impact. In view of the findings, the study recommends that Embu County Government should improve corporate governance practices by institutionalizing structured public participation frameworks, improving financial transparency, and reinforcing stakeholder engagement mechanisms.

Suggested Citation

  • Edwin Kariuki & S. Makau A. Muathe, 2025. "Improving Public Service Delivery Through Good Corporate Governance: Lessons From the Embu County Government, Kenya," International Journal of Business Administration, International Journal of Business Administration, Sciedu Press, vol. 16(3), pages 42-62, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:jfr:ijba11:v:16:y:2025:i:3:p:42-62
    DOI: 10.5430/ijba.v16n3p42
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/ijba/article/view/28480/17299
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/ijba/article/view/28480
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5430/ijba.v16n3p42?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wanyama, Joshua & Nakawuka, Prossie & Bwambale, Erion & Kiraga, Shafik & Kiggundu, Nicholas & Barasa, Bernard & Katimbo, Abia, 2024. "Evaluation of land suitability for surface irrigation under changing climate in a tropical setting of Uganda, East Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    2. Halimah Abdul Manaf & Ahmad Martadha Mohamed & William S. Harvey, 2023. "Citizen Perceptions and Public Servant Accountability of Local Government Service Delivery in Malaysia," International Journal of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(12), pages 823-832, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ayu Kamareenna Abdullah Thani & Mira Qerul Barriah Muhamad & Atiela Amran & Nur Hidayah Rosely, 2024. "Person-Group Fit and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour in Public Service Employees: How Work Involvement Moderates the Relationship," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(12), pages 4163-4174, December.
    2. Tasiwuka, Emmanuel & Silungwe, Festo Richard & Mbilnyi, Boniface Peter, 2025. "Development of a model for identifying suitable sites for rainwater harvesting for enhancing irrigation: A case study of Ngerengere Catchment," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jfr:ijba11:v:16:y:2025:i:3:p:42-62. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jenny Zhang (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://ijba.sciedupress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.