Managing the quality of products and services is very important in ensuring that business excels in meeting its customer requirements and achieves organizational goals. Recent studies around service quality management cover quality management and total quality management in various contexts. However, knowledge on effect of service quality management on performance of vernacular radio firms is lacking. This study explored the effect of service quality management on performance of vernacular radio broadcasting firms in western Kenya. The study adopted explanatory research design on 16 vernacular radio stations from the western region of Kenya covering the Nyanza and Western Counties. Primary data was collected and analysed descriptively. The study revealed that service quality management positively and significantly predicts performance of vernacular radio broadcasting firms in Western Kenya (β = 0.839, p<0.05). The regression weight value of 0.839 implies that an increase of 1 standard deviation in the management of service quality is likely to lead to an increase of 0.839 standard deviations in performance of vernacular radio broadcasting firms. The study concluded that service quality management has a positive and significant effect on the performance of vernacular radio broadcasting firms in western Kenya, and accounts for up to 70.4% of the variation in firm performance.

The Kenyan Government has pressures from its citizens to improve on service delivery and be responsive to citizen’s needs. Attempts such as privatization, voluntary early retirement and restructuring failed to improve the service delivery. Performance contracting was introduced to address the decline and is now being used together with Huduma Centres. The centres serve 30,000 customers daily against a target of 60,000 customers. On revenue, the centres collect Kshs 12 billion annually against a target of Kshs 30 billion according to a Government report of 2020. Focus from previous studies in resolving this around performance contracting have majorly been case studies and not surveys. Further from reviewed literature, performance contracting influence service delivery, performance and accountability. However other studies reveal that it does not result in increased customer care activities, effectiveness and efficiency and reduction in the number of customer complaints. These are mixed findings from case studies, an indicator of a moderation effect yet to be tested. Additionally, reviewed studies show that resource factors influence service delivery. The purpose of this research was to establish the moderating effect of resource implementation factors on the relationship between performance contracting and service delivery in the Huduma Centres of Kenya. The study was anchored on Vroom’s Expectancy Theory and Goal Setting Theory and utilized correlational survey research design. The target population was 276 workers at the 5 Huduma Centres in Western Region in a census survey. Pilot results (N=10) revealed 20-item instrument overall mean reliability α=0.898. Validity was checked and confirmed by expert review. Results revealed proportion of variance in the Service delivery explained by the resource implementation factors (∆R2=0.088; p=0.000) positively and significantly moderated the relationship significantly implying the interactive effect of resource implementation factors improved service delivery levels by 8.8%. The study concluded that performance contracting practices are significant predictors of service delivery levels; resource factors has a positive moderating effect (B= 0.197, p=0.000) on the relationship between performance contracting and service delivery. Recommendations were that firms should continue enhancing performance contracting practices by providing resource implementation factors as these efforts enhance service delivery in Huduma Centres in Kenya. The study’s significance is in contributing new literature and in government policy formulation by isolating resource implementation factors as key variables for improving public sector service delivery.

Performance contracting has gained currency in performance management and has emerged as an avenue for improved public service delivery (Ang'ayo & Mbatha, 2019). According to Cheche and Muathe (2014), as a performance management facet, performance contracting aims at reforms in procedures and processes used in the public sector to make it competitive, effective and more importantly efficient in-service delivery. Hope (2013), points out that having been used widely, performance contracting has become critical in public sector management particularly in the quest to improve performance of public enterprises. Performance contracting has for instance been used in Belgium to focus on provision of compulsory public utility services (Ang'ayo & Mbatha, 2019); In France, performance contracting has been used as an implementation of the Nora report, that targeted reform of state owned enterprises (Bouckaert, Verhoest & Corte, 1999); in the United States of America (USA) performance has been perceived as an avenue through which productivity of the federal departments could be enhanced; in the United Kingdom (UK) it has been used as a system of setting targets for government agencies (Metawie & Gilman, 2006); and in Canada, it has been employed as a measure for cost containment (Kernaghan & Siegel, 1999). Performance contracting as a tool to ensure accountability among public agencies has also been used in Latin America and Asia (AAPAM, 2005). African countries have not been left behind with regards to reforming the public sector particularly, knowing that there has been a history of poor performance among public agencies in the continent (Ang'ayo & Mbatha, 2019). Egypt for instance, enters into performance contract agreements with the private sector to offer services, which were traditionally provided by the public sector (Hannoura, 2014). In the East African region, introduction of performance contracting occasioned development of strategic plans through which comprehensive performance targets would be outlined (Ang'ayo & Mbatha, 2019).

Globally, service delivery has remained an issue of utmost concern among public organizations as it anchors key government operations. Statistics indicate that delivery of service in terms of health, sanitation, and infrastructure in county governments of Kenya averages 39% countrywide, with that of the ten-county governments in western Kenya averaging 28%. This is against the Transparency International Kenya requirement of 40%, indicating poor service delivery. However, previous studies on strategic change management practices and service delivery focused majorly on business organizations rather than public institutions, particularly in Kenya's Context. The study, therefore, sought to investigate the influence of strategic change management practices on service quality in county governments in western Kenya. A correlational research design was used, targeting 380 directors and chief officers. The finding revealed that Strategic change management has a significant positive effect (β = .121, p = .000) on service quality, implying that a unit increase in strategic change management leads to a 12.1% increase in service quality. The paper concludes that strategic change management practices are a significant positive predictor of service quality, and it is recommended that management embrace strategic change management practices if they seek to improve their performance.