Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine how board leadership affects the board strategic involvement in private firms in Kenya and how CEO power moderates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a Kenyan data set to investigate what makes boards in private firms get involved in strategy. Survey data derived from a sample of 186 CEOs of private firms were used, and the hypotheses were tested using moderated regression analysis. Findings The results indicate that board members’ knowledge, board chairman’s leadership efficacy, board members’ personal motivation and board members’ background all have a positive and significant effect on board strategy involvement. The authors also found that CEO power moderates the relationship between board leadership and strategy involvement. The study concludes that when the CEO wields immense power, the board tends to become passive and to submit to the direction of the CEO. Originality/value The study adds value to the understanding of the effect of the board leadership on strategic involvement in private firms and how CEO power influences this relationship, particularly in a developing country like Kenya.

Purpose - Following the resource dependence and optimism theory, the study explored whether Chief Executive Officer (CEO) optimism moderates the link between board leadership and firm innovation in the financial sector. Design/Methodology - 130 financial institutions in Kenya were surveyed using cross-sectional and explanatory designs. Hypothesis testing utilized both moderated hierarchical regression models and mod-graphs. Findings - The results revealed that the board member’s openness and independence positively influence firm innovation. The moderated hierarchical regression results and figures in the mod-graphs reveal that CEO optimism enhances the association between the board member’s openness, independence, and firm innovation. Practical Implications - The results suggested that for financial institutions to be innovative, board members should be open to each other in terms of the private ideas as well as being independent about decisions made to spur the growth of the firms. Additionally, such boards should appoint CEOs who are optimistic about being innovative.

Empirical research on firm innovation has provoked mixed reactions from various scholars in the recent past. The main purpose of this study is to determine the influence of CEO traits on innovation among financial institutions in Kenya on the basis of upper echelons and optimism theories. The study used the design of the explanatory survey. The survey data for 130 stratified financial firms were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis. The findings indicate that the CEO's optimism, humility, and narcissism all had a positive effect on firm innovation. The consequences are that innovation in financial institutions is increasing when CEOs are optimistic, humble and narcissistic. The results suggest that, in order for financial institutions to be innovative, they need to have the CEOs who are optimistic and who epitomize visionary objectives to be committed to innovation. Likewise, they should have CEOs who are humble enough to involve key stakeholders and a narcissistic CEO who can stand decisively for organizational change in the form of innovation. This study is important in understanding how the CEO's personality contributes to firm innovation.

Purpose Using the resource dependence and legitimacy theories, this research aims to examine the relationship between board attributes and human rights reporting, as well as the interaction effect of board chairperson experience on the relationship among listed firms at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). Design/methodology/approach This study collected data from annual reports of firms listed on the NSE from 2009 to 2019 using content analysis to examine how boards influence human rights reporting. A total of 547 firm-year observations were used to test the hypotheses. This study used a hierarchical regression model to examine the relationship. Findings This study found that board attributes are important predictors of human rights reporting. This study shows that both board diversity and board independence have a positive impact on human rights reporting. Furthermore, the interaction results revealed that having a highly experienced chairperson strengthens the effect of board independence on human rights reporting; however, this study found that experienced chairperson reduces the influence of board diversity on human rights reporting. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that board diversity and independence are essential attributes to which listed companies should pay attention when appointing board members. Moreover, the chairperson's leadership on the board is critical in ensuring that publicly trading companies adopt policies that disclose human rights information. Originality/value This paper provides insights into Kenya's human rights disclosure practices. It also analyzes how boards influence human rights disclosures, an empirical test that has received little attention in the previous literature. This study emphasizes the importance of board members and the chairperson in advocating for human rights reporting to improve corporate sustainability.

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