The Moderating Effect of Innovation on the Relationship Between Human Resource Management Practices and Employee Performance in Private Universities in Kenya

Abstract

Innovation is a key driver of strategic organizational success, especially in higher education institutions. Private universities in Kenya complement public universities in providing university education to meet the demand gap. Private universities face various challenges in providing quality education, including those related to human resources management. The objective of the study was to establish the moderating effect of innovation on the relationship between human resource management practices and employee performance in private universities in Kenya. The study targeted 399 full-time faculty members from the 15 sampled private universities in Kenya. Only 221 responded through structured questionnaires. It adopted a positivist research philosophy and a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. The study utilized SPSS Version 20 to analyze the data and hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypothesis. The research findings established that innovation did not have a statistically significant moderating effect on the relationship between human resource management practices and employee performance, specifically full-time faculty. It was anchored in innovation and human capital theories. The study recommends assessing universities’ innovative climate using Amabile et al.'s (1996) six-factor instrument and further investigating the study variables in both private and public universities, as well as other private universities in Kenya.