Board Gender and Performance of Sugar Companies in Western Kenya

measures. A single performance metric can fully define all aspects of the word because of organizational priorities and contextual factors, not (Snow &Hambrick, The Kenyan sugar industry has suffered from myriad problems over time. In Western Kenya, in particular, as witnessed by the Mumias Sugar, Sony Sugar, Chemilil Sugar and Miwani Sugar Companies, most of the Kenyan companies have had significant performance challenges. Many businesses either run below capacity or have factories completely Abstract: The study sought to find out the influence of board gender ratio on performance of sugar companies in Western Kenya. Board gender areas that were analyzed included the number of males in the various board committees and also the number of females in the various board committees. Descriptive research design was followed in this report. The research was limited to only Western Kenya's sugar firms, whose number stood at 11 as of 31 December 2019. A census was carried out, given that the number of sugar companies in Western Kenya was only 11. Five respondents were chosen by purposeful sampling to represent each of the 11 sugar factories. These were the Chairman of the Board, the Secretary of the Board (Chief Executive Officer), the two members of the Board (male and female) and the Manager of Finance. The five members are deemed to be in the best position to provide the necessary information for the purposes of this study. Thus, for the analysis, a sample size of 55 respondents was considered. Using semi-structured questionnaires that were self-administered, primary data was obtained. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used and data interpretation showed board gender ratio had a positive statistical and significant effect on performance of sugar companies in Western Kenya. The study recommended that in order to achieve gender-equality on boards of directors, there is need to focus on the educational levels, skills and experiences of the nominees whether male or female. When including women to boards, unique traits such as time consciousness, keenness to details, teamwork, leadership and patience should be considered. Other recommendation is that that research of a similar nature be carried out in other locations