Effect of Strategic Leadership on the Performance of SMEs in Rwanda: A Case Study of Imirasire Basket Weaving Cooperative of Mayange

Abstract

This study was conducted with particular focus on effect of strategic leadership on performance of SMEs in Rwanda. The study further examined the effect of driving knowledge management culture on performance , the effect of leading and managing change on performance , the effect of involving people in development on performance and established how enabling leadership at all levels contributes to performance of SMEs.

The target population for the study was 92 people in two categories. 10 people were interviewed using the purposive driven technique and 82 using random sampling technique and a total of 92 questionnaires collected using the drop and pick method. Data was treated and validated and resulting Data was analyzed for descriptive statistics using SPSS with specific attention to central tendencies.

The significance of relationship between strategic leadership and the performance of SMEs was found at 0.01 following a correlation between driving knowledge management and performance of .523 (**), with a significance value of .000, correlation between leading and managing change and performance of .326 (**) with a significance value of .003.

In conclusion the study argues that strategic leadership technique involving more leadership at all staff levels is directly proportional to the performance of the SMEs.