Influence of Ethical Integrity Practices on Corporate Governance Performance in Public Institutions in Rwanda

Abstract

Public institutions in Rwanda places high importance on ethical behavior and practices within the organization. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of Ethical Integrity practices on corporate governance performance in public institutions in Rwanda. The study adopted a descriptive and explorative design since its main purpose was to explain the of Ethical Integrity practices on corporate governance performance in public institutions in Rwanda. The target population for the study was 214 managers from 10 public institutions in Rwanda. Stratified random sampling technique was used to get a sample of 140 respondents who were selected from the top management and middle managers staff. Data for the study was collected by use of questionnaires, interviews and observation using descriptive and inferential statistics to establish the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. It was expected that the results of the study would assist the top management of the institutions, as well as other stakeholders, to understand the effect of board leadership practices on governance performance in public institutions in Rwanda. Data collected was analyzed through SPSS version 21. Data analysis involved statistical computations for averages, percentages, and correlation and regression analysis. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression method of analysis was adopted to determine the inferential statistics. The coefficients obtained indicate that the correlation coefficient (R) between the independent variable (Ethical integrity practices) and the corporate governance performance was 0.663 which is a positive correlation relationship. Table 4.25 shows a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.44, which means that this variable alone can explain up to 44.0% of the variations in the dependent variable, corporate governance performance in public institutions in Rwanda. This implied that there exists a positive significant relationship between Ethical integrity practices and corporate governance performance. The findings further confirm that the regression model of Ethical integrity practices on corporate governance performance is significant for the data F = 119.214, p<0.01) since p-values was 0.00 which is less than 0.05. The hypothesis was tested by using multiple linear regressions and determined using p-value. The acceptance/rejection criterion was that, if the p value is less than 0.05, we reject the H_A2 but if it is more than 0.05, the H_A2 is not rejected. Therefore, the alternate hypothesis is that there is significant influence between Ethical integrity practices on corporate governance performance public institutions in Rwanda. The findings created a path for useful recommendations to enhance corporate governance, in particular the Ownership Structure category, through adopting expedient ethical practices. The findings confirm that there is a statistically significant influence of ethical integrity practices and corporate governance performance in public institutions in Rwanda. The study concludes that Ethical integrity practices has been effective in determining corporate governance performance in public institutions in Rwanda. The study examined the influence of Ethical integrity practices on corporate governance performance in public institutions in Rwanda, the dependent variable corporate governance performance and the independent variable Ethical integrity practices, there are other mediating or intervening factors that can affect corporate governance performance that could be researched further for example type of leadership. Therefore, future studies can introduce other moderating or an intervening variable in their models.