Influence of Board Attributes on Board Roles Performance in Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies (SACCOS) in Tanzania

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a study that had evaluated the influence of board attributes size, gender diversity, skills and meetings on board’s role performance in terms of strategic, resource provision and monitoring roles in SACCOS, Tanzania. Data on the boards’ roles were collected using a questionnaire survey administered to 198 SACCOS boards’ chairpersons. Data for board’s attributes were obtained from annual audited financial reports. Data were then subjected to factor analysis and linear regression models. The results show that board meetings have a positive and significant influence on the boards’ ability to perform strategic, resource provision and monitoring roles. The study further shows that board financial skills have positive and significant effect on strategic and monitoring roles. Impliedly, having a financial skill director on board parallel with board meetings help to stimulate active participation of board members in executing their roles. No evidence, however, was found on the effect of board size and board gender diversity on the board roles’ performance. Thus, the study suggests that financial skills of members needs high prioritization in the election of board members to boost efficiency in performing their board roles. Also, regular board meetings for worthy strategies settings, advice and effective monitoring of the SACCOS.