srjebmSRJEBMSRJEBM2788-9505https://doi.org/10.47310/srjebm.2022.v02i02.012Effect of Core Competencies Exploitation on Organization Performance of State-Owned Sugar Manufacturing Firms in Western KenyaWakhisiWilliamShitseswaAyubProf.PatrickOjeraProperly applied strategic leadership is precursory for effective strategy formulation, implementation and control especially in the current highly volatile business environment. Due to limited empirical findings locally on how strategic leadership affects performance of organizations, this study increased this knowledge by answering the question: what is the effect of core competencies exploitation on organization performance of state-owned sugar manufacturing firms in Western Kenya. Target population was 917 employees from Chemelil, South Nyanza, Muhoroni and Nzoia. Survey design was adopted for the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to arrive at the population sample; total sample size of 269 respondents was used. Primary data was collected by way of semi structured questionnaire. Secondary data collection involved documentary analysis to capture information on organization performance of state-owned sugar manufacturing firms in Western Kenya. The test criteria was to reject the null hypothesis if the value of beta was not equal to zero (β2 ≠0). From the results, the beta value for core competencies exploitation from the regression model was 0.503 at p< 0.05. This result implied that 50.3% of change in Organization performance is explained by Core Competencies exploitation. Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected. The findings of the current study form a basis for reference in future by interested parties. Further research should be carried out on the Influence of strategic leadership on organization performance of privately owned sugar manufacturing firms in order to make generalizations as relates to effect of strategic leadership on organization performance of sugar manufacturing firms in Western Kenya.