Green Practices and Event Performance in Hotel-Based Events: The Moderating Role of Organizational Factors in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

Hotel-based events are expected to deliver service quality and financial returns while operating under increasing resource and environmental constraints. Yet, event-specific evidence on how green practices translate into performance, and on the organizational conditions that shape those effects, remains limited in African hospitality settings. This study examined the influence of water management, energy management, and waste management practices on hotel-based event performance in Nairobi City County, Kenya, and assessed the moderating role of organizational factors comprising leadership commitment, organizational culture, and resource allocation. An explanatory, cross-sectional design was used. From a target population of 162 managers in 54 classified 2- to 5-star hotels, 115 questionnaires were distributed and 106 complete responses were retained after screening. Hierarchical moderated regression showed that the direct-effects model explained 68.0% of the variance in event performance (R² = .680). Water management (β = .222, p < .001), energy management (β = .218, p < .001), and waste management (β = .571, p < .001) were positive predictors, with waste management the strongest. Adding organizational factors increased explained variance to 74.4% (ΔR² = .064), and organizational factors had a positive direct effect (β = .333, p < .001). The final model explained 81.6% of variance (R² = .816). Moderation was domain-specific: the water management × organizational factors interaction was negative and significant (β = −.386, p = .001), whereas the energy and waste interactions were not statistically significant. The findings extend the Resource-Based View by showing that green operational practices function as performance-relevant capabilities whose contribution depends partly on complementary organizational systems, while Organizational Learning and Institutional perspectives explain how leadership, culture, and resources embed sustainability in routine event operations. Managers should therefore combine visible operational gains, particularly in waste and water management, with stronger training, monitoring, budgeting, and cross-department accountability.