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Role of Symbols In Influencing Students’ Choice of A University: A Case Of The United States International University - Africa
No full textA Research Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)Marketing managers in universities are struggling to adapt to the fast changing environment and stiff competition in the education sector. These institutions are facing stiff competition and therefore must aim at remaining competitive yet profitable. University branding and the use of symbols are about aligning existing and potential students, as well as employee behavior with brand values. This study focused on the role of symbols in influencing students’ choice of a university.
This study was governed by three specific objectives: the visual role of symbols; the communication role; and the differentiation role and how these key areas influence students’ choice of a university. The study employed a descriptive design. Descriptive research was chosen because it enabled the study to generalize the findings to a larger population. The student body was stratified into freshmen and sophomore students of the United States International University – Africa. A sample of 54 freshmen and 46 sophomores was selected using simple systematic sampling from the strata. The study used questionnaires to obtain primary data. Data obtained from the questionnaires was then cleaned, coded and keyed in. It was then analysed using descriptive analysis (mean, median, standard deviation) through the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software and later subjected to interpretation. The tests were conducted at 95% level of confidence (α=0.05). Further, a multivariate regression model will be applied to determine the relative relationship of each of the roles with student choice of a university.
The study showed that students chose USIU-Africa because it had a good reputation. The general image of the university and their parents greatly influenced the students’ choice of the university. The study further showed that the perceived quality of service given to students Africa as well as the quality of education offered influenced their choice of USIU.
The study showed that the symbols used offer visual identity system that unites the whole university. The study revealed that the use of symbols increases USIU-Africa recognition to both internal and external customers and that the symbols used by USIU-Africa and serve as a focal point of connection which communicate the university’s core values. Further, the symbols enhance a brand’s authenticity and intimate appeal to students. The study showed that the name of the university captures students’ attention whenever they see or hear of it and that when someone spoke of USIU-A, students were able to associate it with the images used on the symbols.
The symbols used by USIU-Africa build a sense of unity amongst the diverse societies represented in the university and they were also used to communicate about the university’s commitment and engagement to providing quality education. The study showed that symbols chosen by USIU-Africa should be used in all its promotional materials because they helped students to have the university convincingly positioned in their mind. The study showed that students felt that USIU-Africa symbols created a good brand image for the university and also contributed to its overall success. The study also revealed that the aesthetic response attached to symbols was one of the clues that differentiated it.
The study recommends USIU-A to ensure that the articulation of its brand is supported by qualitative and quantitative research that should be conducted on their behalf by a well-known branding agency with experience in higher education issues. This organization should be given the task of ensuring that the university symbols and colours are differentiated from the existing ones
The Effect of Financial Literacy on Personal Finance Management: A Case Study on Employees of Bank of Baroda (Kenya) Limited
No full textResearch Report Submitted To the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA)The purpose of the study was to assess financial literacy and its effect on personal finance management of employees of Bank of Baroda (Kenya) Limited. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to determine the effect of financial literacy on personal investments, to determine the effect of financial literacy on personal savings, and to determine the effect of financial literacy on personal debt. A descriptive quantitative research design was used for the study, which focused on the 173 employees of the bank. Data was collected using structured questionnaires which were distributed using convenience sampling to the employees of the bank. The sampling frame that was used was the employee register. A sample of 64 employees from the population was conveniently sampled who comprised of functional, middle and senior managers at the bank. The completed questionnaires were keyed in the SPSS 24.0 statistical software and data analyzed for descriptive statistics. Statistical inferences were drawn by the use of ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) and cross tabulation between the dependent variables (Personal Investments, Personal savings, and Personal Debt) and the independent variable (Financial Literacy score). The study found that the financial literacy positively affects personal finance management among the employees of Bank of Baroda (Kenya) Limited which leads to a higher investment practice, more diversified savings and a lower debt percentage. Lack of financial literacy was indicated to hamper personal financial management of the employees in the bank. The study found that employees working at managerial levels showed sound financial management in terms of investments, savings, and debt management while employees at lower management levels had low financial literacy scores and lack of financial management which contributed to poor investment practice, poor savings management, and poor debt choices. The lack of commitment of financial management among the employees affected personal financial management, which affects their ability to invest and save their income. The study recommends that the bank should come up with a financial literacy program which is aimed at addressing the financial well-being of their employees. The bank should also introduce financial planning programs for employees on an annual basis to enable them to develop future long and short-term financial plans. The bank should encourage saving habits among employees by emphasizing the importance of a savings plan. The bank employees should also observe financial discipline in terms of borrowings. The findings of the study are of significance to commercial banks as it will bring into perspective the role of financial literacy on personal finance management of bankers. This will enable banks to take appropriate measures to ensure their staff is financially literate, which will in turn benefit the organization as they will perform better
Customer Relationship Management as a Competitive Tool in the Kenyan Banking Industry: A Case of Kenya Commercial Bank
No full textA Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)This study focused on assessing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a competitive tool in the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). The specific objectives that guided the study included: to examine the influence of customer orientation on banks, to determine the influence of knowledge management in KCB and lastly to examine the influence of techno-based CRM in banks.
This study used the descriptive research design. The population for this study was all the staff working at KCB whose total number is 74. For this study, the sampling frame came from the official list of employees working at KCB in 2017. This study used stratified sampling technique. For the sample size was 60 respondents. Primary data was used in the study and it was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. This study used closed-ended questions to gather data for the study. The questionnaires also employed the use of a five point likert scale. The completed questionnaires were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Student Version 16.0. The study employed the use of means and standard deviations to show the strength and the degree in response differences. The study also employed the use of correlation and regression analysis to test the relationships between the study variables.
The study showed that Customer orientation was an essential component of the marketing concept in KCB and their marketers understood the buyer's entire value chain. Customer orientation in KCB provided a solid basis of intelligence pertaining to their customers and Improvement in service quality was related to KCB’s market share expansion customers’ attitudes towards KCB services was usually based on the relationship between customer expectations and their perception of quality we provide. Customer service was a fundamental motivating factor behind KCB’s success. KCB treated customer service seriously and thus reaped full benefits from customers. KCB learned how to retain its customers even when they appear satisfied with their services and did not engage in price wars, but rather made use of their services as a competitive tool. Satisfied customers stayed and had to lure other potential customers due to satisfaction with KCB services.
The study showed KCB had moved towards a knowledge based economy (it utilizes knowledge to make decisions) and admitted the fact that, to utilize the best resources of an organization, it was essential to utilize knowledge. KCB’s goal was achieved by management of employees’ knowledge and Emphasis on the discovery of knowledge in the organization was a crucial element that impacted the management of knowledge. Leadership in KCB was the key antecedent of knowledge management that led to its effectiveness and proper communication channels that guided and shared knowledge, which motivated the knowledgeable employees. KCB Managers were the only people who offered guidance to knowledgeable employees in the organization. Also Culture played a very important role in knowledge creation, sharing, and use in KCB.
The study recommends KCB to consider seriously on improving their electronic products to operate as promised customers. This will ease the pressure of customers joining long queues in the banking halls before transacting business i.e. withdrawing, balance enquires or depositing. Thus, the bank can serve their customers at home or their offices through internet banking service
Effects of Price Regulation on Company Performance of Oil Marketing Companies in Kenya Case Study: Total Kenya Limited
No full textA Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)Kenya imports all its fuel through the Open Tender System, whereby petroleum products are purchased by a single company for the entire market on the basis of a public tender and shared among all marketing companies in proportion to their share of the market. Over the years, fuel price dynamics became relatively volatile which resulted into the regulation of fuel through the ERC in December 2010. (Kojima, 2010). The purpose of this research study was to evaluate the effect of price regulation by the Energy Regulatory Commission on the company performance of Oil Marketing Companies in Kenya, with Total Kenya Limited as the case study. It was guided by the following research questions: Does price regulation affect the return on equity of oil marketing companies in Kenya? How has price regulation influenced the earnings per share within the oil marketing companies in Kenya? Finally, what impact does price regulation have on the sales trend of oil marketing companies in Kenya?
This study adopted a causal research design. Causal studies are concerned with learning how one variable produces changes in another. The study sought to establish and explain the relationships among variables, in this case, price regulation on petroleum products against company performance of oil marketing companies. The audited financial statements and management reports for the period between 2008 to 2012 were used for collection of data. The data was analyzed by use of a computer Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Microsoft office 2007 application and presented in graphs and tables.
The study findings revealed that the re-introduction of oil price regulation had a negative impact on both return on equity and earnings per share of petroleum firms in Kenya. The company performance as measured by EPS and ROE was better/ higher in the period preceding price regulation. Thus a negative effect on company performance.
However, there was a positive impact on sales after the re-introduction of price regulation in the petroleum industry. The company performance as measured by sales was lower in the period preceding price regulation. Thus a positive effect on company performance using the sales variable.
The study concluded that there was an inverse relationship between price regulation between price regulation and both return on equity and earnings per share but on the other hand, there was a positive relationship between price regulation and sales growth.
The study recommends refinement of the ERC pricing formula to ensure that it accommodates and addresses the concerns raised by the major stakeholders in the industry to ensure protection of the oil sector’s profit margins and subsequently enhance company performance. Further, Total Kenya should strive to operate efficiently by minimizing their operating expenditures and direct cost so that an increase in Sales would automatically translate to an increase in profitability (measured in terms of ROE and EPS)
Effects of Board Diversity on Performance of Non-governmental Organisations in Nairobi County Kenya
No full textJournal ArticlesThe purpose of the study was to contribute to the NGO governance literature and also to provide NGOs’ management and senior staff
with evidence necessary for them to evaluate the effectiveness of their board composition. Using data from the NGOs located in Nairobi
County in Kenya, the study measured the effects of board diversity on performance. It focused on the board diversity attributes of age,
occupational and professional networks diversities. The overall objective of the study shall be to determine the effect of board diversity
on performance within non-governmental organizations in Nairobi County in Kenya. The specific objectives were; to establish effect of
age diversity of board members on NGOs performance; the effect of occupational diversity of board members on NGOs performance
and to find out the effect of professional networks diversity of board members on NGOs performance;
The scope of the study covered both local and international NGOs in Nairobi County. The Directory of Development Organizations
identified that 702 NGOs are registered in Nairobi, Kenya. This body of organizations constituted the population of the study. This
paper investigated three independent variables (age diversity, occupational diversity and professional networks diversity) against the
dependent variable – performance. Performance was reviewed from a resource dependency theory perspective.
The study employed a descriptive research design and adopted questionnaires as its data collection tool. Primary data was collected
using questionnaires sent to a sample of 84 respondents. The study made use of descriptive, correlation and regression statistics in
analyzing the data that was collected with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS20.0). The study variables (age
diversity, occupational diversity and professional networks diversity) contributed to the improved organizational performance of the
NGOs from the study.
Out of the 84 issued questionnaires, 63 questionnaires representing 75% of the total questionnaires distributed were returned fully
completed. Out of the 63 respondents, majority (46.9%) were aged between 31 – 42 years, 28.1% were aged between 43 – 55 years and
18.8% were aged 56 years and above. The respondents strongly agreed that the board of their organizations were composed of
members with varied networks/connections with a mean of 3.1563 and a standard deviation of 1.13903. Respondents reported that the
age diversity of the board members in their organizations was of low extent as shown by a mean of 2.8438 for a low extent and a standard deviation of 0.51490. The respondents agreed to a very great extent indicating that the boards of the studied organizations are composed of members from varied occupations with a mean of 4.4063 with a standard deviation of 0.49899. The correlation results indicated that occupational diversity was the strongest of the 3 variables with a positive correlation of 0.684 with a significance value of 0.015. Professional networks diversity was positively correlated at .578 with a significance value of .001, whereas, age diversity was positively correlated to organization performance at .586 and a significance value of .000. The estimates of the regression coefficients, t-statistics and the p-values for the relationship between age diversity, occupational diversity and professional network diversity against organizational performance resulted in the equation below which shows that all the independent variables had a positive relationship with organizational performance; Y1 = 3.604 + 4.058 X1 + 4.078 X2 + 2.780 X3
In conclusion, regression and correlation analysis showed that indeed there was a relationship between the three variables against the dependent variable, organizational performance. The study recommends the need for the top management of the non governmental organizations to ensure presence of different professionals within their boards. Board members with diversified networks would facilitate growth of the organization. Also, the board of management in any organization should comprise of individuals of diversified ages and there is need for the non-governmental organizations to have different occupations represented in their boards of management
Effect of Interest Rate Capping On Operating Performance Indicators of Commercial Banks in Kenya: A Case Study of KCB Bank (Kenya) Limited
No full textA Research Project Report Submitted to the School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) - FinanceThe main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of interest rate capping on the operating performance of commercial banks in Kenya with a case study of KCB Bank Kenya Limited (KCB-K). Exploratory research was directed by three specific objectives namely: the effect of capping of interest rate on credit uptake performance of the bank, the effect of interest rate capping on bank profitability of KCB-K and the effect on performance of the portfolio of non-performing loans in KCB-K. The scope of the study was limited to a case study of KCB Bank Kenya. Literature review on the three specific objectives was identified done in detail in chapter two. Descriptive research design was applied in the study. The targeted population in the study was the employees of KCB-K at selected branches and Head Office functions. Questionnaires were used for data collection and were self-administered. One sample-statistics and MS Excel were used to establish the significance of the findings. Frequency tables were used to summarize data into percentages and frequency distributions. Pie charts were used for data presentation. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and Microsoft Excel were used for data analysis. The sample size of the study was 60 employees of KCB bank branches located in Nairobi County. The main findings of the research were that interest rate capping decreased credit uptake, led to a reduction in the number of approved loan facilities, increased selection criteria for new loans and had an effect on increase in non-performing loans. Conclusions of the study were that interest rate capping lead to reduced credit uptake, reduced bank profitability and led to increase of non-performing loans due decline of new approved loans. The study recommends further studies to be done including more banks in the industry since this study focused on the KCB Bank in Kenya. Further research should be undertaken to investigate the effect that reduction in credit uptake is having on businesses, how banks are responding to the reduction in profitability and actions that result from the same such as reduction in overhead costs and job losses. Further research should be undertaken on the effect of increase in non-performing loans in the financial services industry and the economy. Finally, a research should also be undertaken to investigate the effect of interest rate capping on informal lending, financial inclusion and key macroeconomic variables of inflation and foreign exchange rate
The Influence of Strategies in Sustaining Agribusiness: A Case of Poultry Farmers in Kasarani, Nairobi
No full textA Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)The purpose of the study was to assess influence of strategies used by poultry farmers to sustain business. The research objectives used are; determining influence of cost leadership on sustainability of poultry business, establishing the influence of differentiation on the sustainability of poultry business and determining influence of niche strategy on sustainability of poultry business in Kasarani, Nairobi.
A descriptive and explanatory research design was used by the researcher in this study. The dependent variable was sustainability while independent variables were Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Niche. The opinions of the stakeholders regarding strategies to sustain an agribusiness through Porter’s Generic strategies were explored using questionnaires. The study adopted cluster sampling which involves segmenting the sample into regions. Normally done if a population is found in a specific geographic area which is the case of poultry farmers in Kasarani. The population was approximately 250 and a sample size of 71 was picked. Out of the 71 questionnaires issued, only 68 were correctly filled and returned giving a response rate of 96%. Statistical software, SPSS, was used to enter, clean and analyze coded data collected. Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis was used to analyze the relationships that exist between the variables and data presented on tables.
The first objective set to establish whether cost leadership influences sustainability of poultry business. It was the main strategy used emphasis on restructuring cost chain to eliminate unnecessary cost producing activities. The researcher found out that business supports its products for a suitable cost advantage to outdo competitors and rely heavily on efficiency by cost controlling over value chain. It was also revealed that respondents were uncertain whether poultry business is low cost producer due to substantial capital it holds. However, respondents disagreed business sets industry price to earn a profit around its market position.
The second objective set to establish whether differentiation influences sustainability of poultry business. Differentiation strategy was as well used but highly controlled by cost cutting. It was revealed that majority are uncertain whether business markets unique products for varied customer groups. An analysis on quality products supported by good services at premium prices a majority were uncertain if the business creates customer value. The findings also established uncertainty in use of technology to remain on the cutting edge of innovation. The study also revealed uncertainty in increase of market share due to high quality products.as well as a unique source that competitors cannot imitate quickly. Nonetheless, a majority disagreed that customers are less sensitive to prices.
The third objective set to establish whether niche influences sustainability of poultry business. Cost leadership a type of Niche strategy was used to some extent in this study. The findings revealed that a majority had identified a market niche and the business targets specific customers within the market. A majority were uncertain whether business focuses entirely on low cost strategy or produces unique products that enhances value. It was established that most respondents disagreed business expansion on broader line which competitors cannot serve. Furthermore, most respondents disagreed on specialization of business in activities competitors cannot perform. It was also noted that majority were not in agreement with business developing its own set of barriers to make products difficult to imitate.
The study concluded that poultry business achieves cost advantage by restructuring cost chain eliminating unnecessary cost producing activities. Efficiency in poultry business is fundamental for sustainability as cost cutting come into play to maintain status quo. It is very difficult for poultry business to set prices in the industry as most entities have low yearly revenues hence cut costs as much as possible. Differentiation is a challenge as customers are price sensitive. Most poultry firms try to incorporate technology to cut costs rather than innovate their products for a premium charge. Poultry business has a niche market that it serves targeting a specific customer in the market. The products enhance value to customers with unique attributes. Importantly, poultry business niche strategy focuses on cost leadership for efficiency.
The study recommended poultry business to benchmark itself against competitors to determine if they are low cost producers. It also recommended poultry business to incorporate technology not only for cost cutting but innovate quality products that consumers want and lastly expand on broader line that competitors cannot serve.
This study was only based on generic strategies: cost leadership, differentiation and niche. As much as regression analysis showed that all generic strategies were significant only 40.8% explained sustainability of agribusiness. Other strategies like Resource Based View and factors should be considered for more research to explain sustainability of agribusiness
Organizational Antecedents to Intrapreneurship: Kenya Pharmaceutical Industry
No full textThe purpose of intrapreneurship strategy is to engage an organization in innovation in order to develop the organization’s ability to cope with the dynamic internal and external environment. The involvement of employees in organizational entrepreneurial activities has been identified as an important topic. While intrapreneurship is widely researched from the viewpoint of managers, it is scantly investigated from the standpoint of employees. Previous researchers have ignored employees’ perceptions concerning the quality of support they receive from their organization and its impact on their intrapreneurial behavior. The main objective of the study was to examine the organizational antecedents that predispose an enterprise to intrapreneurship behavior from its employees.
Borrowing from previous literature, five organizational antecedents were identified. These included management support, work discretion, rewards/reinforcements, time availability, and organizational boundaries. The study examined the relationship between the said variables to individual employee’s intrapreneurial orientation. To measure these constructs the Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment Instrument (CEAI) and Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) instrument were used respectively.
The study used explanatory and descriptive research design to scrutinize the relationship between the variables. The population of the study consisted of 1091 pharmaceutical sales representatives (PSRs) currently registered with the Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board. A sample of 175 PSRs was selected using proportionate stratified random sampling. A structured questionnaire was administered in data collection from respondents. Correlation and regression analysis was undertaken to establish the level of relationships.
The study found a significant positive correlation between management support, work discretion, and rewards/reinforcements to intrapreneurship orientation. Time availability had no significant correlation to intrapreneurship orientation while organizational boundaries had a significant negative correlation to intrapreneurship orientation. Further regression analysis was undertaken on variables that exhibited significant relationships, in this regard a regression analysis between management support and intrapreneurship orientation yielded a regression coefficient of 0.482, a regression analysis between work discretion `and intrapreneurship orientation yielded a regression coefficient of 0.165, a regression analysis between rewards/ reinforcements and intrapreneurship orientation yielded a regression coefficient of 0.35, and finally a regression coefficient between organizational boundaries and intrapreneurship orientation yielded a regression coefficient of negative 0.56. The findings of this study demonstrate that organizational climate has a strong direct effect on intrapreneurship orientation of the employees.
The study arrived at a conclusion that Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives in Kenya perceive the companies they work for, as providing a favorable climate for intrapreneurial activities. Since out of the five antecedents isolated for intrapreneurship, three of them yielded a significant positive effect on intrapreneurship orientation. On management support, the study concludes that it is incumbent upon the top management to create an internal environment that is perceived by employees to be supportive of intrapreneurial activities. Providing work independence so as employees have some latitude in decision making is seen as a positive contributor to intrapreneurial attitude amongst employees. Rewards and reinforcements can stimulate an entrepreneurial thinking in employees this can lead to inherent intrapreneurial initiatives by employees.
Time availability is still an amorphous concept in Kenyan cultures since the study failed to establish a significant linkage of time availability to intrapreneurship orientation. Organizational boundaries are the result of decisions about capability, the negative correlation between organizational boundaries and intrapreneurship orientation obtained in this research may be attributed to the type of respondents that study employed and also taking note that that fluidity in organizational boundaries is a product of organizations culture.
The study findings are very relevant for any organization since understanding and reacting to the organizational climate is essential in strategic management. Resources should be allocated to obtain extensive information concerning target markets and to develop important relationships with distributors and final clients. The research project confirms the validity of existing measurement instruments and establishes relationships between constructs that will inform on strategic decisions in Kenya pharmaceutical industry
The study recommends that there is a need for organization decision makers to augment on efforts towards variables of management support, rewards reinforcements, and work discretion since these have a direct positive correlation with employee’s intrapreneurship orientation. Firstly the study recommends that organizations should offer management support, when senior leaders don't walk the talk, no amount of entrepreneurial efforts made by “ground soldiers” will work. Top Management commitment to innovation, openness to change at all levels, and most importantly, delegation of appropriate authority to managers and employees to try new ideas sends a clear message to employees that the company is serious about creating an entrepreneurial environment. Organizations should also provide employees with resources, time, and material. As discussed in chapter two, companies such as 3M and Google let employees spend 15% to 20% of their time working on side projects of their choice. Employees should know that they have resources available to embark on new and innovative projects.
Lastly, a supportive organizational structure should be designed. Complex hierarchy and elaborate policies are designed to bring order, but they also impede entrepreneurial activity. Simplify approval procedures, cut the red tape, and keep organizational flexibility. Finding an optimum intrapreneurial climate regarding the mentioned antecedents is further suggested. The study further recommends more longitudinal work to properly assess the temporal stability of the intrapreneurship measurements in the Kenyan scenario
Development of a Crime Mapping Tool based on Social Media Data: A Case of Twitter in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
No full textA Project Report Submitted to the School of Science and Technology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Science in Information Systems and TechnologyThe high profits posted each year by one of the major mobile phone operators in Kenya is an indication of the high smart phones and data usage in the country. Further the highest percentage of this mobile data usage is on social media which includes facebook, twitter, whatsapp, instagram, snapchat and others. While a lot of organizations especially companies have leveraged on information shared on these platforms to improve on product and service delivery while fostering better customer service and stakeholder relations, very little has been done on access and use of crime information shared on social media platforms such as twitter.
In light of this, the project set out to¬¬ leverage on social media, specifically twitter, in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu through three main objective. The first objective was to establish how available social media data can be used to map crime. Illustrations through literature were made on how other implementations have taken advantage of this information to achieve set objectives. The second objective was the development of a tool which enabled the collection and processing of the twitter information to facilitate mapping of crimes to provide awareness.
The third objective was to test the developed crime mapping tool to ensure that it performed as intentioned using the correct data. Descriptive research was used during the study. This is because available existing data on twitter was used. This data was collected from twitter through a twitter API integrated in a java program which abets in specifying the information of key interest to be collected. Information shared on twitter is known as tweets. With millions of tweets been tweeted each day on different topics, it is crucial to be able to only pick what is of interest. Once this information on the area of interest was mined, further filtering by use of a natural language processing tool was done to determine the true meaning of the tweet through a process known as sentiment analysis. Tweets that were found to imply that crime was committed were sent and stored into a database. Data analytics were performed on the data to identify patterns for mapping purposes. The Data analytics was done using WEKA, an open source data mining tool. The complete model was then tested to measure its accuracy.
The developed crime mapping tool was found effective in collection of the twitter data as specified. However the Stanford CoreNLP sentiment analysis used tool was not a 100% accurate. This is having classified some tweets as denoting crime while through a manual analysis no crime actually happened. Another key finding through the interviews conducted is that despite the many twitter users in Kenya, very few used the twitter platform to share information about crime.
The major recommendations were the use of a hybrid sentiment analysis tool in future works to improve accuracy and encouragement of the use of twitter to share information about crime. Also the use of a web-based crime mapping tool integrated with a map application to widen accessibility and better visualization options
The Effects of Multigenerational Workforce Diversity on Organizational Performance: A Case Study of National Hospital Insurance Fund
No full textA Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)The general objective of this study was to establish the effect of multigenerational workforce diversities on organizational performance in government parastatals in Kenya. This study was guided by three specific objectives: to establish effects of work-value differences in multigenerational workforce on organizational performance in NHIF; to establish the effects of communicational differences in multigenerational workforce on organizational performance in NHIF; to establish the effects of cultural differences in multigenerational workforce organizational performance in NHIF. A descriptive research design was used for this study and questionnaires were used to collect data. The target population included 80 employees that were randomly sampled from employees at NHIF. Data analysis was done through both descriptive and inferential statistics. Data was presented in tables, graphs and charts.
The findings on the effects of work-value differences in multigenerational workforce on organizational performance, revealed that at NHIF employees’ performance was enhanced by opportunity for learning new things through their job, advancement and promotion, opportunity to serve the society, job security, public recognition and salary. However, money was not placed above personal sense of satisfaction. Findings showed that, communicational differences in multigenerational workforce affected organizational performance. It was established that employees’ performance was affected by, reputation of direct communication, questioning of each other on their assumption, carefully decision making, distant and formal relationship among employees in the organization, phone communication also enhanced performance even though they preferred communicating face-to-face or on a one-to-one basis when working. Employees also make appropriate use of e-mail to perform tasks, they did not have a problem communicating with their authority, and these enhanced their performance.
The findings on the effects of cultural differences in multigenerational workforce on organizational performance: established that employees’ performance was enhanced by upheld discipline in the organization and employees’ good behavior. Performance was however undermined by bad behaviors, hostile employees. The findings also noted that employees’ performance was affected by behavior of different generation cohorts,
The findings on the performance of NHIF showed that there was a growth in sales, expansion of business operations, retention of customers’ growth in market share and customer base, improve in level of customer satisfaction while there were less customer complains, timely accomplishment of short term goals and the level of innovation of the organization was high. However, findings were not conclusive on budget reduction in the business. The regression analysis revealed that the diversification in multigenerational workforce positively influenced organizational performance. It accounted for 47.1% of the organizational performance at NHIF (R Square = .471; p-value < 0.05).
This study concludes that employees’ performance was enhanced by work values such as learning opportunity, job promotion and advancement, community service through job, job security, public recognition and making money. However, money was not placed above personal sense of satisfaction as motivational factor. This study also concludes that performance in the organization was affected by communication styles such as, direct communication, phone communication, face-to-face communication, e-mail communication. Lastly, the study concluded that performance in the organization was also being affected by the discipline upheld in the organization. Performance was also enhanced by controlling behavior in the organization and maintaining good behavior. The different behaviors of different generational cohorts of employee also affected performance. Finally, the study concludes that negative bad behavior undermined performance while hostile employees also affected performance. This negative bad behaviors include, fights, gossip and stealing of colleagues’ property and also damage to the organization property and image.
This study recommends for organizations to clearly understand the work-values of their workforce and align their motivational programs along these values. Additionally, this study recommends that organizations should ensure effective communication across the organization in order to enhance performance in the organization. Lastly, the organization should promote good behavior in the organization to enhance performance. The organizations should also facilitate an understanding of different behavior of employee in the organization to bring cooperation at work