3673 research outputs found
Sort by
The Influence of Strategy Implementation Antecedents on Organizational Performance: A Case Study of the Top 100 Mid-Sized Companies in Nairobi In 2016
No full textA Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of strategy implementation antecedents on organizational performance. This study was guided by the following specific objectives: To determine the influence of firm’s structure in strategy implementation on organizational performance. To determine the influence of leadership in strategy implementation on organizational performance. To determine the influence of firms culture in strategy implementation on organizational performance.
The researcher’s selected a descriptive research design and the research’s population was based on the top management preferably the CEO’s of the Top 100 SME’s in Kenya. The research chose to do a census on all the 100 companies that are in Nairobi Country. The sturdy focused on primary data which was collected from the target population, using questionnaires which had structured questions that have been designed in line with each of the research objectives. The research issued a total of 100 questionnaires and a total of 80 were filled and returned giving a response rate of 80%. Correlations were done between the dependent and independent variables to test their relationships and the findings presented in tables.
Analysis of the variables of structure revealed that organizational formation is a formal process and the organizational structure is influenced by business type. It was also revealed that current structure creates an atmosphere that allow for innovation and the structure can either promote or impede successful strategy implementation. The findings also show that organizational structure affect efficiency and the structure of the firm affects the organizational performance.
Analysis of the firm’s leadership revealed that majority of the respondents agreed that the leadership is highly trained and competent and the leadership influence strategy implementation. It was also revealed that leadership aid employee efficiency and current Leadership allow for innovation. The finding also indicated that leadership affects performance.
An analysis of the influence of culture on strategy implementation revealed that most respondents agreed that the success of strategy implementation lies on the firm’s ability to transform learning to action and culture affect performance. In addition, culture aids employee efficiency and it also affect strategy implementation. The researcher analyzed relationship between the dependent variable (organization performance) against other
v
core factors (Structure, Leadership and Culture). The results showed that 41.2% of the variation in organization performance was explained by the variations in structure, leadership and culture.
The study concluded that among the top 100 SMEs in Kenya, organization formation is a formal process and the individual organization structure is influenced by business type or industry where the firm belongs. It was also concluded that maintaining top 100 position in the Kenyan SME spectra is a daunting task and as such, leadership is highly trained and competent. Finally, the success of strategy implementation in the SMES is fully dependent on the firm’s ability to transform learning to action.
It was recommended that SMEs need to keep innovating to increase efficiency in the production processes, there is also a need to evaluate the structural models in place so as to eliminate channels that impede successful strategy implementation. Secondly, SMEs should continue having a trained and competent leadership so as to guarantee positive organizational developments. Thirdly, SMEs need to maintain a culture of transform facts learnt into attainable action.
Further studies should be done to establish how other internal factors influence strategy implementation and organizational performance. The study could also be extended to determine how external factors affect in strategy implementation and organizational performance of the top 100 SMEs
Effects of Tax Incentives on the Performance of Export Processing Zone (Epz) Firms in Kenya
No full textA Dissertation Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)The contemporary world is characterized with intergovernmental competition for the sole purpose of attracting multinational companies and this has made fiscal incentives to become a global phenomenon. Poor African countries rely on tax holidays and import duty exemptions, while industrial western European countries allow investment allowances or accelerated depreciation. It is for this reason that the general objective of this study is intended to establish the influence of tax incentive in Kenya on the performance of EPZ firms in Kenya. The specific objectives were to investigate the influence of corporate income tax incentive, capital allowance tax incentive, VAT incentive, excise duty tax incentive and custom duty incentive on performance on EPZ firms in Kenya. The performance of EPZ firms was measured by profitability, gross margins and the number of jobs EPZ firms created. The study adopted a descriptive and explanatory research design. The study used a stratified sampling approach because the number of the EPZ firms in Kenya was categorized into 4 strata. The total numbers of firms used in the study were 86 registered EPZ firms in Kenya according to Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA). The study adopted a census survey design. Census survey was adopted because the population of interest was small. A sample size of all the 86 registered EPZs firms was used in this study. Primary data was obtained using questionnaires. Secondary data from the registered firms was collected on; ROA, number and value of jobs created and the length of stay of the firms. The secondary data was collected from operating EPZ firms in Kenya annual report. The study assessed the performance of EPZ firms against the tax incentives they benefited for the last ten years. The study used both descriptive and inferential statistics to conduct data analysis. Descriptive statistics included frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviations while inferential statistics were correlations and regression analysis. The means plot of total sales, exports and ROA indicated an increasing trend from 2003 to 2014. The result further indicated the decreasing trend in the number of employees recruited by EPZ firms in Kenya. The results indicated that the number of jobs decreased significantly between 2007 and 2009. From 2011 employees working with EPZ increased until 2014. The results of multivariate regression model adopted revealed that corporate income tax incentive had a positive and significant relationship with performance of EPZ firms measured using ROA. The results of multivariate regression model further revealed that corporate income tax incentive had a positive and insignificant relationship with
vi
performance of EPZ firms measured using the number of jobs. The results of bivariate regression models adopted revealed that at 5% significance level corporate income tax incentive, capital allowance tax incentive, excise duty incentive and custom duty incentive as well as VAT incentives had a positive and significant relationship with performance of EPZ firms measured using ROA and the total number of jobs. The study found out that Firm size moderate the relationship between tax incentives and the performance of EPZ firms in Kenya and thus moderation is supported. The study conducted analysis on the EPZ firms to find out the survival rate of the EPZ after 12 years period of tax holiday. Within this 12 year period EPZ firms benefit from tax incentives available. The result revealed that in 2003 there were 66 EPZ firms, out of which only 22 still existed after the 10 year period. This finding implies that tax incentives may be valuable in attracting EPZ firms but the survival/performance of these firms depends on other factors different from tax incentives. The findings also could imply that EPZ firms leave when their tax holiday period of 12 years is about to expire to avoid paying taxes. Based on the findings the study concluded that the government should continue to offer tax exemptions for it to attract and maintain foreign investors in the country. This study recommends that stakeholders in tax policy should reconsider the economic value of corporate tax incentive. These incentives had the capacity to increase the ROA of EPZ firms as well as the number of jobs. In addition, the study recommended that the government should consider the economic value of capital allowance incentives. The study recommended that the country could increase the level of capital inflow in to the country as well as the level of investment and growth in order to increase the level of employment and the level of industrialization in the country. Further, it was recommended that the government should reconsider its VAT policy by encouraging more VAT rebates to firms in order to boost their productivity and increase the volume of exports. Lastly, study recommended that the government should offer increased excise duty incentives in order to cut down on imports and in that way promoting the growth of demand for domestic products in the country. The government could pursue this strategy in order to curb smuggling and also to promote the growth of the tourism industry
Determinants of Patients’ Choice of Healthcare Facilities in the Private Sector in Kenya: Optimizing Hospital Strategic Positioning
No full textA dissertation submitted to Chandaria School of Business in partial fulfillment for the degree of the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)Strategic positioning is about how a company positions itself to create value different from that of competition. Therefore, strategic positioning is defined as a firm’s relative position in the industry. It must lead to one of two outcomes – lower cost or higher premium. Higher premium can be charged when there is unique focus on either a product/ service or the unique needs of a few exclusive customers (niche market). Lower cost on the other hand implies a high production efficiency. One may then choose to either retain the benefits or pass them on to the customers (price competitiveness). The lower cost model is associated with mass marketing. Accordingly, Michael Porter defined strategic positioning as delivering value through cost leadership, differentiation and focus. The core value is what then the customer consumes. In the health industry, it is healthcare. This healthcare can be measured and identified customer needs can be met or exceeded. This presupposes that customers’ needs are known. There must be a process of identifying and evaluating the customers’ needs – their expectations and their experiences. This expectation-experience gap is the basis of customer perception of quality. Hospital quality comprises both technical as well as functional components. Technical quality is about the value that is delivered to the patients (the “what”) whereas functional quality is the process of delivering that value (the “how”). What is in the purview of the patient is the functional quality. The patient makes a choice of hospital depending on this functional quality. On the other hand, hospitals leadership and doctors have access to data on technical (clinical) outcomes. The hospital leadership’s basis of competition tends to be technical quality. This may cause a misalignment between patients’ expectations and the basis of competition. Further, patients are influenced by doctors and Medical Insurance Providers. Medical Insurance Providers are the primary payers in the private health sector.
Patients’ perception of quality was evaluated using a modified version of the SERVQUAL tool that is based on the identification of the expectation-experience gap. This study then looked at the doctor and the Medical Insurance Provider perception of quality and their influence on the patient. In factoring in all the three key players, that is, the patients, doctors and Medical Insurance Providers, the study defined an optimal strategic position. The study used a post-positivism approach, collecting data using a questionnaire requiring participants to answer paired questions of their expectation and their experience using a five point Likert scale. After pilot testing and validating the data collection tool, data was collected from patients in the 12 out of the 14 (86% response rate) eligible level five and six private hospitals across Kenya. Thereafter data was also collected from the doctors who treated the recruited patients, the Medical Insurance Providers (for those that were insured) and from the hospitals’ leadership. Tests for reliability and validity were initially carried out. Factors analyses were done to extract, aggregate and reduce the relevant factors. The original six factors – Interpersonal, Environment of Care, Administrative, Access, Clinical Outcomes and Medical Equipment – were reduced to four where clinical outcomes collapsed into interpersonal dimension and medical equipment was dropped altogether. These factors were regressed against future behavioral intention (intention to return should the need arise and intention to refer others to the institution). The influence of the Doctor and Medical Insurance Provider were then discerned. Regional variation as well as the alignment of the administrator to the customers’ needs was ascertained. Results showed a clear hierarchical quality dimension determinants in the following diminishing order of influencing patients’ future behavioral intentions - Interpersonal, Environment of Care, Administrative and Access. This study showed that doctors and Medical Insurance Providers significantly influence patients’ perception of quality. Whereas the hospitals’ leadership appear well aligned to the customers’ perception of quality, there is incongruity between Doctors and Medical Insurance Providers understanding of patients’ expectation and experience from actual patients’ expectation and experience. There is a statistically significant regional variation of patients’ perception of quality. Even then, in each region, the perception of quality dimensions still significantly affected patients’ future behavioral intention.
In conclusion, currently many of the hospitals are perceived to be strategically positioned based on product leadership. It is recommended to either maintain the product leadership or change to cost leadership and transferring the benefit back to the patients (price leadership) are the most sustainable strategic positioning. In understanding that the patients’ perception of quality is affected in a hierarchical manner by the dimensions of quality, it is recommended that regional factors such as market structure and competition, affordability by the population and within-country cultural variances should be taken into consideration.
This study is delimited by the fact that it was a perception study. There was no in-depth attempt made to explain the perceptions of the various customers. This is left as an opportunity for further study by others
The Effect of Mergers and Acquisitions on the Financial Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya
No full textA Research Project Report Submitted to Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)Increased globalization and competition has led to the rise of mergers and acquisitions for firms seeking competitive advantage in their respective industries. Competitive advantage means that, the firms can extend their margins and market share worldwide. The general objective of this study was to determine the effects of mergers and acquisitions on the financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The specific objectives were: to determine the effect of asset management on financial performance; to establish the effect of shareholder’s equity on financial performance and to investigate the effect of financial stability on financial performance.
The study was focused on commercial banks that had merged or undergone acquisition between the period 2008 and 2016in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research designto determine the relationship between the variables within a population. The population of the study consisted of financial institutions in Kenya that had either merged or undergone acquisitions from 1989 to 2017 as approved by the Central Bank of Kenya.The sample was selected using the purposive method which involved studying ten commercial banks that had merged between the years 2008 to 2016. Secondary data, three years before and three years after the event was calculated from the banks’ audited financial statements, bank supervision annual reports published by Central Bank of Kenya, and the respective bank websites. Data analysis method included descriptive statistic, correlation and regression analysis methods. Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS) version 21 was used as the data analysis tool.
The findings oncorrelation analysis between performance and return on assets indicated a positive significant relationship (r = 0.007,< p = 0.05). This indicated that, return on assets as a determinant of performance of Kenyan commercial banks positively influenced mergers and acquisitions. The more the merged institutions acquired assets, the better they performed. Regression results of post-merger ANOVA indicated an R2 of 0.287, indicating that28.7% of the variations in performance were explained by return on assets after the merger or acquisition event.Results also showeda slight rise in the mean values for return on assets after the merger.
Findings on the effect of shareholder’s equity on financial performance revealed a positive correlation relationship between return on equity and performance (r = 0.041,< p = 0.05). This implied that institutions that had either merged or undergone acquisition with higher shareholder’s value had a higher financial performance hence higher market share. The study findings on regression analysis indicated that most of the sampled banks had an increase in return on equity after the merger or acquisition with a variation of only 0.4% explaining performance.
Results on the effect of financial stability on financial performance indicated a significant negative correlation (r = 0.405,> p =0.05). Meaning that, the higher the capital adequacy ratio an institution has, the lower the financial performance of the institution. The results also indicated that some of the sampled banks posted an increase in the capital adequacy ratio while others posted a decrease after the merger event. Regression results indicated that only 3.2 % of the variations in performance were explained by capital adequacy ratio after the merger or acquisition.
The study concluded that there was a significant relationship between financial performance and return on assets, there was no significant relationship between financial performance and return on equity and there was also no significant relationship between financial performance and financial stability of institutions that had either merged or undergone through acquisition.
The study recommended that the banking institutions work on raising their return on assets, return on equity and capital adequacy ratios. To raisereturn on equity it was recommended that management should work on reducing the company’s operational costs and sell off fixed assets that are not being used. To increase return on equity, the study recommended increasing the overall profit generated and the amount of debt capital and reduce the excess cash on the balance sheet by paying out dividends to its shareholders. The study proposed that capital adequacy ratio be increased by issuing new equity through rights issue to existing shareholders and by replacing riskier or more expensive loans with safer ones such asgovernment securities. The study also recommended that further studies be carried out on the effect of mergers and acquisition on financial performance from time to time to establish trends for longer periods and to capture new opportunities that have recently emerged in Kenya
Here’s why it is vital to stem high employee turnover in your firm
No full textA Newspaper article by Scott Bellows, an Assistant Professor in the Chandaria School of Business at USIU-AfricaStrikes, walkouts, negotiating meetings, collective bargaining, and intentions to quit….. One can barely turn on a news outlet without ingesting the punctuated acerbic dialogue of contentious opinions swirling around labour relations across industries in public and private organisations. Prudent executives must learn how to stave off collective turnover intentions.
Research consistently shows that intention precedes behaviour. In a simple example, if a hungry customer enters Java House with the intention of consuming a chocolate milkshake, then the following behaviour most likely would entail that same individual purchasing and drinking the dessert. Likewise, an employee’s intention to quit a company strongly correlates to actual turnover as employees take the action and leave.
Turnover may signify functional or dysfunctional leaving depending on the impact that employee departures hold on the firm. Turnover comes in the form of either voluntary or involuntary departures from a firm. Sometimes when certain employees voluntary leave an organisation, it epitomises a blessing in disguise if the worker engaged in harmful workplace behaviours, held unhelpful attitudes, or rallied other employees to work against the goals set by management. Additionally, an entity struggling through a difficult low revenue period might either benefit from cost savings if the least effective staff quits or the firm could gain more revenue by replacing the departed workers with more productive ones.
So, no staff turnover at all can actually stifle an organisation with low creativity, low diversity, and slow responses to new market challenges. Some staff departures prove good for a company while too many harms a firm. Turnover rates create what Julie Hancock and her fellow researchers back in 2013 called a curvilinearity instead of linear effect because with too little or too much epitomising alarming results whereby the best results lie in the middle with moderate amounts of turnover desired