Stratford Peer Reviewed Journals and Books
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Parents-Teachers Partnerships and Students Discipline in Rwanda Secondary Schools
No full textThe standard level of partnership between teachers and parents play a significance role in the promotion of students discipline inside and outside of school environment. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to establish the relationship between parents-teachers partnership and students discipline in Huye secondary schools. This paper employed correlational research design. The target population comprised 444 people and sample size of 88 respondents got by using JAVON, formula. Document analysis review, questionnaire and interview schedule were used as instruments of data collection. The findings revealed that 73.1% of respondents disagreed on the effective parents and teachers partnership based on management of students discipline. Despite, 27.7% of teachers sampled agreed that they work with students to solve discipline cases. The findings revealed that 54.9% of respondents indicated that students attend schools frequently while 45.2% indicated that parents are involved in management of students discipline. The findings also showed that there is no statistical significance relationship between parents-teachers partnerships and students discipline. This paper recommends that parents need to be sensitized on their contribution to student discipline and school authorities should allow teachers and parents to participate in school decision making that that can lead to students discipline.
Keywords: Parents-Teachers Partnership, Studentsâ Discipline, Secondary Schools & Rwanda
Admission and Graduation Trends in Universities: The Case of Daystar University from 2010 to 2016
No full textThis study looked at the gender dynamics, admission and graduation trends in Daystar University from 2010 to 2016. The study was anchored on choice theory. The descriptive research design was used for the study. The targeted population was students and data from admissions and records department was used for the analysis. The researcher used purposive sampling techniques to pick the respondents. The purposive sampling technique is a form of non-probability sampling. The study's findings showed that most of the students at Daystar University schools, that is, from the School of Communication Language and Performing Arts, School of Business and Economics, School of Arts and Humanities and School of Human and Social Sciences were females. The only school where the majority were males was in the School of Science Engineering and Health. The study results also found that the university had an upward admission trend from 2011 to 2014. However, a slight drop was experienced in 2015. The overall graduation of the students at the university decreased from 2011 to 2016. The findings indicated that females were more than males in terms of enrolments in the university. The findings also showed that the graduation of the students had been decreasing. From the findings, the arising recommendations included the need for the management of the university to examine why the number of males admissions is less compared to females. The university management should also review the programmes being offered from time to time, which might solve the challenge of gender inequality in the university. It is recommended that the university should keep an eye on admission figures in the coming years to establish whether the admission drop in 2015 was an emerging trend or perhaps was explainable for other reasons. Further, it was recommended that the university should examine the causes of declining graduation trend.
Keywords: Gender, admission trends, graduation trends, Daystar Universit
Teachers’ Motivation and Performance in Technical Secondary Schools in Rwanda
No full textThe motivation given to teachers either intrinsically of extrinsically improve their daily working conditions in school setting that lead to improved performance. This means that the learning institutions should manage effectively the provision of teachers’ motivation. The purpose of this paper was to examine motivation and performance of teachers in technical secondary schools in Muhanga district in Rwanda. This paper employed correlation research design. The target population was 212people that provided the sample size of 146 got using Solvin’s formula. Interview guide and questionnaire were used as data collection instruments. The findings presented that provision of meals at school to teachers is the highest extrinsic motivation provided in Muhanga district as showed by the mean of 3.18 and the standard deviation of 1.08 while provision of extra teaching allowances was indicated to be at lower level as was indicated by the mean of 2.02 and 0.95 of the standard deviation. However, teachers awareness to fulfill the assigned tasks was indicated to be the highest intrinsic motivation as was presented by the mean of 3.94 and the standard deviation of 1.09 while having self-control to teachers was indicated to be the low as the mean was 2.88 and 1.16 of standard deviation. The findings also revealed that an average of 87.58% of teachers, agreed on the performance of TSSs teachers located in Muhanga district. However, it was perceived that having effective course management by teachers was indicated to be at high level of teachers’ performance as indicated by the mean of 4.1 and 0.80 of standard deviation. Finally the findings stated that there is a statistical significance high degree of positive correlation between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation with teachers’ performance as it was proved by Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation (r) which were .805 and .764 respectively. The paper recommends that Ministry of Education should provide adequate technical teaching materials and reinforce technical trainings to teachers while school head teachers should enhance teachers rewards based on performance and provide meals at schools.
Keywords: Teachers’ Motivation, Teachers’ Performance, Extrinsic Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation and Technical Secondary Schools
Influence of Policy Guidelines in Contract Catering Services on Customer Satisfaction in Selected Universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya
No full textThe paper examines the influence of policy guidelines in contract catering services on customer satisfaction in Universities. Specifically the paper assesses the effect of policy guidelines in policy guidelines in contract catering services and customer satisfaction in selected universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The target population was selected universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Purposive and stratified random sampling technique was adopted in selecting the target population of universities. The sampling technique for management staff respondents was purposive sampling while the students ‘respondents was calculated by using of Cooper and Schindler formula. The study adopted interview guide and questionnaire data collection instrument. Out of a total 276 respondents, 257 participated which is 75.72% response. Inferential analysis using Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was 0.000 implying that policy guidelines were positively correlated to customer satisfaction. The results had a P value of 0.945 and statistically significant of 0.000, and thus reject the null services and customer satisfaction in Universities. The findings of this study have implications in theory and practice that as policy guidelines in contract catering services were positively correlated to customer satisfaction, policy guidelines in contract catering services influence customer satisfaction, in universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study findings in practice, serves as a useful reference for on influence of policy guidelines (Policy procedures & Service level agreement) in contract catering services on customer satisfaction in Universities.
Key Words: Policy Guidelines Procedures and Service Level Agreement, & Customer Satisfaction
Effects of Product Layout on Stores Operations of Dairy Farms in Illinois
No full textThis study established the effects of product layout on stores operations. The objectives of the study included; to determine whether costs associated with product layout affects stores operations, to find out whether volume of output in production affects stores operations, to examine how flexibility of product layout affects stores operations. The study was significant to the management of the organization, other manufacturing and processing firms, policy makers and researchers for furthering the research in the future. The study was anchored under the following theories; Transaction Cost Theory, Resource Dependency Theory and Queuing Theory. The researcher reviewed literatures that are relevant to the topic of study, criticize them and identify the gaps to be filled. The study adopted descriptive research design. Primary data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS software version 20. The model summary revealed that cost of operations, volume of output and flexibility of product layout explains 45.4% of changes in the dependent variable as indicated by the value of R2 which implies that there are other factors not included in this model that influence and store operations. Regression results showed that cost of operations had a negative and statistically significant relationship with store operations while volume of output had positive and statistically significant relationship with store operations. Further, regression results showed that flexibility of product layout had positive and statistically significant relationship with store operations of dairy companies. From the study findings, the study concludes that store operations of dairy companies is significantly affected by cost of operations, volume of output and flexibility of product layout. This study recommends cost cutting by choosing better model to conduct store operations among dairy companies. This study recommends more increased volume operations. Continuity of supply of variable inputs should be put into consideration so as the volume of output budgeted to be produced in a day cannot be tampered. The study recommends development of queuing management system to reduce time wastage during store operations.
Key words: product layout, stores operation, volume of output in production, product layout, dairy companie
Influence of Supplier Capacity on the Performance of State Corporations in Kenya
No full textThe purpose of this study was to determine the influence of supplier capacity on the performance of state corporations in Kenya. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The target population included 187 state corporations in Kenya. The study applied a census approach. Primary data was collected using questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to compute percentages of respondents’ answers. Inferential statistics using linear regression and correlation analysis were applied to establish the relationship between the research variables. The results indicated there was a positive and significant relationship between supplier capacity and the performance of state corporations in Kenya. The study concluded that supplier capacity had a significant and positive influence on the performance of state corporations in Kenya. Based on the findings, the study recommended the need for suppliers to enhance their capacity to meet the expectations of their customers. Some of the criteria that firms can use to assess their suppliers are the technological level, which involves a general assessment of the supplier’s capability in terms of innovation and technology. Further, the study recommended that state corporations’ managers should ensure that all their suppliers adopt modern technology and this will help them improve their capacity performance.
Keywords: Supplier capacity, performance, state corporations
 
Intervening Effects of Capital Structure on Strategy Implementation and Performance of Energy Sector Institutions in Kenya
No full textCapital structure is the most significant discipline of company's operations. Capital structure decision is a decision is a vital decision with great implication for the firm's sustainability. The capital structure of a firm is very important since it indicates the ability of the firm to meet its obligations and the needs of its stakeholders. Advocates of optimal capital structure argue that judicious combination of debt and equity maximizes the value of a firm. There are dissenting views among scholars on what constitutes optimal capital structure and its effects on a firm's financial performance. Extant literatures have reviewed the relationship between capital structure and the performance of firms, although the ï¬ndings of these studies are inconclusive. This paper was anchored on the expectancy theory and supported by the pecking order theory and resource-based view theory. This paper adopted positivism philosophy. The target population was the 68 institutions under the energy sector. The pilot test was carried out on twenty managers from different departments of the selected firms. The Quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 22). The study results indicated that there was a statistically strong and positive relationship between strategy implementation and organizational performance. The findings indicated that capital structure had a strong and significant relationship with performance of Energy sector institutions. The research findings further showed that the joint influence of strategy implementation and capital structure on performance was higher than their separate effect. The study further concluded that an appropriate capital structure is a critical decision for any business organization. The study recommends that Energy sector institutions should adopt balanced capital structure strategy that will optimize companys performance and corporate value.
Keywords: Strategy Implementation, Capital Structure & Organizational Performance
Corporate Governance and Firm Value: A Comparative Study of Companies Listed on the Nairobi and Uganda Securities Exchange
No full textThe purpose of this study was to determine the effect of corporate governance on firm value among firms listed on the Nairobi and Uganda Securities Exchange. Agency and Resource-Based theories guided the study. The positivism research paradigm was adopted. The study used panel research design and the data was obtained through content analysis from audited financial statements spanning from 2012 to 2019 and only 48 firms from NSE and 12 firms from USE met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Stationarity was checked using panel unit root tests and the data were stationary at levels. Hausman test was used for model selection and the fixed effect model was selected over random effects. The direct effect analysis revealed that in securities exchange, the board size, board independence, and board expertise as proxies of corporate governance affected the firm value. In contrary to this, board diversity in both cases did not significantly affect the firm value. However, in USE board independence negatively affect firm value. The study shows that corporate governance determines the value of the firm. As the practical contribution, there is a need to increase board size and board diversity to enhance firm value in listed firms.
Keywords: Firm Value, Corporate Governance, Board Size, Board Independence, Board Expertise, Board Diversit
Participatory Project Planning Approaches: Reflections from Community Development Initiatives in Low Resourced Countries
No full textParticipatory planning approaches are direct engagement with the community in decision-making and give full consideration to their total input in any undertaking that affects them. Projects are created to satisfy community-based or people-centered needs where their input to the project planning will be critical. The procedure of their presence in these project activities is opposed by several challenges in countries that have inadequate resource where development donors support several projects. These projects apply the concept of participatory planning approaches before the projects take off and where the community plays a role in the development of the initiative. The concept has been utilized across new projects in low resource countries, nevertheless met with several constraints thus, growing absence of motivation to the community's participation. This paper is a desktop review of five articles. The papers were searched using Zotero through Google network support. The paper concluded that there is a demand for government and development partners to focus their attention on low resource countries credibly for community participation to thrive. There is a concern going forward since community participation has been misrepresented by governments and the donor community in LRCs. This paper recommended there should be appropriate community participation approaches with the focus to project planning, design, and implementation. There is a need of emphasizing on a policy framework that improves community participation on all development community projects. There should be institutional mainstreaming of community project identification at all the levels of project cycle phases so that they are involved in discovering projects that affect them. Also, there is need for key stakeholders in project development (project developers, bilateral, multilateral agents, banks and project beneficiaries among others) to develops a guiding policy that supports the community participation concept.
Keywords: Community participation, Development Initiatives, Low Resource Countries, Monitoring and Evaluation, Participatory Project Planning Approaches, Project management competence, Project planning
Innovation Capital and Growth of Women-Owned MSEs in Central Kenya Counties
No full textThis study examined the influence of innovation capital on growth of women-owned MSEs in Central Kenya counties. Schumpeter Theory of innovation anchored the study. The research design adopted was descriptive research design. The target population was 2472 women entrepreneurs registered and recipients of Uwezo Fund. A sample size of 333 respondents was selected. Data was collected through questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The findings established that women entrepreneurs were not innovative in terms of their products, marketing capabilities and the enterprise in general. This was due to the fact that majority of women entrepreneurs had not embraced new innovative methods in their enterprises that would spur growth. But they understood the importance of embracing innovation to enhance innovativeness and competition in their enterprises to spur the desired growth. Even after funding from Uwezo Fund, women entrepreneurs were still undecided on the importance of innovativeness in their enterprises. The study concluded there was a strong positive significant relationship between innovation capital and growth of women-owned MSEs. The study recommended that women entrepreneurs should embrace innovation to enhance innovativeness and competition in their enterprises to spur the desired growth. The study also recommended that women entrepreneurs need entrepreneurship training on the necessity of innovation as a key attribute of competitiveness and growth.
Keywords: Innovation Capital, Women-Owned Enterprises, Growth of Enterprise