Stratford Peer Reviewed Journals and Books
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The Portrayal of Educated Women in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not and This Mournable Body
No full textThe study sought the portrayal of educated women in the context of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not and This Mournable Body. The study set the following Objective: to examine how Dangarembga depicts the image of educated women in the aforementioned texts. The study employed a qualitative research design to collect and analyse non- numerical data. The researcher set off the process by critically reading the primary texts before analysing the portrayal of educated women in Dangarembga’s texts. Primary data was enhanced by relevant secondary data collected through the application of textual analysis from appropriate literary journals. The study deployed the rich tenets of womanism and psychoanalytic literary theories to investigate the portrayal of educated women in the aforementioned literary texts by Dangarembga. The study found out that Dangarembga seems to portray educated women as clever, strong, ambitious, audacious, and hard workers. Dangarembga argues however, that since obstacles are unavoidable evils, educated women tend to fail to retain their prosperous identity. Therefore, Dangarembga also portrays educated women as jobless, houseless, hopeless, traumatized, disappointed and disillusioned. Upon which the study concluded that educated women’s effort to progress and empowerment is highly inhibited by disaster. Educated women are still segregated on the basis of gender and colour. Consequently, education does not always guarantee women social and economic security. Therefore, the study recommends that educated women dream of a better life in society should be protected to avoid struggling, misery and poverty. The research also recommends that since this study focused on the portrayal of educated women in the context of Dangarembga’s The Book of Not and This Mournable Body, further study should concentrate on the roles of women in society in the context of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body.
Keywords: women education, portrayal of educated women, disillusionment, obstacles, disaster
Evidence Informed Decision Making and Its Effects on Policy Formulation in Kitui County Assembly; Kenya
No full textThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of evidence informed decision making on policy formulation in Kitui County Assembly, Kenya. The study used descriptive research design. The target population included members of the County Assembly Service Board, Members of County Assembly, and the staff. Semi- structured questionnaire with both closed and open ended questions were used to collect the data. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The study established that institutional culture, research design, technical support and the uptake of research results have significant effect on policy formulation. The study concluded that evidence informed decision making has significant effect on policy formulation at Kitui County Assembly with institutional culture having the largest effect followed by technical support, uptake of research results and lastly research design. The study recommended that the human resource managers of Kitui County Assembly should align the beliefs, views, attitudes and opinions of the staff towards evidence informed decision making for policy formulation. The staff working in different departments at Kitui County Assembly should collaborate to ensure that research evidence has the required attributes that would inform concrete policy formulation. The top management together with the human resource managers at Kitui County Assembly should improve on technical support by organizing for more training of the staff on evidence informed decision making. The communication managers at Kitui County Assembly should establish relevant platforms to disseminate and implement research results for use in decision making.
Keywords: Evidence informed Decision Making, Policy Formulation, Kitui County Assembl
Moderating Effects of Macro Environment on Strategy Implementation and Performance in Energy Sector Institutions in Kenya
No full textThe business environment is characterized by turbulence, unpredictability, and ever-changing circumstances. This compels organisations to revisit their strategic planning in order to adjust to the dynamic and complex environment that is ever changing. The influence of strategy implementation on performance is subject to soft, hard and mixed factors. Soft factors consist of human capital factors like commitment, communication, and consensus. The hard factors consist of hierarchy of positions in the organizational and administrative systems. Strategy implementation is a highly complex and interactive process and the success in strategy implementation depends crucially on the human or people side of project management, and less on organization and systems related factors. Most organizations do not report good performance outcomes because the organizations and their managers forget the vital role of strategy implementation. Strategy implementation is a connecting loop between formulation and control. Implementing strategies require the identification of the gap in skills and figure out how to bring those skills into the organization. The concept and practice of implementing strategies has been embraced worldwide and across various sectors because of its perceived contribution to organizational effectiveness and improvement in performance by organizations. This paper was anchored on the expectancy theory and buttressed by the open systems theory and resource-based view theory. This paper adopted positivism view with the aim of predicting and generalizing about the relationship between strategy implementation and performance of Energy sector institutions as moderated by macro environment. 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 showed a statistically significant relationship between strategy implementation and performance. The study findings also indicated a positive and a statistically significant relationship between macro environment and performance. The paper recommends continued scanning and analysis of macro environment attributes as they are important to firms in coining strategies.
Keywords: Strategy implementation, Macro Environment, Organizational performanc
Factors Affecting The Utilization Of Routine Immunization Coverage Of Children Under Two Years In Somalia: A Case Of Garowe Town
No full textThe purpose of this study was to interrogate the determinants of the utilization of routine immunization coverage for children under 2 years in Garowe town. The specific objectives of the study was to determine caregiver, interpersonal, health facility factors and policy factors affecting the utilization of routine immunization to children under Two years in Garowe town. A cross-sectional survey design was the most suitable for the study. The study also used both qualitative and quantitative data collected by interviewing mothers, guardians of the children under two years, service providers in selected health facilities, and community health workers. The selection of the sample was through probabilistic as well as non-probabilistic methods. Before that, the sample size of 384 was determined by use of Fisher formula The data collection instruments were Semi-structured questionnaires, KII and FGDs. For data interpretation, quantitative data was analyzed through univariate methods, descriptive statistics, Chi-square (χ2) and regression methods. In addition, qualitative data were organized and summarized in line with the thematic areas; described, followed by thematic analysis.The findings confirmed that care giver factors such as demographic characteristics, knowledge of caregivers reduced utilization of routine immunization in Somalia. The results further showed that interpersonal factors and health facility factors had a positive and significant effect on utilization of routine immunization in Somalia. The study findings implied that lack of adequate policies in Somalia reduced effective utilization of routine immunization. The study concluded that utilization of the routine immunization in Garowe Town had improved since majority of the caregivers had taken their children for polio vaccines, BCG injection among others. The study concluded that a significant number of caregivers still leave their children unprotected by failing to observe the routine immunization despite being close to health facilities
Effect of Material Handling Practices on Supply Chain Efficiency of Flour Processing Firms in Eldoret
No full textThe storage of goods and distributions from the same warehouses are done haphazardly that is without any order, theft cases have been on the rise giving a compromise on the general ethics of workers. The purpose of the study was to find out the effect of material handling practices on supply chain efficiency of flour processing firms in Eldoret .The study was guided by the following theories; Queuing theory, Agency cost theory, Reinforcement theory and Lean theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The study was based on flour processing firms in Eldoret town, in Uasin Gishu County. The target population of this study comprised of the branch managers, store clerks, procurement staff, finance staff and logistics staff of the flour processing firms in Eldoret. The overall accessible population for the study was 77 employees from the selected flour processing firms in Eldoret. The study collected quantitative data and therefore quantitative analysis was adopted to achieve the objectives of the study. The data collection instrument was the questionnaire. The study conducted pilot study at Kitale millers processing firm in Kitale. The study found reliability of the instrument of 0.802 which was reliable for the study. The study found out that materials handling practices (β1 = 0.319, p<0.05), have positive and statically significant effect on supply chain efficiency of flour processing firms in Eldoret town Kenya. The study found a positive influence of material handling practices on supply chain efficiency of flour processing firms in Eldoret, Kenya. Material handling is an indispensable element in most production and distribution systems and has adverse effects on performance of organizations. Mechanical devices and machines are necessary for many material handling operations. The study recommends for the enhancement stock control and the workforce needs external guidance with regard to stock control
Key Words: Material Handling Practices, Supply Chain Efficiency& Flour Processing Firms
The storage of goods and distributions from the same warehouses are done haphazardly that is without any order, theft cases have been on the rise giving a compromise on the general ethics of workers. The purpose of the study was to find out the effect of material handling practices on supply chain efficiency of flour processing firms in Eldoret .The study was guided by the following theories; Queuing theory, Agency cost theory, Reinforcement theory and Lean theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The study was based on flour processing firms in Eldoret town, in Uasin Gishu County. The target population of this study comprised of the branch managers, store clerks, procurement staff, finance staff and logistics staff of the flour processing firms in Eldoret. The overall accessible population for the study was 77 employees from the selected flour processing firms in Eldoret. The study collected quantitative data and therefore quantitative analysis was adopted to achieve the objectives of the study. The data collection instrument was the questionnaire. The study conducted pilot study at Kitale millers processing firm in Kitale. The study found reliability of the instrument of 0.802 which was reliable for the study. The study found out that materials handling practices (β1 = 0.319, p<0.05), have positive and statically significant effect on supply chain efficiency of flour processing firms in Eldoret town Kenya. The study found a positive influence of material handling practices on supply chain efficiency of flour processing firms in Eldoret, Kenya. Material handling is an indispensable element in most production and distribution systems and has adverse effects on performance of organizations. Mechanical devices and machines are necessary for many material handling operations. The study recommends for the enhancement stock control and the workforce needs external guidance with regard to stock control
Key Words: Material Handling Practices, Supply Chain Efficiency& Flour Processing Firm
Effects of Intercropping Cowpeas with Maize and Phosphorous Levels on Growth and Yields of Cowpeas in Meru County, Kenya
No full textCowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) is a legume that is grown for various uses Humans consume it as grain or leaf vegetable and as fodder by livestock. It has high nutritive value and high palatability. It is widely produced in sub-Saharan Africa as a source of income. It is drought tolerant and can suitably be used as an intercrop in an intercropping system. The low yield of cowpea among smallholder farmers due to declining soil fertility has increased the need for site specific fertilizer recommendation. Land fragmentation and reduced arable land makes intercropping of cereals and legumes inevitable. A field experiment was conducted at Kianjai ward in Tigania West Sub County of Meru County during the March - May rain season of 2015 to investigate the effects of intercropping cowpeas with maize and four different levels of phosphorous on growth and yields of cowpeas. The treatments were sole cowpeas, sole maize, sole cowpeas planted with (0 kg/ha, 25 kg/ha, 50 kg/ha and 75 kg/ha SSP) and cowpeas intercropped with maize at (0 kg/ha, 25 kg/ha, 50 kg/ha and 75 kg /ha SSP). The design of the experiment was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates. The results show that with mean plant heights of 41.56 cm, 42.43 cm, 43.00 cm and 45.03 cm respectively for 0, 25, 50 and 75 kg/ha of SSP, plant height at maturity were significantly affected by both fertilizer levels and cropping system (p<0.05). The number of pods and cowpeas grain yields were significantly also significantly affected (p<0.05). Sole cowpeas recorded the tallest plants, highest number of pods. The mean grain yields for 0, 25, 50 and 75 kg/ha of SSP were 400 kg, 496.88 kg, 593 kg and 699.88 kg respectively with 75 kg/ha. All the Land Equivalent Ratios for intercropping system were greater than one (LER>1) thus showing that intercropping was beneficial. Intercropping cowpeas and maize at 75 kg/ha phosphorous gave the highest Land Equivalent Ratio. It is recommended that in a cowpeas-maize intercropping system application of 75 kg/ha should be adopted. More work should be done to determine effects of intercropping cowpeas with cereal crops other than maize.
Keywords: Maize, cowpeas, intercropping, Tigania
Dynamics of Political-Legal Environment on Foreign Market Entry for Multinationals Corporations in Latin America
No full textThe study examined the dynamics of the political-legal environment on international business entry strategies among multinationals in Latin America. The study was anchored on two theories, namely, international product life cycle theory and environmental dependency theory. A descriptive research design was utilized in the study. The descriptive statistics entailed the frequencies, mean and standard deviation, while inferential statistics comprised of the correlation and the regression analysis. Analysis of variance was utilized to determine whether the overall model was statistically significant. The findings of the study established that the political environment factors that affected the foreign market entry strategies in large extent were election cycles, politicians involvement, the political risk and predictability, level of democracy, embezzlement of funds, the graft level, political traditions, political structure and taking of bribes. Besides the study found that the legal factors that affected the foreign market entry strategies among multinationals corporations to a large extent were liberation in management, levels of consumer protection, economic regulation on price ceiling, licensing requirements, competition regulation, export subsidies, trade tariffs, import quotas and level of taxes. Additionally, The study revealed that foreign entry strategies used in large extent were direct exporting, indirect exporting, investment franchising, management franchising, provision of managerial expertise, hiring of the management company, cooperation with another business, separate joint venture, licensing of copyright and trade secrets and licensing of trademarks. The correlation results showed that the political environment and legal environment were positively and significantly associated with foreign market entry strategies. The study concluded that the political environment and legal environment were positively and significantly related to foreign market entry strategies. The study recommended that multinational corporations in Latin America be granted democracy in their leadership style and not dictated on who be involved in the management. The study also recommended that politicians should distance themselves from interfering with the operations of the business and government to establish policies and regulations to protect companies from the interference from the influential people in the country. The study also recommended that other multinational corporations aiming to expand their business in different countries can also adapt those strategies of cooperation with another company, separate joint venture and direct exporting since they were the most used by the multinational corporations in Latin America.
Keywords; Political-Legal Environment, Foreign Market Entry, Multinationals Corporations & Latin America
Role of Audit Committee in Promoting Accountability and Governance in Commercial Banks in Kenya
No full textThe general objective of this study was to determine the influence of audit committee on accountability practices of commercial banks in Nairobi Kenya. This study was anchored on the agency theory and supported by stewardship theory and stakeholder theory. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. The target population of the study was on 33 CBs located in Nairobi. The study specifically targeted Audit committee members, board members, managers, employees and auditors of the CBs. The research was conducted among five banks that are listed in the NSE and five banks that are not listed in the NSE all of which are licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya. The study used purposive sampling to sample 50 respondents whereby 5 respondents were selected from each bank. The study used primary data that was collected using a semi structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics displayed data in percentages, mean, frequencies and standard deviation. Results were presented through graphs and tables. The researcher also conducted correlation and regression analysis to determine the relationship between the study variables. The study concluded that audit committee have a positive effect on accountability practices of commercial banks in Nairobi Kenya. From the findings discussed above the study recommends the following; first, given that the audit committee have a positive effect on accountability practices of commercial banks in Nairobi Kenya it is recommended that the commercial banks should put more emphasis on the need to engage audit committees more on issues pertaining accountability practices and governance as this would result to better performance and overall growth.
Key words: Audit Committee, Accountability practices, Governance, Commercial Bank
Intracompany Loan and Financial Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Rwanda
No full textThe manufacturing sector in Rwanda contributes to less than 5 percent of the GDP. The financial performance of manufacturing companies in Rwanda has been declining over the years. This may be due to low intracompany loans, thus formed the justification of the study. For instance, Cimerwa, the largest cement manufacturing company in the country, made a net loss of Rwf 7.4 million in 2016, Rwf 5.5 million in 2017 and further Rwf 7.1 million in 2018. The reviewed empirical literature had mixed results. Some studies revealed that intracompany loans positively affect financial performance, while other studies showed a negative effect. Based on this background, the study sought to examine the effect of intracompany loan on financial performance of the manufacturing firms in Rwanda. The study was anchored on pecking order theory. The target population was 32 manufacturing firms. The data was collected from 2015 to 2019. The findings of the study revealed that a positive association existed between intracompany loans and financial performance. Based on the regression analysis, it was found that intracompany loans had a positive and significant effect on return on investment (β=0.956415, p=0.001). The study recommended that intracompany loans need to be increased between a subsidiary and parent company. The terms and conditions of payment of a given loan between a subsidiary and parent company need to be made more friendly and promising than a loan taken from other lenders.
Keywords: Intracompany loan, ROI, financial performance, manufacturing, Rwand
Inventory Conversion Period and Financial Performance of Selected Firms Listed at Nairobi Securities Exchange
No full textManagers strive to achieve strategic objectives of firms, which include maximum returns on equity and assets. However, unanticipated macro and micro environmental factors may cause a firm to fall into financial distress which may negatively influence its financial performance. Manufacturing, Construction and Allied sectors play an important role in the implementation of vision 2030 and contribute immensely to the country’s economic growth. Declining returns and repeated losses reported by firms under these sectors have resulted in a slow growth by individual sectors as well as overall national economic growth. Poor performance has been attributed to cycles of financial distress problems affecting firms under manufacturing and construction sectors in the recent past. Identified knowledge gaps prompted the study to mainly determine the effect of financial distress on financial performance of selected firms listed at NSE. Independent variable which form the basis for specific research objective and research hypothesis is inventory conversion period while dependent variable is financial performance. The study which may be of value to financiers, policymakers, investors and researchers was supported by economic order quantity model. Panel research design was employed by the study and census adopted due to the small population size. Secondary panel data collected from published financial statements of the entire 4 financially distressed firms listed under manufacturing, construction and allied sectors covering 10 years (2009-2018) were utilized. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze panel data with the aid of statistical software (STATA, V.14). Panel regression analysis approach was used to test the hypothesis at 95% confidence level and diagnostic tests was performed before conclusion was drawn. Findings were presented in table format and supported by narrations. Research ethics were observed while conducting the study. The study revealed that inventory conversion period has an inverse and significant effect on the financial performance (return on assets and return on equity) in the selected firms listed at Nairobi Securities Exchange. The study recommends that low inventory conversion periods should be maintained by firms in order to improve profitability which can be done by improving efficiency in the production processes.
Keywords: Inventory, Conversion period, financial performance, Return on Asset, Return on Equity, Listed firms, NSE