Stratford Peer Reviewed Journals and Books
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Efficacy of the Use of Mobile Applications on Front Office Operations; a Case Study Hilton Hotel Nairobi
No full textThe general objective of the study was to investigate the efficacy of mobile applications in front office operation operations. The specific objectives studied include; examining the efficacy of guest service mobile applications; finding out the effectiveness of mobile wallet applications; and investigating the efficacy of mobile mapping and travel applications in front office operations. The study was anchored on the theory of the technology acceptance model. The study used a descriptive research design to investigate these objectives. The study area was Hilton Hotel Kenya, a five-star hotel in the Nairobi CBD. The targeted population included 76 employees working in the front office department of the hotel. Random sampling technique was used to identify participants, while Slovin’s formula was used to calculate the sample size. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data and descriptive statistics used to analyze it. The study found that the majority agreed that guest service apps used in hotels enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty as well as enabling guests to access hotel services conveniently, faster and cheaper. The study also established that mobile wallet applications used in hotels make payment for services convenient, more rapid, accountable, and secure. The research further found that mapping and travel apps help visitors approximate the cost of travel to various destinations, remind visitors of their travel plans/takeoff, and inform visitors of environmental details. The study concluded that mobile apps enhance the efficiency of front office operations by allowing convenient, faster, and cheaper execution of transactions. The study recommended that the management and ownership of hotels should ensure the adoption and implementation of the use of mobile applications to offer guest services owing to the numerous benefits they have.
Keyword: Mobile Applications, Front Office Operations, Hilton Hotel, guest service mobile applications, wallet mobile applications, mobile mapping and travel applications, Nairobi
Health Care Provider Factors That Influence the Implementation of Policy on Management of Childhood Illnesses in Bomet County
No full textThe study aimed at determining the health care provider factors that influence the implementation of Policy on management of childhood illnesses at Bomet County. A descriptive cross sectional study design with both quantitative and qualitative approaches was employed. The study was carried out in Bomet County. The study population was a total of 279 health workers in Bomet County Hospital and Tenwek Hospital. A sample of 164 was arrived at which was selected using stratified and simple random sampling technique. The quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 22) and presented through frequencies and percentages. The study also established a significant positive relationship between health care provider factors and implementation of policy on management of childhood illnesses where a unit increase in health care provider factors leads to an increase in implementation of policy by 0.759, p˃0.01. The study recommended that Health care providers require support to be able to use the knowledge and skills acquired for implementation of the policy on management of childhood illnesses.
Keywords: health care provider factors, implementation, management, childhood illnesse
Nursing Faculty Clinical Practice in the Kenyan Universities: A Sequential Mixed Methods Study
No full textBackground: As nursing is a practice profession, nursing faculty is expected to be prepared academically and clinically to teach effectively. Nursing faculty is also expected to maintain their clinical currency and competence though participation in faculty clinical practice. This study aimed to assess participation in faculty clinical practice among Kenyan universities nursing faculty.
Methods: This study used an explanatory sequential mixed method design. The first (quantitative) phase comprised an online survey with data from a random sample of nursing faculty teaching in Kenyan universities. Phase two (qualitative) involved purposeful selection of participants for focus group discussions, each with five participants. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and qualitative data were categorized and analyzed thematically. Quantitative and qualitative data were integrated in the discussion phase.
Results: Participants in phase one were 65 nursing faculty; 81.5% (n=53) were participating in faculty clinical practice. However, the understanding of faculty clinical practice varied among participants. Faculty clinical practice was considered beneficial in helping to bridge the theory-practice gap, enhancing teaching confidence and providing faculty with opportunity to role model for their students. Four themes emerged from the focus group discussions that clarified the benefits of faculty clinical practice. These themes covered role modelling, bridging the theory practice gap and confidence in teaching and relationships. Various challenges in faculty practice were identified with strong themes being lack of scope of practice and lack of mentors for faculty.
Conclusion: Most nursing faculty in Kenyan universities participate in faculty clinical practice and this is perceived to have a positive impact in their teaching role. However, nursing faculty face various challenges in faculty clinical practice that need to be addressed. In particular, universities need to develop a guiding framework for faculty clinical practice with clear definitions, scope of practice and criteria for evaluating outcomes.
Keywords: Faculty Clinical Practice, Nurse Academics, Faculty Practice Models, Nurse Educators, Clinical Credibility & Clinical Currency
Fighting Corruption and Promoting Integrity in Public Procurement: Comparative Study between Kenya and Tanzania
No full textPublic procurement has undergone various changes in Africa since independence where most parts had centralized powers, which excluded participation by other stakeholders, including the civil society. In this context, the Government operated almost as a sole player in the economy. The lack of checks-and-balances and specific capacities resulted in a culture of indifference and tolerance towards corrupt practices. There are still remnants of this culture, which still influence much of government procurement practices. The acquisition of infrastructural materials and services in African Countries threatens the viable implementation of projects due to massive corruption during procurement. Transparency International corruption in 2017 ranked Kenya 144 out of 180 countries surveyed with a score of 27 out of 100 while Tanzania was ranked 99 out of 180 countries with a score of 36 out of 100. This points that corruption is pervasive in Kenya and Tanzania society and is a serious problem across all sectors of the economy. The general objective of the study was to examine corruption in procurement and promotion of integrity in public procurement in Kenya and Tanzania. The study used a desk study review methodology where relevant empirical literature was reviewed to identify main themes. A critical review of empirical literature was conducted to examine corruption in public procurement and promotion of integrity in public procurement. The study was informed by institutional and system theories. The study concluded that Kenya and Tanzania all have a fairly comprehensive legal and institutional framework that supports integrity in public procurement. The biggest dilemma is however, the fact that stronger laws are not necessarily the best on public procurement integrity in practice. The study further concluded that while laws and institutions are important to the extent that they lay out rules and procedures that must be followed and prescribe sanctions for non-compliance with these rules, they in themselves are not sufficient. The study recommended on the need to build public confidence to report corruption to the relevant institutions. The low corruption reporting may be indicator to the general public perception on the official anti-corruption responses. The indication therefore is that the government needs to do a lot to convince the public to render their support. Government institutions should prepare and publicly display their service / client charters outlining the services available, their cost and length of time required to get the service. It should enhance public awareness on corruption, its causes and consequences and to encourage the public to report corruption. Strengthen civil society and media to ensure sustained momentum in demanding for government commitment to fight corruption in public procurement.
Keywords: Corruption, Integrity, Public Procurement, Kenya & Tanzania.
 
Effect of Credit Reference Bureaus Functions on Financial Performance of Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies in Kenya
No full textThe main objective of the study was to establish effect of credit reference bureaus functions on financial performance of SACCOs in Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to establish the effect of credit cost function, information sharing function, moral hazard function, risk assessment function and intervening inflation effect on financial performance of deposit taking SACCOs in Kenya. SACCOs enable members to access loans in which the youth have been employed directly or indirectly to earn a living. The existence of information asymmetry has led to the need for credit reference bureaus to check on loan defaults. SACCOs in Kenya are facing an imminent crash due to high default rates thus affecting their financial performance; a situation that prompted to this study. Theories used were information sharing, adverse selection, moral hazard and micro-loan borrowing rates and default. The study adopted a descriptive research design. Descriptive statistics was chosen since it utilizes data collection and analysis techniques that yield reports concerning the measures of central tendency, variation, and correlation. The target population of the study was 181 SACCOs registered by 2014. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 135 licensed deposit taking SACCOs as at 31st December 2014. Secondary data from publications, CRBs, journals and financial records was used. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires which had both close ended and open ended questionnaires. The study conducted various tests including normality test, multicollinearity, stationarity, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation tests. Additionally, mediation test was conducted and it satisfied all the four conditions thus the hypothesis that inflation has an intervening effect on the relationship between credit reference bureaus functions and financial performance was supported. The study found out that CRBs functions (credit cost function, information sharing function, moral hazard function and risk assessment function) and financial performance were positively related and significant. The findings showed that moral hazard function had the largest influence with a coefficient of .326 on financial performance followed by risk assessment (.271); credit cost (.269) and information sharing (.253). The study concluded that CRBs functions have a positive and significant effect on financial performance of SACCOs in Kenya. The study recommended the establishment of a clear and elaborate regulatory framework to ensure that consumer complaints are fully addressed so that CRBs do not turn out to be punishing institutions for loan defaulters. Further it recommended the introduction of a strong bureaus board of directors with various relevant professional skills to oversee credit policies and procedures so that there could be uniformity and fairness for all the parties involved. Also the regulating authorities should be given more powers and resources to carry out effectively their regulating and supervisory credit reports. This study was carried out to contribute to the growing knowledge in the field of finance especially the area of CRB functions towards improving financial performance of deposit-taking SACCOs. Future researchers could also consider expanding the scope of the period to ten years or when the CRBs increase from the current three. Researches could also be done on effect of credit reference bureaus functions on mortgage finance institutions
Financial Leverage and Performance of the Agricultural Companies Listed at Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya
No full textThe purpose of this study was to establish the effects of financial leverage on financial performance of the agricultural companies listed at Nairobi Security Exchange market in Kenya. Precisely, this research emphasized on the effects of debt financing, debt-equity finance, long terms debts and short terms debts on financial performances of agricultural firms listed at Nairobi security market in Kenya. The research utilized panels data as obtained from secondary source including yearly financial records of agricultural companies listed in the securities market at Capital Market Authority website, Nairobi Security Exchange handbooks for the periods of reference and library materials. This research study assumed explanatory and non-experimental research designs to analyze the relationship between financial performances and leverage for agricultural organizations trading at the security markets in Kenya. Various attributes of financial leverage were described using descriptive analysis. The study used panel regression method to examine data as a model. Both correlation and regression analysis were applied to examine the link involving the study variables. The study findings revealed that debt equity financing had a positive and significant effect on return on asset. The study further found that long term debt and short-term debt had a negative and significant effect on return on asset. In addition, the study found that debt financing had a positive albeit insignificant effect on return on asset. The study concluded that debt equity financing had a positive and significant effect on return on asset. The implication is that increase in debt equity financing makes it easy for companies to effectively manage their assets. Further, the concluded that long term debt and short-term debt had a negative and significant effect on return on assets. The implication is that the more firms depend on debts, the lower the return on assets. This could be associated with the fact that instead of using its returns for reinvestment, it uses it to meet liabilities of the creditors. The study recommends that managers of the agricultural companies listed at Nairobi Security Exchange market in Kenya should employ minimal debt level which will not affect the firm performance due to the adverse effect of short term debt on return on asset.
Keywords: Financial Leverage, Performance, Agricultural Companies, Nairobi Securities Exchange  
Influence of Strategic Innovation on the Performance of Small and Medium Women-Owned Enterprises in Kenya
No full textIn today volatile business environment, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya experience high number of problems affecting their performance, profitability, success and survival. Women-owned SMEs have important contributions to make to innovation and development of the Kenyan economy. Strategic innovations can actually enhance the performance of women-owned SMEs in several aspects. It has been found that more innovative firms adopt different operational strategies to accommodate flexibility and quality capabilities. The objective was to determine the influence of organization innovation on the performance of small and medium women-owned enterprises in Kenya. The scope of this study was in Nairobi County. The study was guided by an epistemological research philosophy adopting a positivist research paradigm. The research design was cross-sectional survey design using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The target population for this study was 5,362 registered women owned enterprises registered with the County Government of Nairobi by December 2017 and the sample size was 358 respondents derived using Fishers formulae. This study used a self-administered, closed and open-ended questionnaire to obtain quantitative data. The study results revealed that organizational innovations had a positive and significant influence on performance of women owned enterprises in Kenya. Findings also implied that strategic innovations adopted helped enterprises to create new markets which improved performance. The study concluded that favourable external environments such proper legislations, political climate conducive for business among others may enhance the performance of small and medium size enterprises. The study recommended that those women-owned enterprises should always be on the lookout for better strategic innovations of conducting business which reduces costs and improves performance.
Keywords: Strategic innovation, Performance, Women-Owned Small and Medium Enterpris
Influence of ideal equipment maintenance practice on the reliability of power supply at the Port of Mombasa
No full textThe purpose of the study was to establish the influence of ideal equipment maintenance practice on the reliability of power supply at the Port of Mombasa. The study adopted a descriptive research design using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The sample size comprised of 203 respondents with data collected through questionnaires. Findings showed that management of Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) updates the existing power supply equipment regularly. This shows that KPA had initiated the power upgrade to solve the problem of the unreliable power supply at the port. From the results, it is notable that KPA equipment maintenance policy is ISO certified. The port has implemented the Integrated Security System for the port in order to make the port compliant as per the International Ship and Port Facility System (ISPS). Additionally, KPA undertakes both corrective maintenance and preventive maintenance of equipment. Moreover, KPA engineers usually undergo refresher courses on equipment maintenance policy. This is an indicator that KPA is geared towards ideal practices of maintaining of power equipment. This in effect has led to reliable supply of power at the port. Correlation analysis established that ideal equipment maintenance practice had a positive and significantly relationship with reliability of power supply at the Port of Mombasa. The study concluded that ideal equipment maintenance practice has a significant influence on reliability of power supply at the Port of Mombasa. The recommendation was that the management of the Kenya Ports Authority in Mombasa should continuously carry out efficient process on maintenance of newly upgraded equipment at the port to guarantee future reliability of power supply.
Keywords: Ideal equipment maintenance practice, Reliability of power suppl
Innovation Capabilities and Process Design for Business Model Transformation in Kenyan Insurance companies: A Service Dominant Logic Paradigm
No full textThe study focused on the application of operant resources (i.e., knowledge and skills) as the exchange driver in insurance marketing. In a S-D dimension environment, the marketing and non-marketing disciplines were reviewed to improve the performance of insurance companies in Kenya. The researcher considered the viewpoints of Vargo, Lusch and their co-authors and other related literature when examining the innovation capabilities of Kenya and the need for S-D logic as a useful marketing tool for Kenyan insurance companies. The main focus for the study was premised on the understanding that selling a promise requires trust that insurance companies will honour the commitment to pay all claims incurred about the insurance contracts. The study found out that innovation capabilities of Kenyan insurance companies are directed to a large extent on the preparation for adopting emerging external innovations rather than internal development of the innovations. The study also confirmed that essential resources for innovation and innovation components linkages had negative effect on organization performance however; the processes necessary for innovation had a positive effect. The study therefore confirmed that even though Kenyan insurance firms have innovation capabilities, they have failed to sustain the capabilities for long term prosperity; instead, they were seen to adopt the innovations from other markets rather than undertaking the innovation process themselves.
Key words: Innovation, Capabilities, Process Design, Business Model, Transformatio
Perceptions of Digital Migration on Media Production South America: A Focus on Argentina
No full textBrazil and Mexico are market leaders for the digital switchover in Latin America and are the countries closest to completing the process. Although they have chosen different technologies for digital terrestrial television, they both demonstrate that actively involving the broadcasting industry is key to success, and that the government also has to promote digital switchover and help the poorest citizens acquire digitally compliant devices. Digital switchover can be a lengthy process in large countries that rely on terrestrial television as their main television platform. This has regional consequences, because countries at an advanced stage of digital switchover cannot easily re-allocate digital dividend frequencies for mobile use while neighboring countries are still using these frequencies for broadcasting. The main challenges that Latin American countries face concern the management of the simulcast period and the switch-off process. The best-practice examples of Brazil and Mexico could, however, benefit other countries in the region such as Argentina in terms of identifying the network parameters that will best meet market demand, involving stakeholders, and carrying out pilot tests. Digital switchover calls for strong government support and action to tackle challenges as they arise. Therefore, the paper examined the perceived influence of digital migration on the performance of La Plata Media Group on Argentina. The study embraced a case study design considering the fact that it only used one institution, La Plata Media Group to gather the information that was used for analysis. The data obtained was analyzed using the content analysis since it was qualitative. The study concluded that digital migration was a cheerful incident to be adopted by La Plata Media Group despite it had the hurdles of the high cost of procuring the digital facilities, lack of adequate information, technology experts, poor infrastructure in the country and the lack of regulatory legal framework on the use of digital platforms. The study also concluded that digital migration spurred the productive information acquisition and news distribution within the organization. The study also, concluded that the organization majorly depended on the internal product re-innovation to establish new products to the viewers. The study further established the organization had ushered in a relook at the competitive service strategy to align it to the existing market situation. The study recommended that La Plata Media Group need to constantly welcome the use of the digital platforms to enhance its performance and enhance the cost effective. The study also recommended the government to implement strategies and policies that minimize unhealthy and unfair competition amongst the media houses in Argentina to make the firms grow in their future digitization. Besides, the study recommended La Plata Media Group to continue espousing the digitization of its contents and training of the employees to improve the skills and competency, thus higher efficiency.
Key words; Digital Migration, Media Production, La Plata Media Group & Argentina