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Effect of Firm Value on Dividend Policy of Public Listed Non-Financial Firms in Kenya
No full textThe controversy on the link between firm value and dividend policy of firms has remained unresolved for some decades. Studies on relationship between firm value and dividend policy of firms in both developed and developing economies have provided mixed findings such that it is not clear how value affects dividend policy in a developing country like Kenya. The general objective was to analyze the effect of firm value on dividend policy of public listed non- financial firms in Kenya. The study adopted descriptive research design. The target population of the study was 36 listed non- financial firms in the NSE. The study adopted a census approach because of the small number of non-financial firms in the NSE. The study collected secondary data from NSE annual reports. Model summary results revealed that market value of equity, book value of assets and book value of debt explain 54.37% of the variation in dividend payout policy. Regression of coefficients results showed that market value of equity and dividend payout policy is positively and significantly related. The results also revealed that book value of assets and dividend payout policy is positively and significantly related. The results revealed that book value of debt and dividend payout policy is positively but insignificantly related. Based on the findings above, the study concluded that both firm market value and book value of assets has a significant effect on dividend payout policy of public listed non-financial firms in Kenya while book value of debt has an insignificant effect on dividend payout policy of publicly listed non-financial firms in Kenya. The study recommends that the public listed non-financial firms should monitor the liquidity and market capitalization positions of firms in their portfolios in order to ensure sound financial decisions that would guarantee a stable growth in client wealth and hence achieve enhanced risk positions when executing trades. The study also recommends the expansion of public listed non-financial firms’ asset base.
Key Words: firm market value, book value of assets, book value of debt, dividend policy, non-financial firm
Effect of Product Innovation on the Performance of Cement Manufacturing Firms in Kenya
No full textThis study examined the effect of product innovation on performance of the cement manufacturing firms in Kenya. It adopted a descriptive research design. The target population was all the department heads in all the cement manufacturing firms in Kenya. All the 79 department heads participated in the study. The response rate was 74%. Primary data was collected through closed-ended questionnaires. Questionnaire validity was ensured while reliability was determined using Cronbach's Alpha. Descriptive statistics; frequencies, percentages and means were used. Further, inferential statistics; correlation and regression analysis were used to assess relationship between variables. The correlation results indicated that there is a significant positive association between product innovation and performance of the cement manufacturing companies in Kenya, (r = 0.544, P = 0.000). Regression results also indicated a significant relationship, (R2 = 29.6%, P = 0.000). The null hypothesis (H01) was rejected since the p-value was 0.000<0.05. The study concluded that there is a positive and significant effect of product innovation on performance of the cement manufacturing firms in Kenya. Results have implications on technical specifications of products, product research and development, customer-centric product features, and enhancement of the existing products in all the cement manufacturing firms in Kenya.
Keywords: product innovation, performance of cement firms, cement manufacturing firm
Influence of Strategic Innovation Practices on Performance of Entrepreneurial Businesses in Kenya: Acase of SMEs in Nairobi County
No full textStrategic innovation is critical for firms that are in pursuit of improved performance and their reward is often an increase in their profits and their market share. Process of strategic innovation is strongly associated with organizational learning and refers to ability of organization to generate, accept and implement new ideas, processes, products or services. The primary goal of process innovation is to generate a notable increase in productivity or to drive down costs significantly. This approach can help organizations achieve major reductions in process cost, improvements in quality, service levels and other business objectives. Strategic innovation is contributor to creation of new markets and products for the market, however even after the benefits of strategic innovation has been established the impact of strategic innovation on performance of SMEs has remained misunderstood. The specific objectives of the study were; to establish the effect of Service innovation on the performance of SMEs in Nairobi County, to establish the effect of product innovation on the Performance of SMEs in Nairobi County. The study adopted the use of mixed method approach research design which is the application of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study used a desk study review methodology where relevant empirical literature was reviewed to identify main themes. Result findings from literature-based review indicated that innovation had positive and significant influence on the performance of SMEs. It was recommended that innovation information should be available particularly to regulatory and advisory bodies for guidance to the SMEs on the need to craft and employ sound strategies geared towards continuously embracing innovativeness since innovation leads to improved financial performance.
Keywords: Product Innovation, Service Innovation, Performance
Innovation: The Lead to Changes in Organizations
No full textIn the 21st century, all organizations are talking about change and innovation. This is the only way to manage organizations, allow them to grow and maintain their competitive advantage in order to remain live in their operational space. For innovation to impact change successfully to enable organizations maintain their competitive advantage, there is need to change rules of the innovation game (Martins & Terblanche, 2003). The organizations ought to move from closed innovation principles where the organization believes that they have the smartest people and they can do everything without any external help to the open innovation principle that embraces external boost in the process of innovation (Hosking & Anderson, 2018). Slade and Bauen (2009) further note that the intense global technological development and competition have led to innovation becoming a source of competitive advantage for organizations that cherish it.
Keywords: Innovation & Changes in Organizations
Customer Relationship Management and Competitive Advantage: A Case of Kenya School of Government
No full textThe Kenya School of Government faces competition from higher educational institutions in offering educational services. The general objective of the study was to establish the relationship of customer management strategies and competitive advantage of Kenya School of Government. The study employed descriptive research design. The population of study was 140 employees from different departments at Kenya School of Government from which a sample size of 104 respondents were picked by stratified random sampling technique. Data was collected using questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis. The results revealed that customer acquisition strategies, customer retention strategies, customer participation strategies and customer communication strategies have a significant effect on competitive advantage. It is recommended that Kenya school of Government should adopt customer need assessment to enhance competitive advantage through alignment of customer search intent to content upgrades, establishment of distribution network, and participation in customer promotions events. The institution should further strive to improve communication with customers by engaging them in consultative talk before selling a service to them, creating a platform for the customers to lodge complaints and compliments, personalize customer communications, give priority to customer calls and listen carefully to customer needs, views and requests.
Keywords: customer acquisition strategies, customer retention strategies, customer participation strategies, customer communication strategies, competitive advantage, Kenya School of Government
Effect of Agile Project Management Techniques on Performance of Public Funded Projects: A Case of Kenya Urban Roads Authority
No full textIn Kenya many public funded projects fail or are never completed. The performance of projects in developing countries is hindered by diverse factors. Indeed, various studies in agile project management have explored diverse success factors in improving the performance of agile project management. The main focus of this study was to establish the influence of agile project management techniques on performance of public funded projects in Kenya. The study specifically focused on the influence organisational strategy, resource mobilization, project team competence and stakeholders involvement on the performance of public funded projects in Kenya. The study was guided by resource mobilization theory, competency theory, stakeholder theory and theory of reasoned actions. This study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population for this study included project managers at KURA for all for ongoing project in Nairobi County. The target population for the study was a total of 78 projects managers from all the 78 ongoing projects in Nairobi County. The study adopted a census technique with respect to the unit of observation which is the project managers for all ongoing projects in Nairobi County. The instrument for data collection was mainly a questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed to the respondents to be filled questionnaires and it were picked after two weeks. Inferential statistics; regression coefficient and bivariate correlation were used to analyze the relationship of the dependent variable and the independent variables. The major findings revealed that resource mobilization, stakeholders participation and project team competence had a positive and significant relationship with project performance. Organisational strategy had a positive but insignificant relationship with project performance. Based on the study findings, the study concluded that use of agile project management techniques positively affected the project performance. The study recommended that policy makers both at the national level and at the county level should revise existing and formulate new policies to regulate how public funded projects are procured and implemented.
Keywords: Resource, Mobilization, Stakeholders’, Participation, Competence, Strateg
Influence of Career Progression on Employee Performance in Large Commercial Banks in Nairobi City County in Kenya
No full textEmployees are a major asset of an organization and play an active role towards the organization’s success that cannot be underestimated. As a reward system, career progression is one of the policies and practices established by organization to improve career effectiveness of their employees as a sequence of related work experiences and activities during one lifetime. The study sought to determine the effect of financial reward on employee performance. Self-Efficacy Theory on career progression was used to inform the study. 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 combination of its characteristic summary and correlation statistics, along with its focus on specific types of research questions, methods, and outcomes necessitated the choice of this design. The study adopted a positivism philosophy. The target population was 22,856 employees working in the six selected Commercial Banks in Nairobi City County composed of both clericals and Management staff. Krejcie and Morgan sample size determination table was used to derive a sample of 377 respondents. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires that had both close ended and open-ended questionnaires. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS. The study conducted various tests including normality test, multicollinearity, stationarity, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation tests. Factor analysis was carried out among corresponding questions to allow formation of factors with the highest Eigen values. Test of hypothesis was done at 95% confidence interval. The study found out that there was a positive and significant relationship between career progression and employee performance (r=0.588, p=0.000), the alternate hypotheses was not rejected. Based on the findings, the study concluded that career progression has a positive and significant effect on employee performance. The study recommended for management should also recognize and reward good performance, to help motivate and enhance employee engagement. An employee that has performed would feel that his or her effort is appreciated and recognized career wise, as a result would remain committed and engaged.
Keywords; Career Progression, Employee Performance, Commercial Banks & Nairobi City County, Kenya
Effect of Strategic Communication on Strategy Implementation in the Administration Police Service in Lamu County, Kenya
No full textAn effective strategy implementation process entails clear and accurate communication on the need for the strategic shift and the logical change process and their impact on employees' status quo. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of communication on strategy implementation in the administration of police service in Lamu County. 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 combination of its characteristic summary and correlation statistics, along with its focus on specific types of research questions, methods, and outcomes necessitated the choice of this design. The target population comprised 450 APs in Lamu County both among the senior leadership and among junior officers. The yamane formula was used to calculate the sampling size of 212. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires that had both close-ended and open-ended questionnaires. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS. The study conducted various tests including normality test, multicollinearity, stationarity, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation tests. The test of the hypothesis was done at a 95% confidence interval. The study found that there was a positive and significant relationship between communication and Strategic Implementation (r=0.074, p=0.000. The null hypothesis was rejected. Based on the findings, the study concluded that communication has a positive and significant effect on Strategy implementation. The study recommended for a communication plan and public relations strategy that enhances communication flow in the administration with the public. Effective communication will ensure that they receive information that is relevant to their needs and builds positive attitudes to the Administration police.
Keywords: Communication, Strategy Implementation, Administration Police Service & Lamu County.
 
Relationship between Budget Deficit and Current Account Balance in Kenya
No full textAs a rule of thumb, current account deficit should not exceed 5% of GDP. If it exceeds, it must raise concerns about its sustainability. In Kenya, current account balance deficit increased to 10.5% of the GDP by 2014 and 8.3% in 2015. Unsustainable current account deficits are a potential recipe for a currency crisis and current account reversal which have negative implications on macroeconomic stability of a country. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of budget deficits on current account deficits in Kenya. The specific objectives were to establish relationship between budget deficits on current account deficits in Kenya, to find out the short term or a long run relationship among the variables and to identify direction of the causality. The study was guided Keynesian Theory and Ricardian theory. An explanatory research design was adopted. The study covered the period of 1970 to 2017. The study used data from secondary sources including WDI, KNBS and Economic Surveys. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation was used to perform data analysis. EVIEWS was used in the analysis. Autoregressive Distributed Lag model was used to estimate the best model. The speed of adjustment towards long run equilibrium was 44.6484% implying that the system will get back to long run equilibrium at the speed of 44.6484%. The study concluded that budget deficit have a significant long run effect on Current account deficit and also Current account deficit have a significant long run impact on Budget deficit. The study concluded that there exist a short run relationship between budget deficit and current account balance. For Kenya to progress the study advocates for favorable current account balance by reducing persistent deficits and achieving current account balance sustainability, several policy options should be applied. Deliberate export oriented approaches through product diversification and international trade promotion to ensure that our products can be competitive in the international markets. For Kenya to progress the study advocates for favorable current account balance by reducing persistent deficits and achieving current account balance sustainability, several policy options should be applied. Stability in exchange rate and low inflation are critical in ensuring productivity growth.
Kew words: budget deficits, causality, current account deficits
Isolation and Identification of Bacterial Contaminants and the Potential Link between Food Contamination and the Risk Factors in Selected Cooked Street Foods on Mombasa Island
No full textThe street food sector has experienced significant growth in the past few decades due to rapid urbanization. Despite the economic benefits of the sector, it has been recognized as a potential hazard to public health when food is not prepared and handled hygienically. The objective of this study was to isolate and identify Bacterial contaminants and establish the potential link between food contamination and the risk factors in selected cooked street foods on Mombasa Island. The study adopted a descriptive survey and experimental design. One hundred vendors were selected using purposive and systematic random sampling. Representative samples of the food items were randomly collected from five vendors in each of the three locations for microbiological analysis. Standard methods from the Bacteriological Analytical Manual of Foods were used to determine coliform counts, total plate counts, and isolate Ecoli and Salmonella strains. One hundred vendors were selected using simple random sampling method. From the census in the area, there were 130 vendors selling these three food items. Sample size was 107 vendors. Questionnaires were administered to vendors. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software. Chi-square (χ2) was used to test the relationship between training and various aspects of hygiene. T- Test and Analysis of Variance was used to assess any significant differences between the three areas and between male and female, respectively. The International Commission of Microbiological Specification for Foods standards, (1996), were used to determine the acceptable limits of the bacterial counts in the food items tested. From the study results, Salmonella was detected in 8.9% of the 45 samples analyzed, which were beef samosas. These samples were considered contaminated, as Salmonella should be absent in all food items prepared and sold for consumption. The presence of Salmonella in the beef samosas could have been due to improper food handling or use of leftover foods. Unhygienic practices by some of the vendors, and probably insufficient cooking or reheating of the meat product could have been a contributing factor. This study confirmed the results of others that have identified meat products as being liable to contamination if not well handled.
Keywords: E.Colli, Salmonella, Street food, Bacterial Contaminants, Food Contamination and Mombasa Island