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Effect environmental activities on the financial performance of small and medium sized companies in Kenya
No full textFULL TEXTThis study therefore seeks to analyze the effect of annual cost of environmental activities on the financial performance of small
and medium sized enterprises in Kenya. The study is anchored on triple bottom line model and stakeholders’ and corporate
social responsibility theories. A descriptive study design has been adopted in order to observe and make inferences on the
effect of corporate social activities spending of firm financial performance. The study targets a population of 100 top
performing medium sized companies in Kenya because of their rank as best financial performers in the country and their
involvement in corporate social responsibility activities. Secondary data was collected by use of data collection form and the
data was obtained from annual financial reports for years ending 2014 to 2018. Data was edited, coded and analysed using
descriptive and inferential statistics. Results were presented in form of tables and graphs. The study will enable the owners of
small and medium sized enterprises to understand the resultant effect of corporate social responsibility on financial
performance of small and medium enterprises. It will also aid decision makers to make informed decisions about planning of
sustainable objectives and allocation of resources towards achievement of those objectives. Using results from random effects
model, revealed annual cost of environmental activities by Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Kenya can be used to
predict the outcome of return on investment as a measure of the SMEs financial performance. When amount spent annually on
environmental activities is increased by 1 unit, return on investment also decreases by -5.6109 units with other variables kept
constant. This indicated that amount spent annually on environmental activities can be used to predict the SMEs returns on
investments, though the relationship is inverse
INFLUENCE OF STRATEGIC JOB DESIGN TECHNIQUES ON JOB SATISFACTION AMONG STATE CORPORATIONS IN KENYA
No full textFULL TEXTThe greatest challenge facing organisations is whether their staffs are motivated to perform their duties and whether employees find their work interesting and meaningful. The ways jobs are designed have an important bearing to an employee‟s job satisfaction. Understanding job design techniques and their influence on motivation, job satisfaction and performance will lead organisations to keep the best employee pool for themselves and fend off competition from other organisations seeking to get talented employees from the already existing pool. Different strategies such as the more traditional job rotation and other conventional strategies like job enlargement and enrichment have been interchangeably used by organisations to make their employees motivated. State corporations in Kenya are not exception to this kind of job design. The objectives of this study were: to investigate the influence of job rotation strategy on job satisfaction among state corporations in Kenya, to determine how job enlargement strategy influences job satisfaction among state corporations in Kenya, to analyse job enrichment strategy and how it influences job satisfaction among state corporations in Kenya, and to evaluate the influence of flexible work arrangements strategy on job satisfaction among state corporations in Kenya. This study was based on several theories namely: Job Characteristics model, Hertzberg‟s two factor Hygiene theory, Clayton Aldefer‟s ERG theory, equity theory, family-boarder theory, and boundary theory. The research design for this study was cross-sectional descriptive design. This research sought to interrogate the extent to which the state corporations employ these strategies and their influence on the job satisfaction and suggest possible areas of improvement. The target population was 187 state corporations. The unit of analysis was employees of the state corporations in Kenya. The research studied a sample size of 381 employees in 127 state corporations. The state corporations in Kenya were selected using stratified sampling while employees were purposively selected. To obtain the data, semi-structured questionnaires were used in this research. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of SPSS package. The findings of this study show that the most significant strategies in enhancing job satisfaction among state corporations in Kenya are job enlargement, job enrichment and flexible work arrangements. Job rotation strategy on the other hand was found not to have any significance on job satisfaction
INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL CULTURE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL COMPLETION RATES IN SAMBURU EAST SUB-COUNTY, KENYA
Get PDFOne of the main challenges facing secondary education sector in Kenya and other parts of the world today is low secondary school completion rates, which is an indicator of low internal efficiency. Despite the effort by the central government of Kenya to initiate Free Secondary Education (FSE) and implementation of the policy of 100% completion rates, secondary school are still experiencing low completion rates. The objective of this study was to investigate the Influence of school culture on Secondary School Completion Rates in Samburu East Sub-county, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The target population was 261 subjects derived from 254 Form Four students in secondary schools within Samburu East Sub-county, Kenya. Sample size of 156 form four students participated in the study as respondents. Stratified sampling technique was used to obtain respondents from the strata of boys and girls from mixed schools while simple random sampling technique was used to select boys and girls from single gender schools. Proportionate sampling was used to apportion respondents to each sampled school. The study established that school cultures would influence 38.2% positive change in secondary school completion rates in Samburu East Sub-county. This implies that implementation of management practices related to school cultures leads to increase in secondary school completion rates. It was concludes that performance of regular sacred songs, regular services organized by Christian societies, instillation of discipline and Regular prayers encourages students to complete their secondary school education. It is recommended that the Head of school teachers should make the school environment conducive for learning, build positive school culture, use available instructional resources, motivate learners, and monitor classroom management practices so as to improve secondary school completion rates
Evaluating the Feasibility of Using Classifiers in Detecting Social Engineering Fraud
No full textFull textSocial engineering fraud is among the most notorious forms of fraud through which people
continue to lose money and sensitive information. Its increasing prevalence is negatively
affecting strides made in mobile and digital banking. Despite efforts in creating public
awareness, its mitigation has not been effective as the tricks used by swindlers keep
evolving. Virtually all existing solutions to the problem are based on human interventions
such as manually reporting and blacklisting phone numbers. This approach is slow and
inefficient due to the huge number of incidents reported relative to the limited existing
human resource capacity. This paper presents an evaluation of the feasibility of using
classifiers to detect voice-based social engineering fraud. Findings suggest the possibility
of using natural language processing and machine learning to automate the detection of
voice-based social engineering fraud. Outcomes of the study can be used to develop
automated real-time SEF detection systems
INFLUENCE OF HEALTH INSURANCE ON CLINICAL DECISION MAKING AMONG KENYAN DOCTORS
No full textFULL TEXTThe vast majority of Kenyans lack any form of health insurance. Thus, they find it difficult to raise money for health expenditure. As a result, studies elsewhere have shown an obvious disadvantage to uninsured individuals in terms of health care accorded to them when compared to patients with insurance. However, there is a scarcity of research in Kenya to evaluate whether lack of insurance affects the kind of health care they receive. The main objective of this study was to examine the presence or absence of change in clinical decisions among Kenyan doctors depending on the health insurance status of a patient. This research study used a cross-sectional survey which used an online self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire sought to find out if respondents had changed their clinical decisions on the basis of the health insurance status of their patients. Further, the tool asked respondents if they thought the decision change impacted the patients’ health care negatively or positively. Analysis of the responses involved categorical independent and dependent variables. Chi-square test was used to measure significance for a p-value of/or less than 0.05 using SPSS 19 software. The completed responses were 183 (20 % of total surveyed), 25 questionnaires were incomplete and thus excluded, leaving 158 which were analyzed. Of the respondents’ data analyzed, 84% reported that they had changed their clinical decisions on basis of the health insurance status of the patients. There was a significant difference in the clinical decision by the doctors between uninsured patients and those insured (71% decision change for uninsured vs. 93% for the insured; p 0.05). Respondents in private practice were more likely to change decisions on basis of health insurance status compared to those in public practice (94% vs. 17%; p0.05). Findings of this study revealed that clinical decision making of Kenyan doctors is influenced by health insurance. Insured patients were likely to receive better care than the uninsured. A recommendation is made to the government bodies to formulate policies that ensure that healthcare is universally available regardless of insurance status. The government can consider formulating a policy to enhance universal health insurance inclusion
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLANS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN RONGAI SUB-COUNTY, KENYA
No full textFULL TEXTPast research has shown that even though excellent strategic plans have been written in public secondary schools, few have been successfully implemented. Crafting the best strategic plan is not the end in itself. Final results can only be realized once the plan has been successfully implemented. It is a lot easier to craft strategic plans than it is to implement them. While several studies have underscored the fact that there are challenges regarding strategic plan implementation in secondary schools in Kenya, it is important to observe that the implementation matrix varies with context and as such their findings are not necessarily generalizable. Further, few studies have done an in-depth analysis of the key variables identified in the present study. Therefore, this research investigated factors that influence the implementation of strategic plans in public secondary schools in Rongai sub-county. The objectives of the study were as follows: to investigate the influence of leadership, government policy, resource allocation and organizational structure in the implementation of strategic plans in public secondary schools in Rongai sub-county. Private secondary schools were excluded from the study because it is a ministerial requirement for public secondary schools to have strategic plans but not private schools. The study was guided by Mintzberg‟s Model and the Resource Dependence theory. The research adopted a descriptive survey design and targeted 9 out of the 46 public secondary schools in Rongai Sub-County from which a sample size of 112 respondents comprising principals, the deputy principals, heads of departments and teachers was drawn using both purposive and simple random sampling. The non-teaching staff was excluded from the study because, in most schools, they are few and not employed on long term contracts and were therefore not generally involved in the school strategy development. Data was collected through pre-tested structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were pretested for content validity and also internal consistency for reliability. The reliability coefficient for the entire questionnaire was 0.8772 which was above the recommended Cronbach value of 0.7. Data was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis, which was done using frequencies and percentages to describe the basic characteristics of the data. Inferential data analysis was done using Pearson‟s Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient and multiple linear regression. The findings revealed that Government Policies (β = 0.451, p < 0.05) followed by Resource Allocation (β = 0.309, p < 0.05) and Leadership (β = 0.199, p < 0.05) respectively significantly influenced the implementation of strategic plans in the schools. However, Organization Structure was not found to be significant in the model (β = -0.144, p = 0.183 ˃ p = 0.05). Therefore, the study recommends that the training for key stakeholders responsible for the implementation of the strategic plans in the schools be carried out and besides, the study also recommends that the schools' leadership improve their communication and stakeholder involvement practices right from the formulation of the strategic plans to the implementation phase in order to have a good rapport with all involved. Other recommendations are that the schools develop strategies for acquiring resources to finance their strategic plans such as income-generating units and also raising funds and equipment from well-wishers such as NGOs and other charitable organizations. Finally, the study recommends that the government review its policies on strategic planning in schools that can enable it to intervene appropriately in the actualization of the strategic plans
The Relationship between Emerging Forms of Bullying and Depression among Secondary Schools Students in Bungoma County, Kenya
Get PDFThe purpose of the study wa s t o investigate the relationship between emerging forms of bullying and depression
among students in Bungoma County, Kenya. The Social-Ecological Theory and Psychosocial Theory guided the study.
The research population was 29,040 Form Three students. Deputy Principals and Guidance and Counseling teachers
from 360 secondary schools were the study respondents. A sample size of 399 students was drawn from boys, girls
and co-education schools. Form Three Students were randomly selected from the sampled schools. The study adopted
a cross-sectional research design using a mixed-method approach. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected
concurrently. Stratified random sampling and simple random sampling was used to sample schools and students,
respectively. A pilot study was conducted on the 30 Form Three students selected from three categories of secondary
schools in Bungoma County. Data was collected using a self-response questionnaire and interview schedule guide.
Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, namely mean, standard deviation and percentages we r e
used to describe data. Inferential statistics such as Pearson Correlation statistics, ANOVA were used to test the
significance of the stated hypothesis at the alpha level (α = 0.05). The qualitative data was thematically analyzed based
on the objective and presented in a prose form. All analysis was done using the statistical package for social sciences
(SPSS) version 21.0. The findings revealed that there was a positive relationship between emerging forms of bullying
and depression (R2 =.304 (30.4%)
Efficacy of Monitoring and Evaluation Framework on Implementation of Development Projects. A Comparative Analysis of Machakos and Embu County, Kenya
No full textFULL TEXTMonitoring and Evaluation, (M&E) frameworks allow for project activities to be measured and analyzed. There is a gap in the design of monitoring and evaluation frameworks to generate information during the process of Monitoring and Evaluation and use of this information in future designs. The purpose of this research study was to establish the influence of the monitoring and evaluation framework in the successful implementation of County development projects. The study was guided by the main determinants of Monitoring and Evaluation which are: Monitoring and Evaluation framework dimensions results-based performance indicators, learning capacity, participatory tracking, and beneficiary accountability. The moderating effects were government funding and disbursement of funds. The research adopted a Comparative research design with a mixed method centered within a wider exploratory, cross-sectional framework. The study was conducted in Machakos and Embu County. The population of this study was 132 staff mandated to monitor and evaluate projects undertaken under County government devolved functions from Machakos and Embu County. The sample distribution was 56 county government officials from Machakos and 43 from Embu since the two counties are relatively not homogeneous in terms of geographical location in Kenya. A sample of 99 respondents was determined and individual elements in different categories were also determined using a stratified random sampling technique. Questionnaires were distributed to respondents through a “drop and pick later” method and were subjected to a reliability test using Cronbach’s alpha. Data were analyzed quantitatively by means of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). A normality test was conducted using the Shapiro Wilk’s test. Factor analysis was undertaken to determine which of the factors are important in determining project completion. The study findings indicated that the result based performance aspects (β1 =0.529; p-value = 0.007), learning capacity (β2 =0.680; p-value = 0.001), participatory tracking (β3 =0.455; p-value = 0.001) and beneficiary accountability (β4 = 0.432; p-value = 0.002) were found to have a significant effect respectively. The results obtained show the adjusted r square value of r2 = .514 which indicate that when all the variables are combined, the multiple linear regression model could explain for approximately 51% of the variation in the dependent variable by the variation in the independent variables on Implementation of County Projects. From the findings, it can be concluded that learning capacity aspects had the highest association and significance to the successful implementation of county projects followed by result based performance aspects, participatory tracking aspects and lastly beneficiary accountability aspects. The study recommends that those charged with the responsibility of carrying out M&E, should be appropriately empowered with the necessary knowledge in order to have the grasp of how these tools are used in order to utilize them
Budgeting Perceived Benefits, Challenges and Factors Considered In The Budgetary Process Of Public Secondary Schools In Nairobi County
No full textFull textEducational institutions generally adhere to tenets of organization management. This principles
of management enable schools to play their unique functions that comprise assurance that sound
policies and objectives are formulated, procurement of resources necessary for achievement of
objectives, implementation and coordination of school activities with maximum efficiency and
effectiveness, influencing human resource available, integrating the school and its activities into
the set up of the society and evaluation of school activities in accordance to a blue print so as to
provide the necessary feedback for improvement. Inadequate planning, reporting, inspection and
monitoring of resource management, has been considered as the root cause of exploitation of
parents in some secondary schools. However, through effective budgeting and budgetary control
process secondary school functions can be managed efficiently and effectively leading to
resolution of conflict between school management and parents. The objectives of this study were
to establish factors considered when undertaking a budgetary process, to determine perceived
benefits and to establish challenges of budgeting by public secondary school managers. To
achieve these study objectives, primary data was collected using questionnaires from 21 public
secondary schools within Nairobi County. No secondary data was used in the survey. The
primary data was analyzed using means, standard deviation and percentages and presented using
frequency tables. Conclusions were drawn based on these descriptive statistics. The study
established that secondary schools perceive budgets to be of great benefit in controlling costs,
planning annual operations and for effective and efficient resources allocation. When
undertaking the budget process the number of students was greatly considered since it provided a
clear indication of amount of revenue likely to be generated and likely expenditure. The major
challenges to the budget process were escalation of costs beyond expectation, budget
implementation problems and lack of education for individuals involved in the budgeting
process
Integrating Family Planning Data in Kenya’s DHIS 2
No full textFULL TEXT1. National Research Fund
2. Sentimental Energy Lt