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Communication and Identity in Popular Music Videos in Kenya: Suggesting Value Addition For Archiving and Returns
No full textFULL TEXTIn this paper I first provide some reflections on three issues; communication as achieved through the
music medium, cultural and artiste’s identity in popular music, and the realities of the medium as an
archive material with possibilities of attracting markets for artists and national economies. Given,
globalization has engendered efforts by artists to produce musical styles hitherto unknown in Africa. In
addition, with exponential technological music production advancements of recent decades, music
video as a means of music expression, dissemination, marketing and storage in all music genres has
increased correspondingly. However, this paper suggests that issues of effectiveness in communication
and “rightful” expression of individual cultural and artistic identities that can enhance relevance,
market attraction and increase dividends need attention. While the paper does not purport to restrict
music-for-music sake productions, or limiting the reach of musicians borrowing from other cultures
and styles, a recommendation is made especially for music video productions that; (1) communicate to
a multi-cultural audience; (2) project the style and identity of the individual artist and NOT styles
secondary to them; and (3) productions that can be archived and marketed for sale because they boldly
pronounced various aspects of Kenya’s cultural diversity.National Research Fun
ASSESSING KENYA’S COOPERATIVE MODEL OF DEVOLUTION: A SITUATION-SPECIFIC ANALYSIS
Get PDFKenya’s form of quasi-federalism termed devolution was introduced under the Constitution of Kenya (2010) (‘2010 Constitution’). This governance system establishes 47 county governments which are constitutionally independent sub-national units with direct election of county level leaders. Given the complexity of devolution’s relationship to national politics, as well as the broad variation in how devolution has unfolded in the 47 counties since 2013, this article argues in favour of a situation-specific assessment of devolution in Kenya. This analysis departs from the emerging scholarly consensus of devolution in Kenya represented in two predominant approaches. One approach contends that devolution in Kenya has simply devolved corruption and patronage from the national to the county level. Another approach argues that devolution has so far been relatively successful because it has introduced a new political system at the county level that has a robust system of checks and balances but that has empowered a new dynamic in Kenya’s politics at the sub-national level. This article argues the first approach paints the emerging devolution experience with a broad brush that is not reflected in every county or even on every issue. This article has more in common with the second view. However, we argue for a more situation-specific, case by case analysis of devolution to show variations in how devolution has or has not facilitated the delivery of services and opportunities that were prior to 2013 likely to be unavailable particularly in the most economically disadvantaged counties
FACTORS AFFECTING SERVICE DELIVERY IN PARASTATALS: A CASE STUDY OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION AUTHORITY, KENYA
No full textFULL TEXTThere is need for critical service delivery in REA a state corporation which is mandated to accelerate the pace of rural electrification in order to promote sustainable socioeconomic development. Like any other organizations ,it faces complains about service delivery, it is normal for a human being not to get satisfaction no matter how good a service but organizations will always try and go overboard to please their customers. It is also important to observe that there are notable successes, failures and missed opportunities in the history of State Corporations in Kenya. Financial sector regulators represent notable successes in the service delivery sector, clearly facilitating the positioning of Kenya as a financial, transport and communications hub in the continent and the world at large. In all these cases government entities which were not working optimally were either transformed through engagement with strategic and/or anchor investors, or introduction of missing links in the product value chains, which then added value before these could be partially privatized. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting service delivery in parastatals in Kenya a Case of Rural Electrification Authority. The objectives were; to find out how organization structure affects service delivery, to find out how communication affects service delivery, to identify how knowledge and skills affect service delivery, to identify service delivery principles and policies in parastatals. To achieve this objective the Researcher employed descriptive research design and made use of questionnaires to collect data from the respondents. The target population of the study was 13 customer service staff working at rural electrification authority and 97 major suppliers. The collected data was coded and entered into SPSS for analysis. Using SPSS (statistical package for social sciences.) Data was grouped into frequency distribution tables to indicate variable values and number of occurrences in terms of frequency. Parastatals will benefit from the findings of this study as they will use the results of the study to improve service delivery. It will be of help to the government in formulating policies that will guide the operations of the state owned corporations to ensure good service delivery, the customers who are the citizens will be able to know the service delivery principles and what to expect when being served. Researchers and scholars will benefit from the study, as they will use the findings of the study as a source of information
The Role of Kabarak University in the Development of the Music Industry in Kenya
No full textFULL TEXTMusic in Kenya since 2000 has been neglected in the education system. After the implementation of the
8-4-4 system of education (8 years in primary school, 4 years in high school and 4 years in university),
music was not made a compulsory and examinable subject in primary school while in Secondary
School and university levels, it is an elective and examinable subject. This has hindered the
development of the music industry in that very few people have background information on the subject.
Moreover, according to Mindoti (2010), the Development of Music as an academic discipline in Kenya
may suffer a set-back due to schools putting more focus on what will improve their overall mean score.
Furthermore, very few universities offer music as a course. This is a very serious problem at hand that
if it is not dealt with will lead to the poor standards of music education in Kenya. Interviewing and
administering Questionnaires were used indata collection in this paper. Descriptive statistics method of
analysis was used because it summarised the information collected and described how the music
schools in Kenya specifically, The School of Music and Performing Arts (SMPA) in Kabarak
University, could assist in producing professional musicians and fill the ever widening gap in the music
industry. Gifted students in music who suggested the way forward in developing their talents werealso
identified and interviewed. Furthermore, questionnaires were interviewed and administered to music
students in Kabarak University who are pursuing music as a full time course or as a short course. Focus
was on the students pursing music in the university but did not pursue it in either primary or secondary
school in order to find out how the university is helping in inspiring young people talented in musical
arts to pursue music in order to nurture their talent and in turn to develop the music industry in Kenya.National Research Fun
EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN COUNTY GOVERNMENTS IN KENYA A CASE STUDY OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF NAKURU
No full textFULL TEXTChange is an inevitable part of any growing industry. The forces of change are brought about by the political, social, technological, economic and legal environment in which all organizations operate in. The study therefore sought to investigate the effect of organizational culture on change management in county government of Nakuru Kenya. More specifically the study investigated the influence of behavioural culture, organizational values, cultural beliefs and organizational norms on change management in county governments of Nakuru. Theories that were used in this study included Kurt Lewin‟s Three Step Planned Change Model and Kotter‟s Eight Steps Model. The study employed descriptive survey research design. The target population of the study was 5030 employees working in the 10 ministries in the county government of Nakuru. Random sampling technique was adopted where 197 employees were selected to be the respondents of the study. Questionnaires constructed on a five point likert scale were used for data collection. The questionnaires were tested for validity and reliability where Cronbach‟s coefficient Alpha was computed for the instrument. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the collected data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics which included frequency, percentages, Chi-square test for agreement and inferential statistics which included correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The analyzed data was presented in form of tables accompanied by relevant discussions. Findings indicated that behavioural culture, organizational values, cultural beliefs and organizational norms have positive and significant relationships with change management in the county government of Nakuru. On the other hand, regression analysis demonstrated that all the independent variables taken together significantly accounts for up to 61.4% of the total variation in change management in the county of Nakuru. Behavioural culture and organizational norms were shown to significantly influence change management whereas organizational values and cultural beliefs were not significant in accounting for change management in the county. The study concluded that the independent variables play a significant role in determining change management in the county of Nakuru. The study recommended that the county government should enhance the organizational culture to be adaptable to change management and enhance the quality performance of the employees
Contemporary Musical Arts for Sustainable Development
No full textFULL TEXTThis paper explores how Contemporary Musical Arts have and can impact the society for Sustainable
development. It will delve into the challenges Musical Arts has and the opportunities that can and have
been created to push the SDG Agenda’ Transforming our World’ and help in achieving the goals,
specifically number 1 (No Poverty), 4 (Quality Education), and 8(Decent Work and Economic
Growth).National Research Fun
Effects of Social Media Network Sites on Service Delivery in Hotels in Nakuru Town
No full textFULL TEXTThe importance of social media in enhancing positive relationships between customers and
business cannot be gainsaid. This is because they offer new and innovative ways to communicate
and network via the internet. There are various platforms provided by the social media networks
such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Skype, mysite, whatzup and Twitter in the strategic
marketing of products and services for the hotel industry. As such, social media networking has
become an effective form of marketing which has raised the brand awareness, brand loyalty,
customer services and has led to increase in sales. As such it has opened tremendous
opportunities for companies to market their products and services using social media. The aim of
this study was to investigate the effects of social networking in service delivery in the hotel
industry in Kenya. It sought to establish how hotels are utilizing social media in marketing so as
to boost awareness amongst its customers. The theoretical background was based on theories of
social media. In order to explore, identify and suggest workable policies and strategies in the
management of the use of social networking, stratified proportionate sampling procedure has
been used to pick the hotels, the study used questionnaires to collect data. Collected data was
analyzed using statistical package of social sciences (SPSS) version 22 and presented in tables,
figures and charts form. A sample size of 190 employees was used with the end result expected
to give the effects of social networking in the hotel industry and how this strategic change can be
managed to increase productivity in the industry. The research findings of the study is useful to
hotel industry in using social media as a part of its marketing strategy.
The study showed that a huge percentage of 94.1% used social media. This was attributed to the
high usage of internet enable smartphones. There was also a noted higher usage of the social
media among the younger age groups compared to their old counterparts. Facebook and twitter
usage topped the list of the highly used social media networks in the hotel industry that mirrored
their usage in the social lives. There is different prevalence of the usage of diverse social media
networks for different purposes such as marketing, sales, customer service and giving of
information. In the context of marketing, 82.2% of the respondents utilized social media for
marketing purposes of which the face book and Google plus topped the usage. The social media
was used for marketing to give out new product introduction, product features elaboration and
networking with potential customers. In the context of branding, the social media platforms were
used by hotels to elaborate certain aspects of their service and standards. The face book and
twitter formed the highest used platforms for branding. The hotels used the social media
platforms to a higher degree to elaborate on their location, available facilities, technical
expertise of workers, and hotel menu amongst other factors.National Research Fun
World Black Tea price volatility, Market Linkages among global tea auction markets
No full textFULL TEXTThe primary determinant of the growth of the global tea economy is demand for the commodity.
Tea auction markets refer to market leaders to discover prices and market behaviour. The
purpose of the study was to evaluate the degree of integration between the world markets price
measured by FAO composite price index and black tea auction markets around the world. The
study captures tea price dynamics and evolution of tea prices at the major tea auction markets
around the world. The study utilizes monthly tea auction data from 2003 to 2009 to investigate
tea price dynamics in order to capture price evolution and volatility .The study found that
multivariate cointegration test suggests one common stochastic trend driving all the tea prices,
indicating volatility in the prices. Granger causality interestingly shows that most of the tea
auction prices have a significant trend and cyclical components. Volatility seems to spill across
all tea markets with markets experiencing common shocks, rather than being isolated from each
other. The findings of the study indicate that tea agribusiness firms refer to Sri -Lanka prices to
make decisions on markets behaviour and are likely to incorporate world price information into
planting decisions which will create significant challenges whose implications will lead to
oversupply if world consumption of tea does not improve in tandem with increased production.
The study uses the current novel methods of testing price cointegration on commodity marketsNational Research Fun
The Role Of Bureaucracy On The Socio-Economic Development Of Bauchi State
No full textFULL TEXTThe role of bureaucracy in promoting socio-economic development cannot be overemphasis
especially amongst the developing countries like Nigeria.The Public Bureaucracy in Bauchi State
has been plagued with challenges that tend to undermine its performance in promoting socioeconomic
development. Bauchi State is among the state where over 80%of its population lives
below poverty line of less than $1 a day. 85% of the populations are in rural areas with low
literacy level and more than 65% classified as very poor. The study aims at exploring the role of
public bureaucracy in promoting development in Bauchi State. Data were collected through
administering of questionaires to the worker of Bauchi State Civil Service: Office of the Head of
Civil Service. The finding reveals that the impact bureaucracy has not been felt both at the rural
and urban areas this shows that the role of the bureaucracy has not been efficient and the
inadequate training of the personnel has affected the performance of the bureaucracy in Bauchi
State. The studies recommend that the bureaucracy need to be reshaped and reorganized to be
able to discharge it function effectively and efficiently. The training and development of the
bureaucrats should be given priority.National Research Fun
Practices, Challenges and Approaches for Software Project Risk Management in Kenyan County Governments
No full textFULL TEXTIn the recent past the county governments in Kenya have embarked on an aggressive drive to
automate their processes and systems in an effort to improve service delivery to their citizens,
improve revenue collection and better management of resources. Part of these efforts have been
the initialization of software projects that have either required the development of bespoke
software or acquisition and customization of existing products from vendors. However, it has not
always been smooth sailing for these projects as they often delayed, experience cost overruns
and experience scope creep occasioned by the materialization of various risks in the projects.
This study examined the practice of risk management at the Nakuru county government ICT
department in order to establish the specific risks facing software projects at the county level, the
challenges faced in managing them and proceeds to make specific recommendations for risk
management at the county level for software projects risk management.National Research Fun