Browsing by Author "Karugu, Janesther"

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    Community Participation and Performance of Donor Funded Youth Projects in Korogocho, Nairobi City County, Kenya
    (IJCAB Publishing Group, 2019) Ndungu, Jane Njoki; Karugu, Janesther
    World-wide, donor funded projects continue to complement the government’s role in the provision of societal developmental needs which include creation of employment opportunities and economic empowerment of local communities. Communities however have not enjoyed these benefits and have remained in poverty and are worse off than before the projects and in this case, the youth in Korogocho have not had their lives changed even after implementation and participation in a project that aimed at empowering them economically by creating sustainable employment opportunities and the donors do not get value for the money put into the project since their objectives are not met. There is however, close and intimate relationship between donor-funded projects success and the community involvement which has not been widely examined with community participation as an integral aspect in the project cycle. The general objective of the study was to examine the influence of community participation on the performance of donor funded youth projects in Korogocho, Nairobi County. The specific objectives of the study were; to examine the influence of community participation in the entire project cycle and the performance of donor funded youth projects in Korogocho i.e. community participation in project identification; community participation in project planning; community participation in project implementation and community participation in monitoring and evaluation on the performance of donor funded youth projects. The study was grounded on the theory of social change, the stakeholder theory and the resource-based view theory. The study utilized a descriptive study targeting 1650 Youth initiative Kenya (YIKE) members and 3 project managers from Oxfam Kenya with a sample size of 165 respondents; 164 YIKE group members being randomly selected and 1 project manager selected from Oxfam Kenya. The study utilized primary and secondary data that was sourced using a semi-structured questionnaire and published reports respectively. The primary data was further be collected using a key informant interview schedule. The collected quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS 23 and Microsoft excel and presented using means, percentages, standard deviation and regression models. The collected qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis and presented in line with the study themes. The findings of the study are anticipated to enhance project implementation and impact. The study was able to obtain a 75% response rate. The study of the correlation analysis indicated there was strong positive effect of community participation in identification and planning on the project performance while the regression results indicated there is a statistically significant positive effect of community participation on the project performance. The study concludes that donor agencies should strengthen the involvement of the community in the planning, identification and implementation of the project. The study recommends that government agencies should be involved in the process of project identification and execution to foster the project success.
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    Competitive Intelligence Strategies and Performance of Commercial Banks in Garrisa County, Kenya
    (International Academic Journals, 2018) Koriyow, Omar Ibrahim; Karugu, Janesther
    The rapidly changing business climate created by advances in technologies, economic and social changes as well as fastshortening product life cycles, which lead to hyper-competition, demands that firms embrace competitive intelligence as a strategy. The design of competitive intelligence, as a process that monitors all elements of the external environment of an organization is still recent. Commercial banks have thus resulted in making use of various competitive intelligence aspects to ensure profitability. Despite the adoption of this competitive intelligence there is no study that has been done on the Kenyan banking industry to date. The general purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between competitive intelligence strategies and performance of the commercial banks in Garrisa County, Kenya. The study was anchored on the following objectives; to establish the effect of product intelligence, market intelligence, technology intelligence and strategic alliance on performance of Commercial Banks in Garissa County, Kenya. This research study applied the descriptive research design. Descriptive research design was chosen because it enables the researcher to generalise the findings to a larger population. The target population composed of the 191 staffs employed at the 10 commercial banks within the County. Stratified random sampling technique was used and a sample of 25% will be selected which generates a sample of 48 respondents. The study used a questionnaire administered using a drop and pick later method. Data collected was purely quantitative and it was analysed by descriptive analysis. The descriptive statistical tools such as Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 21.0) were used to extract frequencies, percentages, means and other central tendencies. It was realized that majority of the commercial banks in Kenya have embraced Competitive intelligence practices and have a functional CI framework. Some of the practices include use of modern technology, total quality management for efficiency and effectiveness, competitor analysis, updated document management system and promoting efficiency and effectiveness in operations and strategizing on cost reduction and profit maximization. The CI practices help in cost saving, time saving, revenue enhancement, timely delivery of service and quality output. However, the challenges faced in its implementation, the CI function is used to monitor both internal and external business environment, analyse competition, identify economic trends, identify political and regulatory issues and assess new technology innovations. The study recommends that commercial banks should embrace competitive intelligence practices to enhance their performance in terms of revenue and profit margins coupled with customer/client base.
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    Influence of External Business Environment on the Success of Health Projects in Nyandarua County, Kenya
    (IJCAB Publishing Group, 2020) Kanyeria, Ruth Njeri; Karugu, Janesther
    Globally, project success is an important topic since the number of projects that are failing is extremely high with more than a third of projects failing to meet their objectives. There are two major strands of addressing project success, namely, how success is judged (success criteria) and the factors that contribute to project success. The successful implementation of projects is affected by several factors both in the internal and external environments. External environmental factors are those conditions that are not in the control of the project team and those that influence, constrain or direct the project. These factors include, political, economic, social and technologicalfactors. Nyandarua Countyaims at improving access to quality healthcare to the community by upgrading local health facilities and building new ones. However, in spite of the efforts being made, it is evident that of the many health projects implemented by the Nyandarua County before and after 2013, many of them have been reported to have stalled. The broad objective of this study was to establish the influence of the external environment on the success of health projects in Nyandarua County. The followingspecific objectives were addressed; to establish the influence of government resource allocation on the success of health projects, to assess the influence of change in political leadership on the success of health projects, to find out the influence of finance on the success of health projects, to determine the influence of stakeholder involvement on the success of health projects and to establish the influence of technology adoption on the success of health projects. Theories reviewed in this study were the systems theory and project implementation theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey design with the target population being the project managers of health projects that are ongoing in the county. There were a total of 40 projects and therefore a census inquiry was used since the number is manageable. Data was conducted using a questionnaire and data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to yield frequency tables, mean, mode, median and standard deviation. Multiple linear regression model was used to measure the relationship between the independent and the dependent variables. Data was presented using charts, tables and graphs. The study established a positively and significant relationship between government resource allocation, political leadership, finance, stakeholder involvement and technology adoption on the success of health projects. The study concludes that the budget provides a means to monitor the project’s financial activities over the life of the project and provides a framework for expenditure to achieve the objectives of the project in an efficient manner. Realistic planning of finances is key to proper implementation of a project. Usually projects fail due to struggle because of the inattention of a project manager to the political environment. Finance provides numerous benefits such as risk management incentives, leverage flexibility extension and free cash flow creation. Stakeholder involvement develops a confidence atmosphere by requiring shareholders 'voices to be heard and their issues to be identified and technology-based project management can help companies to streamline business operations, reduce overhead costs, and improve equipment tracking. The study recommends that project managers in the County should identify the right resources towards the success of health projects being implemented in the County. Project leaders stay out in front of the County health projects through the political landscape of the County. A project managers seeking finance for a new health project should preferably seek the services of a financial advisor to assist with the feasibility study of the project and appoint sponsors to raise the funding. Project managers should engage stakeholders early and often in order to ensure project progress. The County should have good project management software that allows project teams to centralize documents, work on schedules and budgets together, and tag each other in updates and requests.
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    Micro Contextual Characteristics and Implementation of Online Banking System in Family Bank Limited
    (International Academic Journals, 2018) Wangari, Mina Jackline; Karugu, Janesther
    According to Gikonyo (2012), the banking sectors in Kenya have embraced the implementation of online banking system ignoring the micro contextual characteristic of the system. Waweru (2015) further opined that most academicians and scholars have highly researched on factors affecting customer adoption of the internet banking in Kenya at the expense of the micro contextual challenges commercial banks go through in the implementation of online banking systems in Kenya. Studies have shown that there was an intellectual gab by both the banking sector and researchers to address micro contextual challenges due to the implementation of online banking system. The proposed study, therefore, sought to investigate how the micro contextual characteristics and the implementation of online banking system affected Family Bank Limited. The study adopted case study research design and the study target was a population of about 420 Family Bank Limited staff. Since the population of interest was known and the sampling frame was generated, then a systematic sampling technique was used. The study used frequency, mean, standard deviation and variance in descriptive statistical analysis. The study also adopted a linear regression analysis regarding inferential statistical. This was done with the help of SPSS version 22.0. The research established that technology adaptation had a positive contribution on the implementation of online banking system in Family bank limited. This study reveals that the bank has taken necessary measures to protect it from fraudsters and hackers. This study recommends that studies should be done to provide solutions as to how banks top management reservations about the implementation of online banking strategy could fully be improved. The study also recommends that future scholars should undertake more studies to improve the body of knowledge on determinants of online privacy concern and its influence on privacy protection behaviors among customers
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    Restructuring Strategies and Performance of Deposit Taking Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies in Nairobi City County, Kenya
    (The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 2025-02) Ndanu, Faith Georgina; Karugu, Janesther
    This study was conducted in Nairobi City County, Kenya, to examine how restructuring strategies affect deposit-taking savings and credit cooperatives. Specifically, the objectives were to assess the performance of these societies after restructuring their operations, downsizing their organizations, and reforming the governance systems. Stakeholder, institutional, dynamic capability, and contingency theories were incorporated into the study. Based on a descriptive survey design, it examined 39 SACCO's licensed to take deposits in Nairobi. The respondents included all chief executive officers, accountants, credit managers, marketing managers, human resource managers, and the four executive board members of each society, totalling 351 respondents. Data collection instruments was validated for reliability. A descriptive analysis of the data was conducted using mean and standard deviation, as well as an inferential analysis using Pearson correlations. There were tables of frequency distributions, graphs, bar charts, pie charts, and equations displayed on the screen. Operational changes, downsizing, and governance affected DT-SACCO performance in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Within deposit-taking SACCOs in Nairobi City County, Kenya, operations redesign, downsizing, and governance reforms have a significantly positive correlation. Nairobi City County is one of the counties in Kenya where operation rethinking, downsizing, and governance reforms have positively impacted deposit-taking SACCOs' performance. Study recommendations include automating systems, optimizing processes, eliminating redundancies, reallocating jobs, and decentralizing SACCO functions. SACCOS should ensure a lean and effective workforce. Top management team appointment should be meritbased and be done regularly. Top management team roles and responsibilities should be clearly defined. SACCOS should ensure that resources are allocated equally and effectively.
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    Service Provision Strategies and Performance of Cleaning Organizations in Embu County, Kenya
    (International Journal of Current Aspects, 2024) Nderi, Lilian Wangui; Karugu, Janesther
    The business world of the twenty-first century is defined by rapid and significant changes in market trends, technological advancements, globalization, as well as a change in consumer needs and preferences. Consequently, the changes in the business environment, have forced organizations’ management to realize that the current strategies are ineffective and thus the need for new effective strategies in response to the changing environment. This study sought to examine the influence of service provision strategies on performance of cleaning services organizations in Embu County, Kenya. The study was anchored on the resource-based view, Porter’s generic strategies model and the expectancy disconfirmation theories. The study adopted a descriptive research design and purposive sampling to get the sample size. The research employed primary data which was collected through the use of semi-structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were picked after they had been filled by the respondents. The Cronbach’s alpha test was used to check the reliability of the questionnaire with a level of 0.7 and above confirming the internal consistency. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data using SPSS software. The study findings showed that customer retention strategy, cost leadership strategy, customer retention strategy and customer innovation strategy have a positive and significant influence on firm performance. It was concluded that having effective customer feedback strategies (complaints management system, online and non-online surveys and social media engagements) contributes to the improved performance of the cleaning service companies. It was also concluded that that adoption of economies of scale, economies of scope and enhancing operational efficiency can contribute to a more competitive and resilient business, positively impacting the performance of the cleaning service companies. The study recommended that customer feedback mechanisms should be enhanced through the integration of real-time feedback mechanisms to capture customer sentiments immediately after service delivery allowing for prompt issue resolution. It was further recommended that the cleaning firms should further adopt and implement cost-effective measures. The cleaning firms should focus on strategies that enhance customer loyalty.
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    Strategic Approaches and Delivery of Affordable Housing in Nairobi City County, Kenya
    (IJCAB Publishing Group, 2020) Kimani, Sammy Kanjah; Karugu, Janesther
    Affordable housing system is a word used in Kenya to refer to that part of society whose revenue is below the average revenue of the family. Affordable housing becomes a main problem particularly in developing countries where it is not possible for a majority of the population to purchase homes at market price. Most individuals around the world live in towns and 1 billion live in slums, which will double by 2030. Urban populations are increasing at a pace that is much quicker than they can be consumed and managed, resulting in requirements on services and infrastructure that exceed supply. This leaves most inhabitants in many emerging market towns with few choices but living in slums. Increasing access to affordable housing of high quality has a deep effect on the person as well as on society as a whole. However, housing is a difficult and capital-intensive industry characterized by delays and regulatory problems, resulting in it rarely gaining the spotlight on impact investors and social entrepreneurs. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the influence the strategic approaches adopted by the government in delivering affordable housing in Kenya with specific focus on Nairobi County. The specific objectives of this study were to determine the influence of modern construction technologies, innovative housing financing, collaborative approach and legal and regulatory reforms in delivering affordable housing in Kenya with specific focus on Nairobi County. The research was anchored on the theory of monopoly rivalry, regulatory theory and the model of cooperative strategy. The research also demonstrated a conceptual framework for the connection between the factors. Descriptive research design was used in the study. For this research, the target population was officers in the county government concerned with a total of 106 homes. Stratified random sampling and simple random sampling methods were utilized in selecting a sample size of 64, which represented 60 percent of the entire research population. Research used primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire administered to officers by drop-down and later by selecting technique. Using SPSS (version 21), data gathered was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that the use of modern construction technologies greatly influenced the delivery of affordable housing. The study also revealed that the innovative housing financing influenced the delivery of affordable housing to great extent. The study further found that the collaborative approaches had influenced the delivery of affordable housing by the government to a great extent. Based on the findings the study recommended that the government sensitize the developers to fully adopt modern technologies in construction of the houses, so as to reduce the costs of the houses. Additionally, the study recommended that the government come up with innovative financing such as allowing the access of pension benefits by individuals to help in financing the ownership of houses. The study also recommended that the government seek more collaborative opportunities such as through public private partnerships to help in realizing the goal of delivering affordable housing especially to the low income earners.
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    Strategic management practices and performance of small and micro enterprises in Nairobi City County, Kenya
    (2018-01) Gure, Ali Khalif; Karugu, Janesther
    Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is an important sub sector for the Kenyan economy like many other developing countries since it employs about 85% of the Kenyan workforce (about 7.5million Kenyans of the current total employment). The current constitutional framework and the new Micro and Small Enterprise Act 2012 provide a new window of opportunity through which the evolution of SMEs can be realized through the devolution framework. However, the impact of devolution on SMEs development depends on the architecture of the regulatory and institutional framework inclined to support SMEs in an economy. Lack of access to credit is a major constraint inhibiting the growth of SMEs sector. The issues and problems limiting SMEs acquisition of financial services include lack of tangible security coupled with inappropriate legal and regulatory framework that does not recognize innovative strategies for lending to SMEs. The study sought to establish the influence of strategic management practices on the organizational performance of SMEs in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The specific objectives were to determine the effect of low cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, focus strategy and combination strategies on performance of SMEs in Nairobi City county.The study was anchored on the following three theories which include Porter’s generic strategies model, resource-based view theory, and resource dependence theory. Empirical literature reviewed scholarly studies on the porter’s generic competitive strategies which included cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy,focus strategyand combination strategies and their influence on financial performance of SMEs. The study used a descriptive research design. The population of study wre youth owned SMEes in the 17 sub-counties in Nairobi City County that are operational. This consisted of 100 respondents who were the proprietors of the enterprises. A sample of 30 respondents was taken which formed 30% of the target population which was evenly spread across the sub-counties. The primary data was collected by use of self-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done by use of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean scores and standard deviation with the aid of SPSS and presented through tables, charts, graphs, frequencies and percentages. The study realized that the Michael Porter’s generic strategies of competitive advantage used in the study which include low cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, focus strategy and combination strategy significantly influenced the organizational performance of SMEs in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The variables explained 85.11% of the changes in organizational performance of the SMEs. A unit increase in low cost leadership strategy adoption by SMEs led to a 0.655 increase in organizational performance of the SMEs, a unit increase in differentiation strategy adoption led to a 0.876 increase in performance of the enterprises, a unit increase in focus strategy transformed to a 0.945 increase in performance of the firms while a unit increase in application of combination strategy by the SMEs led to a 0.860 increment in their overall performance. Key Words: strategic management practices, performance, small and micro enterprises, Nairobi City County, Kenya
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    Strategic Management Practices and Performance of Small and Micro Enterprises in Nairobi City County, Kenya
    (International Academic Journals, 2018) Gure, Ali Khalif; Karugu, Janesther
    Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is an important sub sector for the Kenyan economy like many other developing countries since it employs about 85% of the Kenyan workforce (about 7.5million Kenyans of the current total employment). The current constitutional framework and the new Micro and Small Enterprise Act 2012 provide a new window of opportunity through which the evolution of SMEs can be realized through the devolution framework. However, the impact of devolution on SMEs development depends on the architecture of the regulatory and institutional framework inclined to support SMEs in an economy. Lack of access to credit is a major constraint inhibiting the growth of SMEs sector. The issues and problems limiting SMEs acquisition of financial services include lack of tangible security coupled with inappropriate legal and regulatory framework that does not recognize innovative strategies for lending to SMEs. The study sought to establish the influence of strategic management practices on the organizational performance of SMEs in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The specific objectives were to determine the effect of low cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, focus strategy and combination strategies on performance of SMEs in Nairobi City county.The study was anchored on the following three theories which include Porter’s generic strategies model, resource-based view theory, and resource dependence theory. Empirical literature reviewed scholarly studies on the porter’s generic competitive strategies which included cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy,focus strategyand combination strategies and their influence on financial performance of SMEs. The study used a descriptive research design. The population of study wre youth owned SMEes in the 17 sub-counties in Nairobi City County that are operational. This consisted of 100 respondents who were the proprietors of the enterprises. A sample of 30 respondents was taken which formed 30% of the target population which was evenly spread across the sub-counties. The primary data was collected by use of self-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done by use of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean scores and standard deviation with the aid of SPSS and presented through tables, charts, graphs, frequencies and percentages. The study realized that the Michael Porter’s generic strategies of competitive advantage used in the study which include low cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, focus strategy and combination strategy significantly influenced the organizational performance of SMEs in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The variables explained 85.11% of the changes in organizational performance of the SMEs. A unit increase in low cost leadership strategy adoption by SMEs led to a 0.655 increase in organizational performance of the SMEs, a unit increase in differentiation strategy adoption led to a 0.876 increase in performance of the enterprises, a unit increase in focus strategy transformed to a 0.945 increase in performance of the firms while a unit increase in application of combination strategy by the SMEs led to a 0.860 increment in their overall performance.
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    Strategic Positioning and Organizational Performance of Center for International Forestry Research and World Agro-Forestry in Nairobi City County, Kenya
    (International Journal of Business management, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 2023) Kariuki, Emily; Karugu, Janesther
    The vision of the CIFOR-ICRAF is to ensure the sustainable availability of food and nutritional benefits in the world using lands, trees, and other renewable resources. CIFOR- ICRAF works in partnership with private companies, civil society, academia, and governments in delivering solutions to five major global challenges: extreme inequality, unsustainable supply and value chains, unsustainable food systems, the climate crisis, and biodiversity loss and deforestation. However, various factors have hindered this vision thereby limiting their performance. The study sought to ascertain how strategic positioning affects organizational performance of CIFOR ICRAF in Nairobi, Kenya and specifically determine the influence of strategic leadership, mergers, and market positioning strategy on their organizational performance. The study was hinged on positioning theory, stakeholder’s theory, and resource- based theory. Descriptive research study was utilized by the study and the target population was 300 staff of CIFOR-ICRAF. The target population was sampled using stratified sampling technique whereby the CIFOR-ICRAF six main themes formed the strata and a sample of 5 staff from each stratum formed the sample size of 30 respondents. The study mainly utilized primary data gathered through structured questionnaire to collect qualitative data and secondary data mainly from the CIFOR-ICRAF reports to establish growth rate. The questionnaire was subject to pilot study, content and construct validity test and Cronbach-Alpha internal consistency reliability test. Descriptive statistics and inferential analysis (multiple regression analysis) evaluated the data. Tables and graphs displayed the study results. The study found that strategic leadership, mergers, and market positioning had a positive significant effect on the organizational performance of CIFOR-ICRAF in Kenya. The study concludes that that in strategic leadership, the leader expresses a vision for a business or organization, or its branches, and encourages more people to join them to bring the vision to light. Mergers enable organizations to secure more resources and increase their scale of operations and organizations undergo a merger to benefit their shareholders. Positioning in marketing allows organizations to influence how others view the product or services. The study recommends that the organization strategic leadership should be a forward-thinking, an effective communicator, and have the will to challenge the status quo. For successful merger, organizations should create an integration plan early in the process. Ensure that both sides are on the same page about how the combined entity will work going forward. The organization should establish its current position in the market by looking into who forms its current customer base and identifying the target market the organization wish to address.
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    Total Quality Management Practices and Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Kenya: Case of Bamburi Cement Limited
    (Academic Journals, 2018) Keinan, Abdi Siyad; Karugu, Janesther
    A firm’s performance is a function of how well managers use quality management practices to improve the quality of products and services. In today’s global environment, organizations are constantly looking for ways to expand and improve their businesses in terms of quality to enhance performance. Quality management practices have been used by manufacturing firms in Kenya to improve on performance. However, customers are still complaining that the quality of manufactured products has been compromised. Quality management practices contribute greatly to business improvement as a whole through making awareness in each and every part of an organization in order to remove errors and minimize waste. Manufacturing industries have thus resulted in making use of various total quality aspects to ensure profitability. The main objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between total quality management practices and performance of manufacturing industries in Kenya with a special reference to Bamburi Cement Limited. The specific objectives were to establish how product continual improvement, customer focus, employee empowerment and top management commitment influence performance of Bamburi Cement Limited in Kenya. The research was based on resource-based view theory and quality improvement theory. Empirical reviews will be done on the four total quality management practices and how they influence performance thereby indicating research gaps. This research study applied the descriptive research design. The target population composed of the 165 management staffs employed at Bamburi Cement in Kenya. A sample of 25% was selected from within each group in proportions using stratified random sampling technique. This generated a sample of 42 respondents. The study used a semi-structured questionnaire administered using a drop and pick later method. The questionnaire had both open and close-ended questions. Data collected was purely quantitative and was analyzed by descriptive analysis. The descriptive statistical tools such as Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 21.0) and MS Excel was used to extract frequencies, percentages, means and other central tendencies. Tables and figures will be used to summarize responses for further analysis and facilitate comparison. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to show the strength of the relationship between the variables.
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    Total Quality Management Practices and Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Kenya: Case of Bamburi Cement Limited
    (Academic Journal of Human Resource and Business Administration (IAJHRBA), 2018-02-03) Keinan, Abdi Siyad; Karugu, Janesther