Industrial Unrest and its Impact on the Performance of County Governments In Kenya: a Study of Nairobi County

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
2013
Authors
Musyoka, Agnes Kiloko
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Industrial dispute is one of the most important issues that cause hindrance in the development of the service industry. Nairobi County Government is mainly in the service industry and responsible for running several programmes and development activities in the city and the council has remarkable contribution in the economy of Kenya. In the last few years, this sector has not been contributing as much as expected because of industrial disputes limiting the performance. The study sought to; find out factors leading to labour unrest, find out how unrest affects employees performance, and examine how leadership styles contribute to unrest in Nairobi County Government and to recommend on strategies to overcome the labour unrest. The study employed descriptive survey design and the researcher administered questionnaire to collect data from employees. The study target population was 7785 respondents however a sample of 169 respondents was selected using stratified simple random sampling technique. Reliability of the instruments was established through pre-testing the instrument. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the reliability co-efficient. Validity of the instrument was determined through expert judgment involving discussions with the researcher's supervisor. A pilot study was conducted to establish instruments reliability, from the pilot study results the a> 8.00 for both tests this was above the required 7.0 threshold. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation was computed to give the differences in responses and statistical analysis; correlation and paired t-test was conducted to establish relationship between study variables. Data was presented in frequency tables and graphs. The study results revealed that unrest is caused mainly by wage related factors and when employees do not have procedures on how to conduct their duties. The leaders were found to also cause unrest since most of them do not involve their employees in decision making or support them which leads to unrest and also it was revealed that unrest cause loss to the organization since it loses production time and leads to poor relationship among employees and also among employees and management. The study recommends increase in leadership training for leaders to develop their leadership competencies and to involve employees in decision making and wage setting to avoid unrest and waste inn production time. The research is very important in many respects. Study will explain the nature of industrial dispute in service industry. It will also highlight the various factors that often lead to such industrial conflict, why there has always been break- down in negotiations and industrial conflict management continues to be difficult. The research findings will be useful to the institution's management because it will help them take decision that will forestall the emergences of a situation that will create industrial conflict. Also it will help them to know how to approve industrial conflict with a view to settle them amicably. The findings will make contributions towards successful resolution of industrial conflict. Furthermore it will make employers union representatives and employees union understand the contribution of industrial peace to the development of healthy industrial relations and rational development. Finally it will be useful to any student who will carry out a related study in the future as the information provided will be helpful.
Description
Full Text Thesis
Keywords
Industrial Unrest, Kenya, Public policy
Citation