John M. Kihoro

Moderating Effect of ICT on Supply Chain Financial Flow Risk and Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Kenya

The manufacturing firms in Kenya contribute greatly to the economic development of the country. Developments in ICT are creating possibilities for moderating risks along the supply chain by creating platforms for effective decision support tools. However, the performance of the manufacturing firms has been decreasing in the past few years due to information flow risks that affect their supply chain, thereby undermining the sectors ability to contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and attainment of Kenya’s vision 2030. This study sought to investigate the moderating effect of ICT on financial flow risks and performance among manufacturing firms in Kenya. Cross-sectional survey design was adopted as the research design for this study using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The target population was 94 firms in Kiambu County, Kenya who were both members and potential members of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). The study used stratified random sampling to pick a sample size of 76 manufacturing firms which represented 12 industrial sectors in manufacturing firms. Data was collected using questionnaires. Descriptive statistics was used aided by Statistical Packages for Social Sciences version 21 to compute percentages of respondents’ answers. Inferential statistics using linear regression and correlation analysis was applied to assist examining relationship between the research variables. It was established that ICT used moderated the relationship between financial flow risks. Therefore, the study recommends that manufacturing firms should leverage on ICT use to enhance performance of their firms.

Influence of Internal Organization Context on Strategy Implementation among Cooperative Societies in Nairobi County, Kenya

This study sought to determine the influence of the internal organizational context on strategy implementation among cooperative societies in Nairobi, Kenya. The study adopted a survey research design to collect data and a quantitative design for data analysis. The study covered a sample of 291 primary cooperative societies selected using a random sampling method from a population of 2,149 societies. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Out of a sample of Two hundred and ninety-one sets of research instruments two hundred were filled and returned; representing a significant response rate of 68.73%. Out of the 200 respondents, only 180 responding societies had formulated strategic plans and these were the only ones covered by the variable analysis (61.85%). The study found a strong positive correlation between the internal organizational context and strategy implementation (r =.674, n=180, p <.001). The study concludes that the major milestones of strategy implementation had not been achieved in most societies. Successful implementation of strategic plans in cooperative societies requires its organizational structure to be aligned to its strategic plan. It must also be flexible enough to be responsive to any environmental changes. The leadership must be strategic in their outlook, able to not only guide the people but also motivate them towards strategy implementation. Finally, the culture of the organization must be conducive to the strategy being implemented.

Influence of Coaching as a Leadership Development Practice on the Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Kenya

Coaching development refers to any activity that enhances the quality of coaching within an individual or organization. Most MFIs in Kenya derive their funds from donors and wholesale retailers. These two sources of funds are deemed expensive and scarce for the sustainability of these MFIs. The study objective was to determine the influence of coaching as a leadership development practice on the performance of microfinance institutions in Kenya. This study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design which focused on influence of leadership development on performance of micro finance institutions. The study targeted the chief executive offices of the microfinance institutions. Regression analysis was done so as to test the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable. Regression is conducted to analyse the nature and the strength of relationship between each of the independent variables and the dependent variable. The null hypothesis stated that there is no significant influence of coaching as a leadership development practice on the performance of microfinance institutions in Kenya. The null hypothesis and conclude that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that coaching as a leadership development practice influences the performance of microfinance institutions in Kenya. Based on the results of this study, it could be concluded that coaching as a leadership development practice has influence on performance of microfinance institutions in Kenya. It was recommended that coaching can be used in helping someone else to improve performance may help addresses the beliefs and behaviours that hinder performance and it can be further seen that coaching is all about helping someone else to improve performance of the microfinances in Kenya.

Entrepreneurial Self Efficacy Influence on the Creation of University Spin-off firms in Kenya

Entrepreneurship researchers have over the years pointed out the critical influence of self-efficacy on different aspects of a new venture creation process. In combination with environmental factors within and without university, entrepreneurial self-efficacy enables individuals to successfully perform the tasks and roles of an entrepreneur and hence meeting his/her expectations towards creating a new venture. This paper examines the influence of university context on the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and creation of university spin-off firms in Kenya. The sample comprised of 323 students and staff form top ten universities in Kenya. Results suggest that academics have a high intention to be entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy ESE has a strong effect on creation of spin-off firms. The results of the study were compared with a previously published study conducted in the Turkey and Malaysia.

Sarima Versus Time Lagged Feedforward Neural Networks in Forecasting Precipitation

The precipitation estimates are considered to be very important in economic planning. Major economic sectors highly depend on the precipitation levels. These sectors include agriculture, tourism, mining and transport. In Kenya, rainfall amount fluctuates with time hence depending on empirical observations while predicting is a hard task. Various statistical techniques have been used in forecasting precipitation. Among these techniques is Holt Winters procedures and SARIMA due to the seasonality effect. SARIMA model has been found to be effective in forecasting precipitation. The model has therefore been the most commonly used while precipitation forecasts are required. However, there is no any statistical research that has been carried out to test the effectiveness of neural networks in forecasting precipitation. This research hence considered forecasting precipitation using SARIMA and TLFN models. Box-Jenkins procedures of forecasting were used. Comparison of forecasts from the two techniques was done through the use of Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD), Mean Squared Deviation (MSD) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) in order to conclude which technique gives the better forecasts. Time Lagged Feed forward Neural Network model performed better than Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average.