Nixon Kamukama

Competitive advantage: mediator of intellectual capital and performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of competitive advantage in the relationship between intellectual capital and financial performance in Ugandas microfinance institutions. The major aim is to establish the role of competitive advantage in the relationship between intellectual capital and firm performance.Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts MedGraph program (Excel version), Sobel tests and the Kenny and Boran approach to test for mediation effects.Findings – Competitive advantage is a significant mediator in the association between intellectual capital and financial performance and boosts the relationship between the two by 22.4 percent in Ugandan microfinance institutions. Further findings confirmed a partial type of mediation between the intellectual capital, competitive advantage and financial performance.Research limitations/implications – Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertak...

Intellectual capital: company's invisible source of competitive advantage

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the individual contribution of intellectual capital elements to competitive advantage. It aims to explore the extent to which intellectual capital elements can explain competitive advantage in Ugandas microfinance industry.Design/methodology/approach – Hierarchical regression was used because of its capacity to indicate precisely what happens to the model as different predictor variables are introduced.Findings – This study confirms that the three intellectual capital elements are strong predictors of competitive advantage and they account up to 44 percent of variance in competitive advantage. Their order of importance in explaining the variance in competitive advantage (basing on their standardized beta values) is: structural capital, human capital and relational capital.Research limitations/implications – Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, th...

Intellectual Capital: Firms’ Hidden Source of Service Quality in the Microfinance Industry in Uganda

The author examines the relative contribution of individual intellectual capital elements on service quality in Ugandas microfinance industry (MFI), adopting analysis of moment structures, a form of structural equation modeling. Other than relational capital, intellectual capital elements are strong predictors of service quality with predictive power of 34%. To boost the wealth of MFIs, managers should use a suitable intellectual capital blend that increases firm value. Since the results of this study clearly show that human capital is the most important intellectual resource, MFIs should source for competent people who play key roles in the industry.

A borrowing cost model for effective performance of SMEs in Uganda

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an effective cost borrowing model of qualitative factors that are relevant to micro and small enterprises (SMEs) better performance. Design/methodology/approach – A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey on 359 SMEs (131 retail businesses, 125 service businesses, 48 farming businesses and 55 other businesses) and 897 respondents that are representative of 397 SMEs and 1,087 respondents. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted to ascertain the validity of the hypotheses. Findings – It was established that cost of borrowing elements (interest rate and loan processing costs) are associated with SME performance. Furthermore, cost of borrowing as a whole accounts for 31.1 percent of the variation in performance Uganda’s SMEs. Research limitations/implications – Only a single research methodological approach was employed, future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Multiple respondents in SMEs (owner, man...

Business process management and service delivery; a case of Uganda's public entities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test empirically a variety of hypotheses related to business process management (BPM) and service delivery within public entities and contracting companies in Uganda. Design/methodology/approach – A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey on 20 government ministries, ten government departments and 13 service providers (contractors) who are representative of the 40 government entities and 25 service providers in Uganda. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted to ascertain the validity of the hypotheses. Findings – Statistical support was found for eight out of the nine hypotheses tested. Research limitations/implications – Only a single research methodological approach was employed, future research through interviews could be undertaken. Multiple respondents in public entities and service providers were studied, neglecting other key stakeholders like service users. Finally, BPM was studied and by the virtual of the results, there are o...

Quality of financial statements, information asymmetry, perceived risk and access to finance by Ugandan SMEs

The eminence of investigating the relationship between quality of financial statements, information asymmetry, perceived risk and access to finance by Ugandan Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) is well understood in the literature. This study is cross-sectional and correlational. Using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multiple regression, we determine the magnitude/strength of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Data are obtained from a questionnaire survey of a sample of 75 SMEs registered and operating in Kampala, Uganda. The results indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between quality of financial statements and access to finance, and a significant negative relationship between information asymmetry and access to finance. However, perceived risk is not significantly associated with access to finance. The interaction between quality of financial statements and perceived risk is negative, meaning that high-quality financial statements coupled with high perceived risk will result in low access to finance. Overall, our model explains 63.7% of the variation in access to finance.

Intellectual capital and competitive advantage in Uganda’s microfinance industry

Purpose - The paper examines individual contribution of intellectual capital elements to competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to explore the weight of individual intellectual capital elements in explaining competitive advantage in Uganda’s microfinance industry. Design/methodology/approach - Hierarchical regression was used because of its capacity to indicate precisely what happens to the model as different predictor variables are introduced. Findings - This study confirms that the three intellectual capital elements are the strong predictors of competitive advantage and they account for 44 percent of variance in competitive advantage. However, the order of importance of these variables in explaining the variance in competitive advantage in the microfinance industry (basing on their standardized Research limitations/implications - Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate the data. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross-sectional; future research should be undertaken to examine the longitudinal effects of intellectual capital elements. Practical implications - The findings can help the management to intensify initiatives to encourage greater understanding and acceptance of the concept of intellectual capital that boosts competitive edge in the industry. Originality/value - This is the first study that focuses on testing the individual contribution of intellectual capital dimensions to competitive advantage in Uganda’s microfinance institutions.

Social intermediation and financial services access in Uganda's microfinance industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which social intermediation influences access to financial services in Ugandas microfinance industry. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts analysis of moment structures (AMOS), a form of structural equation modeling (SEM) to test hypotheses. Findings – It was established that social intermediation together with antecedents of social capital and managerial competence, account for 32 percent of the variance in access to financial services in the microfinance industry. Research limitations/implications – Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross-sectional, future research should be undertaken to examine the social intermediation and its effects on access to financial services across time. Practical implications – In order to boost the wealth of the active poor and microfinance institut...