Survival Strategies for Owners of Micro and Small Enterprises in Kenya

Micro and small enterprise (MSE) owners in Kenya are faced with a myriad of constraints that affect their survival for longer than the first 5 years. Owners of MSEs who are unable to identify and implement strategies may not succeed in sustaining their businesses. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies owners of MSEs in Nairobi, Kenya, used to sustain their businesses for longer than 5 years. The conceptual framework for the study was the theory of constraints. Data were collected from 4 purposefully selected MSE owners in Nairobi, Kenya, through face-to-face, semistructured interviews, and review of field notes and company documents. Using thematic data analysis, the major themes that emerged were customer service, access to capital, and nearness to market. The implications of this study for positive social change include strategies for MSE owners to generate stable income for employees, new employment opportunities for job seekers, improved standards of healthcare and education for the community, and a positive lifestyle for the residents of Kenya

Aplicación de la teoría de restricciones para reducir los costos de los servicios de mantenimiento en SIMA S.A., Chimbote 2023

La tesis tiene como finalidad emplear la teoría de restricciones, esto podría minorizar los costos dentro de los servicios de mantenimiento de SIMA S.A. Chimbote, 2023, mediante, Pareto, Ishikawa, la metodología 5S y TPM son conocimientos teóricos necesarios. El trabajo realizado es aplicado porque su objetivo proporciona una respuesta a la situación actual aplicando fundamentos teóricos. La población estudiada en nuestro estudio es de tipo censal y pertenece a los tres servicios de mantenimiento más demandados de SIMA S.A: mecánica de montaje, arenado y tuberías. Como resultado, también se incluyen estos tres servicios de mantenimiento en la muestra. Herramientas utilizadas: fichas de registro, cuestionario, gráficos e informes de costos. De acuerdo a los métodos de observación y el análisis de datos, se pudo ver las principales deficiencias del servicio de mecánica de montaje que era la carencia de organización y limpieza, la ausencia de mantenimiento preventivo de las embarcaciones y, en el caso de arenado , la falta de formación adecuada , los cuales son un inconveniente para los altos costos dentro de los servicios de mantenimiento, siendo asi los costos actuales de mecánica de montaje de S/21,895.50 y servicios de arenado S/81,001.60, gracias a la implementación tanto de TPM, métodos 5S y el plan de capacitación , estos costos en conjunto bajaron al 49%. Está claro que el uso de la TOC ha sido eficaz para la reducción de los costos de los servicios de mantenimiento de SIMA S.A, y los resultados obtenidos han sido confirmados por pruebas estadísticas que confirman nuestra hipótesis

International Development Project Strategies to Reduce the Negative Impact of Triple Constraints

With the growing number of international development projects not meeting the triple constraint requirements every year, organizational leaders exceed their budgets and increase schedule delays. Some project managers lack strategies to minimize the negative impact of these constraints, resulting in projects that exceed their budgets and have more delays. Grounded in the theory of constraints, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies project managers use to reduce the negative impact of the triple constraints of cost, schedule, and scope on international development projects. The participants were five project managers from five different global development companies. Data sources included semistructured interviews with participants and research articles from the Project Management Institute knowledge database. The collected data were analyzed using a five-step thematic analysis process. Three themes emerged—(a) scope management, (b) stakeholder management, and (c) project management planning—yielded six strategies for managing international development projects. The key recommendations for project managers are to manage the project scope properly, communicate with key stakeholders, and adequately plan the project and its transition. Implications for positive social change include improving project management industry practices, adapting to cultural differences, increasing business profitability, and creating a safer work environment