An Investigation of Factors Affecting Implementation of Strategic Plans on Registered Non-Govermental Organizations Located at Imenti North District

Strategy implementation skills are not easily mastered, unfortunately. In fact, virtually all managers find implementation the most difficult aspect of their jobs- more difficult than strategy formulation. Managers themselves report that less than half the plans resulting from these efforts are ever implemented. The ability to implement strategies is one of the most valuable of all managerial skills (Higgins, 2004). Non Governmental Organizations are not an exception. In fact, implementation of the planned strategies is one of their major challenges towards achieving their objectives. The purpose of this study was to investigate on the factors affecting implementation of strategic plans in the registered Non-Government Organization located at Imenti North District. The objectives of the study were (a) To find out if organization structure influences implementation of strategies in the registered NGO’s located at Imenti North District (b)to establish if organization culture influences implementation of the strategies in the registered NGO’s located at Imenti North District, (c)to determine if organizational leadership influences implementation of strategies in the registered NGO’s located at Imenti North District and to establish if training and reward influences implementation of strategies in the registered NGO’s located at Imenti North District. The researcher used a survey research design, with a target population of 94 employees in total. From the target population the researcher stratified each organization as a stratum on itself. Then, the researcher collected a sample of 40% from each stratum by a method of simple random sampling. The selected sample was issued with a questionnaire that had both open-ended questions that allowed more information and views of the respondents and closed ended questions  that ensured the respondents are on track of the relevant information. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and so frequencies were determined and presented in form of tables and figures. KEYWORDS: Strategic Plans and Non-Governmental Organization

Crystal structure and proton conductivity of BaSn0.6Sc0.4O3-delta: insights from neutron powder diffraction and solid-state NMR spectroscopy

The solid-state synthesis and structural characterisation of perovskite BaSn(1–x)Sc(x)O(3–δ) (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) and its corresponding hydrated ceramics are reported. Powder and neutron X-ray diffractions reveal the presence of cubic perovskites (space group Pm3m) with an increasing cell parameter as a function of scandium concentration along with some indication of phase segregation. (119)Sn and (45)Sc solid-state NMR spectroscopy data highlight the existence of oxygen vacancies in the dry materials, and their filling upon hydrothermal treatment with D(2)O. It also indicates that the Sn(4+) and Sc(3+) local distribution at the B-site of the perovskite is inhomogeneous and suggests that the oxygen vacancies are located in the scandium dopant coordination shell at low concentrations (x ≤ 0.2) and in the tin coordination shell at high concentrations (x ≥ 0.3). (17)O NMR spectra on (17)O enriched BaSn(1–x)Sc(x)O(3–δ) materials show the existence of Sn–O–Sn, Sn–O–Sc and Sc–O–Sc bridging oxygen environments. A further room temperature neutron powder diffraction study on deuterated BaSn(0.6)Sc(0.4)O(3–δ) refines the deuteron position at the 24k crystallographic site (x, y, 0) with x = 0.579(3) and y = 0.217(3) which leads to an O–D bond distance of 0.96(1) Å and suggests tilting of the proton towards the next nearest oxygen. Proton conduction was found to dominate in wet argon below 700 °C with total conductivity values in the range 1.8 × 10(–4) to 1.1 × 10(–3) S cm(–1) between 300 and 600 °C. Electron holes govern the conduction process in dry oxidizing conditions, whilst in wet oxygen they compete with protonic defects leading to a wide mixed conduction region in the 200 to 600 °C temperature region, and a suppression of the conductivity at higher temperature

Influence of Home and School Environment on Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Performance in Siakago Division Kenya

Through the years an attempt has been made to continuously review the Kenyan education system to ensure that it serves and satisfies the aspirations of the youth as well as cater for the interests of national development. The transition from one level of education to the next is characterized by competitive national examinations, which are sat at the end of each cycle of the educational system. The KCSE (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education) examinations are done at the forth form of secondary school education. (Mwiria, 1991). In the colonial era, examinations were part and parcel of the restrictive machinery used by the colonial authorities to deny Africans formal education. The examination known as the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) was administered at the end of the forth year of primary school and the Kenya African Preliminary Examinations (KAPE), for those who wished to join secondary school. As eliminating devices, these examinations were very successful. Out of classes of thirty and more, it was not unusual to see only one or two students pass and qualify to proceed to the next level. The performance by African candidates in other examinations such as the secondary school examination was also fairly discouraging as many did not pass. (Mwiria,1991) Failure in examinations greatly slowed the growth of African secondary school education. Thus until 1940, there were only two secondary schools for Africans -the Alliance High School and St. John Kabaa, started in 1926 and 1930 respectively (Kivuitu and Chenge, 2004). By 1945 there were only four secondary schools for Africans. While it is difficult to argue against the contention that in the absence of other devices, which may be perceived by the public to be fairer than selection examinations, examinations are by far the most objective mechanism of selecting those who proceed to the next level of schooling or receive given societal rewards. The grading for the KCSE examinations is on the 12-point grade A to E. See Table 1.1 on Grade Point Average. The highest scorer is awarded grade A while the lowest acquires grade E

Analysis of Marketing Communication Tools and Sales Performance in Business Organizations in Kenya. A Case of Public Service Bus Companies in Mombasa.

Marketing communication tools are a fundamental part of a company’s marketing efforts and they include all the messages and media used to communicate with the target market with the intention of increasing product sales. This research project focussed on the analysis of marketing communication tools and sales performance in business organizations. It focussed on the case of public service bus companies operating in Mombasa with a fleet of ten (10) or more buses. It was conducted between March 2014 and June 2014. The study aimed to determine the effects of Advertising, to evaluate the effects of sales promotions, to examine the effects of personal selling and to analyse the effects of Public Relations on the Sales performance of Public service bus companies in Mombasa. It relied on primary and secondary sources of data to provide insights that helped to answer the research questions. The study was based on the Diffusion of innovations theory and The Hierarchy of effects model as its theoretical frameworks. The Descriptive research design was used and Data was collected through personally administered questionnaires. The target population was twenty one (21) bus companies operating in Mombasa and respondents were their Marketing and operational managers. A census of the target population was done and data analysis of the data collected by questionnaires was done using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis was used to describe the findings after which presentation was done using tables and pie charts. Findings showed there is a positive relationship between Advertising budgets and ticket sales because an increase in Advertising budgets led to an increase in ticket sales. The respondents strongly agreed that Advertising and Sales promotions affect the sales performance of the bus companies in Mombasa to a very great extent, Personal selling moderately affects the sales performance while Public Relations was found to have the lowest effect on the sales performance. The study concluded that Advertising and Sales Promotion affect sales performance of the bus companies the most, Personal selling affects sales to  a moderate extent while Public Relations has a very low impact on the sales performance of bus companies in Mombasa. The study recommended that the bus companies should develop creative Adverts that emphasise the benefits or unique selling points of the companies’ offers as well as widening the scope of the media used while Sales Promotions should only be used when there is a decline in demand. For personal selling, company employees who deal with customers should be trained in aspects of customer service to affect customer interactions and sales positively. The bus companies should also participate more in Public Relations activities such as Exhibitions and open days to enhance public awareness of the companies and their services or offers. KEYWORDS: Marketing Communication Tools. Sales Performance and Public Bus Servic

Talent Management and Employee Performance: Growing Young Colleges to Well Established Organization

With the increasing competition for highly skilled talent, creating an open and innovative culture, aligned with what matters most to employees, will provide the organisation with the competitive edge to retain and attract the talent necessary to achieve organizational goals. The best practices critical to retaining talent include providing career development opportunities, leadership who can articulate core messages and live them every day, trust-based relationships with managers founded on open communication and feedback, and giving employees a voice in the business along. For organizations to succeed in today’s rapidly changing and increasingly competitive marketplace, intense focus must be applied to aligning human capital with corporate strategy and objectives. The study adopted a comparative research design to enable the researcher describe certain features that he is likely to be interested in. The main focus was on growing young Colleges to well established organization with the aim of investigating the relationship that exists between talent management and employee performance. The objective of the study was to explore whether their exist a correlation between talent management and employees performance in the organization. This study will be useful to the various stakeholders in the human resource department in establishing a clear criterion in dealing with workforce in the organization. The research will be conducted using a survey design approach due to the benefits occurred from it, like easy of evaluation, it saves time and resources which makes it cheap to adopt. The research will also adopt a probability sampling method where simple random sampling technique will be instituted .The data collection methods will include use of interviews and questionnaires. The data collected will be analyzed and presented in a way of table and pie charts. Highly demanding business environment makes it imperative for the organizations to build competence in the form of superior intellectual capital.The talent has to be spotted, carefully nurtured and most importantly preserved. KEYWORDS: Competition, Talent Management and Employee performanc

KILchip v1.0: A Novel Plasmodium falciparum Merozoite Protein Microarray to Facilitate Malaria Vaccine Candidate Prioritization

Passive transfer studies in humans clearly demonstrated the protective role of IgG antibodies against malaria. Identifying the precise parasite antigens that mediate immunity is essential for vaccine design, but has proved difficult. Completion of the Plasmodium falciparum genome revealed thousands of potential vaccine candidates, but a significant bottleneck remains in their validation and prioritization for further evaluation in clinical trials. Focusing initially on the Plasmodium falciparum merozoite proteome, we used peer-reviewed publications, multiple proteomic and bioinformatic approaches, to select and prioritize potential immune targets. We expressed 109 P. falciparum recombinant proteins, the majority of which were obtained using a mammalian expression system that has been shown to produce biologically functional extracellular proteins, and used them to create KILchip v1.0: a novel protein microarray to facilitate high-throughput multiplexed antibody detection from individual samples.The microarray assay was highly specific; antibodies against P. falciparum proteins were detected exclusively in sera from malaria-exposed but not malaria-naïve individuals. The intensity of antibody reactivity varied as expected from strong to weak across well-studied antigens such as AMA1 and RH5 (Kruskal–Wallis H test for trend: p < 0.0001). The inter-assay and intra-assay variability was minimal, with reproducible results obtained in re-assays using the same chip over a duration of 3 months. Antibodies quantified using the multiplexed format in KILchip v1.0 were highly correlated with those measured in the gold-standard monoplex ELISA [median (range) Spearman's R of 0.84 (0.65–0.95)]. KILchip v1.0 is a robust, scalable and adaptable protein microarray that has broad applicability to studies of naturally acquired immunity against malaria by providing a standardized tool for the detection of antibody correlates of protection. It will facilitate rapid high-throughput validation and prioritization of potential Plasmodium falciparum merozoite-stage antigens paving the way for urgently needed clinical trials for the next generation of malaria vaccines

Haemoglobin C and S Role in Acquired Immunity against Plasmodium falciparum Malaria

A recently proposed mechanism of protection for haemoglobin C (HbC; β6Glu→Lys) links an abnormal display of PfEMP1, an antigen involved in malaria pathogenesis, on the surface of HbC infected erythrocytes together with the observation of reduced cytoadhesion of parasitized erythrocytes and impaired rosetting in vitro. We investigated the impact of this hypothesis on the development of acquired immunity against Plasmodium falciparum variant surface antigens (VSA) encoding PfEMP1 in HbC in comparison with HbA and HbS carriers of Burkina Faso. We measured: i) total IgG against a single VSA, A4U, and against a panel of VSA from severe malaria cases in human sera from urban and rural areas of Burkina Faso of different haemoglobin genotypes (CC, AC, AS, SC, SS); ii) total IgG against recombinant proteins of P. falciparum asexual sporozoite, blood stage antigens, and parasite schizont extract; iii) total IgG against tetanus toxoid. Results showed that the reported abnormal cell-surface display of PfEMP1 on HbC infected erythrocytes observed in vitro is not associated to lower anti- PfEMP1 response in vivo. Higher immune response against the VSA panel and malaria antigens were observed in all adaptive genotypes containing at least one allelic variant HbC or HbS in the low transmission urban area whereas no differences were detected in the high transmission rural area. In both contexts the response against tetanus toxoid was not influenced by the β-globin genotype. These findings suggest that both HbC and HbS affect the early development of naturally acquired immunity against malaria. The enhanced immune reactivity in both HbC and HbS carriers supports the hypothesis that the protection against malaria of these adaptive genotypes might be at least partially mediated by acquired immunity against malaria