Effect of Managerial Practices on the Implementation of Strategic Plans by SMEs in Nairobi, Kenya

A well-conceived strategic plan enhances business performance, decision making, catalyse strategic change and contribute to strategic direction in organizations (Wilson & Eilertsen, 2010). Being a formal managerial process, strategic planning involves sequence of analytical and evaluative procedures to formulate an intended strategy.  It also aligns the major objectives, strategies, and policies that govern the acquisition and allocation of resources to achieve organizational goals. (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2008; O’Regan and Ghobadian, 2002). Its benefits are competitive advantage through matching firm capabilities and competencies to the external environment, effective decision making, optimal allocation of resources and long-term prosperity of the firm . This study seeks to investigate how managerial practices affects the implementation of strategic plans by SMEs in Nairobi County in Kenya. Prior studies indicated that many SMEs are practicing strategic planning but the implementation process remains a challenge leading to shelving of well-formulated strategies that fail at the implementation stage. While existing studies focused on relationships between various factors that impact on the strategy implementation, this study endeavored to establish the influence of managerial practices on implementation. To achieve the main objective, a survey of 96 SMEs was conducted from a population frame of 810 SMEs registered by the Nairobi City Council. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. A questionnaire containing both open-ended and closed questions was used for data collection. The response rate of 91.67% was achieved. Data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The study results indicate that managerial practices affect implementation of strategic plans in Kenyan SMEs.  Based on the findings, the study has recommended that SMEs should take initiatives to improve their management practices through lobbying, professional and industry organizations, adoption of best practices and taking advantage of both government and private sector initiatives. Key Words: Strategic Planning, Management Practices, Internal Environmen

Health insurance education strategies for increasing the insured among older population – a quasi experimental study in rural Kenya

Introduction: The older population in most developing countries are uninsured and lack access to health services. This study assessed the extent to which a multi-strategy health insurance education intervention would increase the number of insured among the older population in rural Kenya. Methods: The quasi-experimental study prospectively followed 1,104 unpaired older persons (60 years or more) in a 10-month health insurance education and enrolment intervention. The adjusted odds ratios computed at 95% confidence interval using a binary logistic regression tested the association between being insured and the multi-strategies. Results: At baseline, the lack of adequate knowledge on health insurance (52.9%) and high premiums (38.1%) were the main reasons for being uninsured. The insured older persons increased three-fold (from 7.7% to 23.8%) in the experimental site but remained almost unchanged (from 4.0% to 4.6%) in the control. The computed adjusted odds ratio for variables with significance (p<0.05) show that the older people who obtained health insurance education through the chief’s public meeting, an adult daughter, an adult son, a relative - sister/brother, an agent of the National Hospital Insurance Fund, and a health insurance beneficiary were 2.6, 4.2, 2.8, 2.3, 2.5 and 2.5 times respectively more likely to be insured. Access to health insurance education using a combination of 1-3 strategies and >3 strategies predisposed the older people 14.3 times and 52.2 times respectively to being insured. Conclusion: Health insurance education through multiple strategies and their intensity and frequency were pivotal in increasing being insured among the older population in rural Kenya. Pan African Medical Journal 2012; 12:

THE SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS IN KENYA : (A Case Study of BIMAS)

The purpose of this study was to come up with a profile of the salient socio-economic characteristic of people who seek MFIs’ services. Specifically, the study was to shed light on their poverty status and their demographic characteristics. The research focused on clients of BIMAS operating within the five divisions of Embu district. The research findings gave a general profile of the clients reached by MFIs. The MFI clients are mainly male in the 26-40 age brackets that live in households of between 4 and 6 members which are predominantly male headed. A high proportion of the clients are married and do not suffer from any physical disability. Slightly over half of the clients have attained secondary school education and most have attended other training. In terms of their poverty status, over half of the clients have their children attending school. Majority can afford at least three ordinary meals per day and special meals thrice per week. The clients live in their own houses which have three or fewer rooms. The houses are largely made of brick walls, iron sheet roofs and concrete floors. The main source of energy for client household is firewood and charcoal and majority of them own a television. Key Words: Socio-economic characteristics, Demographic characteristics, Poverty statu

An evaluation of factors that affect performance of primary schools in Kenya: A case study of Gatanga district

Recently, the Kenyan government reaffirmed its commitment to enabling majority of its citizen’s access to education through establishment of free primary education program and subsidizing secondary education. However, despite all these efforts, the education sector continues to face myriads of problems, major one being skewed performance in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) across the many regions of the country. Gatanga district in Central province is one of the many districts witnessing poor performance in KCPE over the last eight years. As such, this study was designed to find out the underlying issues leading to poor performance in KCPE in the district with special focus on all primary schools in the administrative unit. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population was primary schools in Kenya and the study population is public primary schools in Gatanga district. A census approach was used to select all the 56 public primary schools. A questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection. Data was qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. The major findings were that Gatanga public primary schools were overwhelmed by the high number of students coming with the introduction of free primary education. Discipline of pupils was found to have minimal influence on KCPE performance while stakeholders’ support was deemed necessary to supplement school administrations’ activities. The study concludes that introduction of free primary education in Kenya has greatly affected teachers’ teaching workload, hence poor performance schools. The study recommended employment of more teachers by the school boards to supplement the government-employed teachers as well as frequent inservice trainings for all teachers

Estudio de caso colombiano en la inclusión financiera en el cambio de la banca tradicional a la banca digital en el periodo 2012 – 2016

Trabajo de investigaciónLa inclusión financiera hace parte de las estrategias que tienen los gobiernos para ir desarrollando sus economías. En la investigación realizada se encuentra la evolución que se ha presentado en un periodo de 2012 a 2016 teniendo en cuenta aspectos estadísticos profundizando en la influencia que tienen los nuevos canales digitales a comparación de los tradicionales para aportar al crecimiento de la presencia de la población en el sector financiero.1. RESUMEN 2. MARCO TEÓRICO 3. DISEÑO METODOLÓGICO 4. RESULTADOS 5. CONCLUSIONES 6. REFERENCIASEspecializaciónEspecialista en Análisis y Administración Financier

Prevalence and risk factors of trichomonas vaginalis among female sexual workers in Nairobi, Kenya

Background Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) is the most common curable sexually transmitted infection (STI) worldwide. Trichomonas vaginalis infection is associated with an increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease, human immunodeficiency virus transmission, and preterm birth in women. Data on the prevalence and risk factors for TV infection in sub-Saharan African countries remain scarce. Methods A total of 350 Kenyan female sex workers, aged 18 to 50 years, participated in a 2-year longitudinal study of the acquisition of STIs, including TV infection. Every 3 months, cervical and vaginal brush samples were collected for STI testing. At baseline, a sociodemographic and behavior questionnaire was administered. Testing for TV, Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium, and high-risk human papillomavirus was performed using APTIMA assays. Results The TV baseline prevalence was 9.2% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 6.3-12.7%) and 2-year cumulative TV incidence was 8.1 per 1000 person months (6.9-9.3). Risk factors for higher TV prevalence at baseline were CT infection (adjusted prevalence ratio [PR], 8.53; 95% CI, 3.35-21.71), human immunodeficiency virus seropositivity (PR, 3.01; 95% CI, 1.45, 6.24) and greater than 4 years of sex work (PR, 2.66; 95% CI, 1.07-6.60). Risk factors for elevated 2-year TV incidence were CT (hazard ratio [HR], 4.28; 95% CI, 1.36-13.50), high-risk human papillomavirus infection (HR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.06-3.45) and history of smoking (HR, 2.66; 95% CI, 1.24-5.73). Discussion CT infection was positively associated with both prevalent and 2-year incident TV infections

Prospective Evaluation of Cervicovaginal Self- and Cervical Physician Collection for the Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Mycoplasma genitalium Infections

Background This study aimed to examine the agreement between sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening using self-collected specimens and physician-collected specimens, and to investigate the acceptability of self-collection for screening in an 18-month study of female sex workers in a high-risk, low-resource setting. Methods A total of 350 female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya, participated in a prospective study from 2009 to 2011. Women self-collected a cervicovaginal specimen. Next, a physician conducted a pelvic examination to obtain a cervical specimen. Physician- and self-collected specimens were tested for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) using Aptima nucleic acid amplification assays (Hologic). Specimens were collected at 3-month intervals over 18-month follow-up. κ Statistics measured agreement of positivity between self-collection and physician collection. Results Baseline STI prevalence was 2.9% for N. gonorrhoeae, 5.2% for C. trachomatis, 9.2% for T. vaginalis, and 20.1% for MG in self-collected samples, and 2.3%, 3.7%, 7.2%, and 12.9%, respectively, in physician-collected samples. κ Agreement was consistently strong (range, 0.66-1.00) for all STIs over the 18-month study period, except for MG, which had moderate agreement (range, 0.50-0.75). Most participants found self-collection easy (94%) and comfortable (89%) at baseline, with responses becoming modestly more favorable over time. Conclusions Self-collected specimen screening results showed strong agreement to clinical-collected specimens, except for MG, which was consistently detected more commonly in self-collected than in physician-collected specimens. Acceptability of the self-collection procedure was high at baseline and increased modestly over time. In high-risk, low-resource settings, STI screening with self-collected specimens provides a reliable and acceptable alternative to screening with physician-collected specimens

Plug-and-play Physical Computing with Jacdac

Physical computing is becoming mainstream. More people than ever---from artists, makers and entrepreneurs to educators and students---are connecting microcontrollers with sensors and actuators to create new interactive devices. However, physical computing still presents many challenges and demands many skills, spanning electronics, low-level protocols, and software---road blocks that reduce participation. While USB has made connecting peripherals to a personal computing device (PC) trivial, USB components are expensive and require a PC to operate. This makes USB impractical for many physical computing scenarios where cost, size and low power operation are often important

Factors affecting job creating and low job creating firms owned by women in Kenya

The purpose of this study was to identify: constraints which inhibit the expansion of employment in job creating (over 4 employees) and low job creating (4 or less employees) firms owned by women in Kenya, the characteristics of women owned businesses and the strategies they use to promote growth of their businesses. One hundred women entrepreneurs in Nairobi (50 women operating job creating firms and 50 women entrepreneurs operating low job creating firms) were interviewed for this study. The study was exploratory and it was limited to women entrepreneurs in Nairobi.The results indicated that both groups of women encountered socio-economic, socio-cultural and managerial constraints which impact the growth of their businesses as well as additional job creation. The main constraints were: lack of finance, multiple roles, lack of business skills and lack of confidence.Seventy-five percent of the total group were married, 90% depended partially on the income acquired from their businesses, 71% owned traditional female businesses, and 67% lacked occupational experience. Most of the businesses were started with very low capital, and were organized as sole proprietorships.There were significant differences at.05 between the job creating group and the low job creating group. Women in the job creating group were older, were in business longer, belonged to more business associations, and had more capital to start their businesses.Although not significantly different, the job creating group used more business promotional strategies than the low job creating group. The main business strategies used to conduct business were advertising and personal contact; other strategies included: fashion shows and exhibitions, incentives, personal visits and employing marketing agents, selling quality products, pricing and stocking products which were not stocked by competitors.The findings indicate that there is a need to address women's need for: credit, training programs in business management, marketing, access to both general and technical higher education and improving their self-confidence. Additionally, society should be more sensitive to the socio-economic role played by women in enhancing economic development.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio