Governance and Management Reforms in Banking Sector: Impacts on Service Quality in Tanzanian Commercial Banks

This paper examines critically the impact of governance and management reforms in Tanzanian banking sector on service quality of commercial banks. The study adopted qualitative method for data collection. Data were collected from bank customers and bank officials from thirty two commercial banks in Tanzania that were already registered by the Bank of Tanzania at the end year 2010. A self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 1600 customers and 184 bank officials. Of these, 893(60%) bank customers and 81(44%) bank officials responded. Data were analysed using SPSS 17.0 to estimate the mean scores, standard deviation and association between reforms in governance and management and service quality. Study findings reveal that despite of the reforms on governance and management banks still do not have customer based policies, private banks  having Mean(SD) Scores [(2.71(1.136) vs. 2.59(1.019), p= 0.142) as per customer perception and [(3.30(1.205) vs. 3.12(1.333), p= 0.542)as per bank official perception. This was also confirmed by the results of the hypothesis tests which confirmed that there is negative relationship between reforms on governance and banks having customer focused policies (P=0.240: > 0.05, P=0.323 >0.05).The study also show that banks still offer same products that do not meet variety of needs of their customers, semi quasi banks being ahead of private banks with Mean (SD) scores [(2.68(1.138) vs. 2.65(1.062), p= 0.721)] .These results are confirmed by hypothesis tests that there is negative relationship between reforms in governance and management  and banks having different products that meet variety needs of customer (P=0.695: > 0.05). Findings also show that banks do not have specific products that address the needs of SME’s. Semi-quasi banks had higher mean (SD) scores than private banks [(2.94(1.074) vs. 2.80(1.101), p= 0.120)] respectively. These results are confirmed by hypothesis tests that there is negative relationship between reforms on governance and management and banks having different products that meet the needs of SME’s. (P=0.109: > 0.05).Also the findings show that banks do not have products that address the needs of all genders, semi-quasi banks have higher mean (SD) scores than private banks [(2.62(1.203) vs. 2.56(1.230), p= 0.573)] respectively. This is also confirmed by hypothesis results that there is negative relationship between reforms on governance and management and banks having products that address needs of all genders (P=0.403, P.>0.105). Overall, financial sector reforms in governance and management has less impact on service quality of commercial banks in Tanzania. Keywords: Financial sector Reforms, Commercial Banks, Governance and Management Reforms.  Service Qualit

Bank Ownership Structures Influence on Economic Efficiency of Commercial Banks: Case of Tanzanian Commercial Banks

This paper examines the impact of bank ownership structure on economic efficiency of Tanzanian commercial banks. The study adopted qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection by collecting  primary data from bank customers and bank officials of thirty two commercial banks in Tanzania that were already registered by the Bank of Tanzania at the end year 2011.We distributed 1600 Self-administered questionnaires to customers and 184 to bank officials. Of these, 893(60%) of bank customers and 81(44%) of bank officials responded. Data analysis used SPSS 17.0 version to estimate the mean (SD) score and to perform the correlation test.  Study findings show that there is no significant relationship between bank ownership structure and banks efficiency i and there is no significance difference in bank efficiency indicators between semi-quasi and private banks. Further findings reveal that Private Banks are more likely to have adequate operating hours convenient to customer and have more transparency in dealing with customers as compared to semi-quasi banks. Private Banks are more likely to have proper and accurate disclosure of financial statements while Semi-quasi banks are more likely to have adequate number of staff to deliver services. Therefore all banks should investigate if there other factors that might have caused the changes of these bank efficiency variables over time as indicated by the trend analysis. Key words: Bank Ownership, Economic Efficiency, Tanzania

Financial Sector Reforms in Bank Regulations and Supervision and its Impact on Banking Competitiveness and Economic Efficiency of Commercial Banks in Tanzania

This paper examines critically the impact of financial sector reforms in bank regulations and supervision on competitiveness of commercial banks in Tanzania in respect of economic efficiency. The study adopted qualitative method for data collection. Data were collected from bank customers and bank officials from thirty two commercial banks in Tanzania that were already registered by the Bank of Tanzania by the end year 2010. A self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 1600 customers and 184 bank officials. Of these, 893(60%) bank customers and 81(44%) bank officials responded. Data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0 to estimate the mean (SD) scores of economic efficiency variable constructs and chi-square tests to determine the association between reforms on bank regulations and economic efficiency. Results show that there is negative relationship between reforms on banking regulations and economic efficiency leading to conclude that the level of competitiveness of commercial banks has not been impacted by the financial sector reforms. Keywords: Financial Sector Reforms, Banking Competitiveness. Bank Regulations, Economic Efficienc

Information Accessibility for Sunflower Growers in Tanzania

The role of information for the effectual functioning of businesses is a central concern for many economists. According to Bello and Obinne (2012) as cited by Ozawa (1999) and Adefuye and Adedoyin (1993), the extent to which people progress in as far as agriculture is concerned largely depends on the availability and access to accurate and reliable information. According to one survey conducted on Marketing and market access for  Tanzanian  financial institutions which included both agricultural marketing cooperative societies (AMCOs) and savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs), results clearly implicated that there were various  inadequacies to many variables (URT, February 2012). Many stakeholders acknowledged to lacking adequate knowledge on marketing skills and market information dissemination. Rebekah (2005) argues that communication plays a major role in nearly every aspect of life. Effective communication does not only help people solve problems but also improve life. Communication experts have further argued that poor communication is at the root of many problems and that effective communication is one solution to these problems. She defines communication as the processes of understanding and sharing meaning. Communication is considered a process because it is an activity, exchange or a set of behaviors that occur over time, its components include people, the message, channel, feedback, encoding and decoding. Key words: information flow, communication, agricultural value chain, sunflower, capability

Confidential genetic testing and electronic health records: A survey of current practices among Huntington disease testing centers

BACKGROUND: Clinical care teams providing presymptomatic genetic testing often employ advanced confidentiality practices for documentation and result storage. However, patient requests for increased confidentiality may be in conflict with the legal obligations of medical providers to document patient care activities in the electronic health record (EHR). Huntington disease presents a representative case study for investigating the ways centers currently balance the requirements of EHRs with the privacy demands of patients seeking presymptomatic genetic testing. METHODS: We surveyed 23 HD centers (53% response rate) regarding their use of the EHR for presymptomatic HD testing. RESULTS: Our survey revealed that clinical care teams and laboratories have each developed their own practices, which are cumbersome and often include EHR avoidance. We found that a majority of HD care teams record appointments in the EHR (91%), often using vague notes. Approximately half of the care teams (52%) keep presymptomatic results of out of the EHR. CONCLUSION: As genetic knowledge grows, linking more genes to late-onset conditions, institutions will benefit from having professional recommendations to guide development of policies for EHR documentation of presymptomatic genetic results. Policies must be sensitive to the ethical differences and patient demands for presymptomatic genetic testing compared to those undergoing confirmatory genetic testing

Penggunaan Konsep Rules In Use Ostrom dalam Analisis Peraturan Pembentukan Organisasi Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan

Setelah penetapan wilayah KPHL/KPHP oleh Menteri Kehutanan, tahap selanjutnya adalah pembentukan dan operasionalisasi organisasi KPHL/KPHP oleh pemerintah daerah. Pelaksanaan kewajiban tersebut berjalan tersendat dkarenakan terkendala oleh sejumlah hambatan, antara lain oleh peraturan yang kurang memiliki daya dorong dan menyulitkan daerah pada saat implementasinya. Dalam Kerangka Kerja Analisis dan Pengembangan Kelembagaan (IAD-Framework) Ostrom, terdapat konsep 'aturan-aturan yang digunakan (rules in use)' yang dapat digunakan untuk menganalisis isi peraturan dalam hubungannya dengan struktur situasi aksi yang terbentuk pada saat peraturan diimplementasikan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji efektivitas penggunaan konsep 'rules in use' untuk menemukan kelemahan-kelemahan substansial dari peraturan pembentukan organisasi KPHL/KPHP pada tingkat provinsi. Analisis dilakukan terhadap PP No. 6/2007 jo. PP No. 3/2008, Permendagri No. 61/2010, dan PP No. 41/2007, dengan metode analisis substansi peraturan dan umpan Balik dari proses implementasinya. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian diperoleh kesimpulan bahwa penggunaan konsep rules in use Ostrom cukup efektif untuk menemukan kelemahan-kelemahan isi suatu peraturan

Tanzania

A questionnaire using a psychometric scale investigated how small-scale sunflower farmers perceive the role of building relationships based on demand-driven upgrades, such as knowledge, skills, technology, and support services within the value chain. The study focused on small-scale sunflower farmers in the Singida region of Tanzania. The survey was conducted in twelve Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives (AMCOs) with 229 respondents. The respondents had positive opinions about creating core competencies, concluding that adopting new capabilities, especially with tangible assets such as extension officers, financing, warehouses, and technology, can lead to improved productivity and quality. The information flow from sunflower buyers and consumers is crucial for creating a positive image and hence creating value for farmers. Farmers require negotiating skills that could be attained through improved associations or cooperatives. Respondents also indicated positive benefits if the secto

The Effects of Trust in the Development of Business Linkages and Relationships Between Sunflower Growers and Buyers: A Case 0f Small Scale Growers in Singida Region, Tanzania

Edible oilseeds, with their related industrial value chains of activities, represent growing components of the agricultural economy in Tanzania. Through its initiative of Kilimo kwanza (agriculture first) policy, among other things, the government of Tanzania intends to improve its agricultural sector by building strong domestic economic capacities of production and processing of agricultural produce for both the domestic and export markets. This paper provides a framework for analyzing the role of trust in the development of business linkages and relationships between sunflower growers and buyer firms in Singida region, Tanzania. The paper discusses key concepts of trust in light of value chains governance theory. Various studies have concluded that the essence of trust is to improve business performance of the participating parties. Trust is viewed as a lubricant or enabler of cooperation. It creates stability between business partners, facilitates cementation of their relationships and guarantees continuity in business relationships