The Influence of Employee Empowerment on Competitive Advantage in Hospitals within Nairobi, Kenya

Background: The study examined the influence of implementation of employee empowerment on competitive advantage in hospitals within Nairobi. The study looked at the following aspects of employee empowerment; competence, teamwork, motivation, reward and recognition. Employee empowerment is derived from the Total Quality Management (TQM) principles bringing forth competitive advantage that results from high customer satisfaction levels, employee satisfaction and operations efficiency.Methods: A descriptive correlational research design that applied positivism philosophy. Data was collected from both private and public hospitals within Nairobi targeting patients who were admitted in these hospitals for more than three days during the study period and senior employees of the respective hospitals. There were 308 participants, 154 hospital employees and 154 patients from 31 hospitals within Nairobi. After institutional and individual consent was obtained, participants filled a self-administered questionnaire. The collected data was coded into SPSS Version 23 software and the analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The findings illustrated that employee empowerment significantly predicted competitive advantage. High responsiveness and good attitude, being reliable, empathy and assuring the patients of their state best enhance patients’ and employee satisfaction.Conclusion: This brings out the importance of realigning the staff inputs towards improving patient experiences, as well as considering employees’ performance as individual instead of considering them as teams

The Future is in Our Hands

An article by Dr. Maina Muchara, a Lecturer at the Chandaria School of Business in USIU - Africa.A lot has been said and written about leadership theories and the effectiveness of the same. No other major contributor to organisational performance is focused on than leadership. But each individual is unique in her/his own ways. In the Kenyan context, the landscape has been turned upside down. From a male dominated sector where all vice chancellors of the public universities were men, now plethora of female vice chancellors can be counted from the public to the private universities almost in equal numbers. The performance of management of the various universities has ranged from mediocre to exceptional. Some management systems and leadership styles that could be replicated must be hidden somewhere. In this realm of knowledge, it therefore portends great danger if one was to prescribe a one-fits-all dose of the applicable leadership style in our higher education set up. But that is the very essence of science, to search and discover the discernible patterns that can be replicated across the line for posterity. Being the custodians of knowledge and disseminators of the same, the various complaints emanating from students, lecturers, staff and other stakeholders on how universities preach water and take gallons of wine in the field of management is a complaint that needs serious consideration. Further, having seen the problems that other learning institutions have had in management mostly traced to the fact that most administrators were plucked from class and given positions of leadership without orientation, then it behoves those in the scholarly world of management and leadership to synthesise some bitable bits that could assist those in positions of authority to appreciate the scientific approach to management. We conclude that time might have come when leadership in universities will not be reserved to academicians but to corporate executives capable of inspiring the whole institutions to great heights of performance excellence

Total Quality, Operations Effectiveness and Competitive Advantage in Horticultural Industry in Kenya

A Doctoral Thesis by Maina Muchara, a Lecturer at USIU-AfricaThe study focused on Kenya’s horticultural industry and the aspects of total quality, operations effectiveness and competitive advantage. The literature shows that total quality brings forth competitive advantage. However, most of that literature has come from developed countries. Researches carried out in less developed countries have shown contradictory results, with some showing that total quality brings forth competitive advantage, while others show it does not. This study aimed at understanding these contradictions, and coming out with tangible evidence of the effect of total quality to an organization’s capability to acquire competitive advantage. Incorporating operations effectiveness to the conceptual framework brought in new grounds of study in the total quality paradigm. The context under which the study was undertaken is highlighted by the materials concerning the horticultural industry in Kenya. The industry is seen as a vibrant and important sector of the economy. The growth of the sector in the last fifteen years has been phenomenal. However, the sector is beset with numerous challenges, the biggest being one of quality. The sector, therefore, provided very fertile grounds for this study. The literature review brought out factors of total quality, operations effectiveness and competitive advantage. The case and empirical studies point positive relationships between total quality and competitive advantage. Conceptually, it was assumed that there is a relationship between total quality and competitive advantage with operations effectiveness acting as an intervening variable. The research methodology brings out the approach that the study took. All scientific practices including data validation and effective analysis were undertaken. This was to ensure replicability and validity of the research. Further, factors that were found to have very strong correlation, or scoring low corrected-item total correlation, were dropped before analysis was undertaken. The major findings are presented and discussed comprehensively. The study shows that total quality has a strong and positive impact on competitive advantage. Further, that there is a strong relationship between operations effectiveness and total quality. This brings the study to new areas of knowledge in that it is shown that bringing in operations effectiveness to the equation, enhances competitive advantage so that operations management becomes an important component in strengthening an organization’s competitive advantage. However, this enhancement is found to be more pronounced at low levels of total quality implementation and less pronounced at high levels. In the Kenyan horticultural sector, it is discovered that the level of implementation of total quality is low. However, those implementing total quality are getting competitive advantage. This finding explains the contradiction seen in studies conducted in developing countries where organizations claiming to be quality oriented have posted different results. This study shows that it is not total quality that has been posting different results, but lack of effective implementation of total quality. A crucial finding is the poor score registered on the leadership index and the tendency of taking quality certification as an end by itself. It is demonstrated that most of the certified companies do not understand the philosophy behind quality management and, therefore, cannot implement it effectively. Further, the emergence of performance measurement as a powerful principle in the total quality paradigm for enhancing competitive advantage should encourage the government of Kenya on its preoccupation with performance contracts to government institutions. However, the value that ISO 9001 certification (one of the requirements in the performance contract) is bringing to the institutions against the enormous costs incurred is not validated. The research, therefore, recommends among other things, the appreciation and understanding of the total quality philosophy or any quality management system before embarking on implementation. On theory, policy and practice, the study has the implication that that operations effectiveness should be incorporated into the total quality paradigm, institutions should be encouraged to become total quality organizations, and that at low levels of total quality implementation, firms should be encouraged to focus on operations effectiveness. Future research could take the form of a study of government institutions or firms cutting across industries that are ISO 9001 certified, their level of implementing the quality management system, and the value the system has brought to the firms

Influence of continuous quality improvement on patients’ satisfaction within hospitals in Nairobi, Kenya

The study examined the influence of implementation of continuous quality improvement (CQI) on patient satisfaction in hospitals within Nairobi. Literature from developed countries indicates that the application of continuous quality improvement has a significant influence on customer satisfaction. However, there is limited literature originating from developing countries. This study aimed at understanding the influence of continuous quality improvements such as Innovativeness, Quality Indicators, Information sharing and Risk management on customer (patient) satisfaction. To reinforce the study, theoretical and empirical review on the CQI and customer (patient) satisfaction was conducted from current and classical literature adopting the total quality management theory of profound knowledge, and the expectation confirmation theory. The mixed research design was used to target employees and patients of hospitals within Nairobi, from whom data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Simple random sampling was used to select hospital employees while stratified random sampling was used to select the patients. The questions were placed on a five-point Likert scale. The results of this study showed that innovativeness, information sharing, and risk management significantly influenced patients’ satisfaction, while quality indicators had no significant influence on patients’ satisfaction. This study, therefore, concluded that continuous quality improvement positively and significantly predicted patients’ satisfaction within the hospitals in Nairobi. The study findings guided the researcher to recommend among other things, leaders in the healthcare industry to draw customer satisfaction through the CQI application. Achieved through feedback from the patients and utilizing such information to improve the patient experiences. The researcher proposes that future studies be carried to cut across other industries that were not captured

Influence of consensus orientation practices on performance of county governments in Kenya

The devolved system of governance was adopted to ensure development in all regions and effectiveness in service delivery for all Kenyans. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the consensus orientation practices on the performance of county governments in Kenya. The study used a descriptive and explanatory cross-sectional survey method. The unit of analysis was the county government. The counties in which data was collected helped in the generalization of findings to all the Kenyan 47 counties. For this study, a sample of 354 was arrived at. A simple random sampling method was adopted for selecting the respondents. The study used a questionnaire for the collection of primary data. Data analysis was done with the help of a statistical analysis program. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were obtained for the study’s variables and this information was presented in graphs and frequency tables. Inferential statistics included regression analysis that was used to test the significance between dependent and the independent variables. The researcher observed respondents’ rights to privacy and safety. The study established that consensus orientation had a significant influence on the performance of county governments in Kenya and concluded that consensus orientation influences the performance of county governments in Kenya. The study recommends that Governors need to sensitize county directors to work in consultation with other stakeholders to ensure that all feel part of the developmental agenda for the county. There is a need for county governments to set effective regulations through the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority to regulate and shape the county’s procurement procedures

Focus strategy-firm structure fit and performance of star rated hotels in Kenya

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of focus strategy-firm structure fit on the performance of star-rated hotels in Kenya. The study adopted the positivism research philosophy and descriptive-correlative research design. Multi-stage sampling that included proportionate stratified sampling and simple random sampling was used. The sample consisted of 267 general managers and functional managers from Kenya’s three, four and five star rated vacation and town hotels as in 2018. 253 managers responded out of which 59 respondents were found to represent hotels pursuing a focus strategy. Structural equation modeling was used for hypothesis testing. The study concluded that focus strategy-firm structure fit has a significant influence on the performance of star-rated hotels in Kenya. The study recommends that a hotel’s pursuit of focus strategy be internally consistent with its organizational structure

Differentiation strategy, firm structure and performance of star rated hotels

It is estimated that emerging economies will get over 1 billion international tourists by the year 2030. Strategic management researchers have severally recommended credible research in the area of strategy-structure coalignment in the hospitality industry. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of differentiation strategy-firm structure coalignment on performance of star rated hotels in Kenya. This study adopted positivism research philosophy and a descriptive-correlative research design. The population consisted of general managers and functional managers from Kenya’s three, four and five star rated vacation and town hotels as at 2018. Multi-stage sampling that included proportionate stratified sampling and simple random sampling was used. 267 hotel managers were sampled out of which 253 managers responded. The extent to which the hotels were pursuing differentiation strategy was measured by an analysis of the responses to the multi-item Likert scale questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used for hypothesis testing. The study concluded that differentiation strategy-firm structure coalignment has no significant influence on performance of star rated hotels in Kenya. The study however revealed that differentiation strategy directly and positively affects hotel performance. This study recommends hotel managers to pursue a differentiation strategy that sets their hotel apart from others as this has direct positive effects on the performance of hotels

Influence of Transactional Leadership on Employee Job Satisfaction: Case Study of Firms Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange

A journal article by Salome Gitoho a, DBA Alumni of USIU-Africa, co-authored with her supervisiorsThis study examined the influence of transactional leadership on employee job satisfaction. Transactional leadership style entails an exchange process between the leader and the followers thus the transaction or an activity. This implies that the leader through the exchange of relationships, provides followers with a chance to satisfy their lower order material needs; for example, pay increases and emotional needs such as trust. Transactional leadership variables included contingent reward, active management by exception and passive management by exception. The paper provides a conceptual discussion of transactional leadership in management and business practices. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The study sample comprised of 400 employees working in all levels in various companies listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). Stratified sampling technique was used to select the study respondents, both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized while factor analysis was used through principal component analysis and varimax rotation method to generate factor scores for each construct. Multiple linear regression was used to test the study hypothesis Transactional leadership was found to play an important role in influencing employee job satisfaction therefore firms should aim at achieving the highest levels of leaders with leadership skills in order for them to positively influence job satisfaction among the employees. Employees in the study confirmed that their managers were passionate about what needs to be accomplished and focuses attention on irregularities and mistakes; a component of management by exception passive. The study established that transactional leadership positively influences employee job satisfaction thus companies should train and retrain their managers on how to be transactional leaders in order to increase employees’ job satisfaction

Influence of Transformational Leadership Style on Employee Job Satisfaction: Case Study of Firms Listed At the NSE

A journal article by Salome Gitoho a, DBA Alumni of USIU-Africa, co-authored with her supervisiorsPurpose: this study examined the influence of transformational leadership on employee job satisfaction. In this leadership style, the leader enhances the motivation, moral and performance of his follower group. The paper provides a conceptual discussion of value based leadership in management and business practices. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The study sample comprised of 400 employees working in all levels in various companies listed at NSE. Stratified sampling technique was used to select the study respondents. The study utilized both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study used factor analysis through principal component analysis and varimax rotation method to generate factor scores for each construct. Multiple linear regression was used to test the study hypothesis. The findings show that a manager who promote and adhere to company values and mission and inspires employees to follow them. It also established that managers allow employee opinions when seeking solutions to situations, an aspect that greatly motivates them. This finding supports the view by Burns (1978) and Bass (2009) that transformational leaders have an effect on employee motivation and job satisfaction. The coefficient of contingent reward is 0.274 with a p-value of 0.000 implies that variable is statistically significant at 1percent significance level. A unit change in contingent reward can cause a 0.274 change in employee job satisfaction. The coefficient of management by exception-active is 0.017 with a p-value of 0.641 implying that variable is statistically insignificant at 10percent significance level. This implies that management by exception-active as a dimension of transactional leadership has no influence on one’s job satisfaction. The coefficient of management by exception-passive is 0.302 with a p-value of 0.000 implies that the variable is statistically significant at 1 percent significance level. A unit change in management by exception- passive can cause a 0.302 change in employee job satisfaction. Implications: Most organizations have to go through processes of change for them to thrive, such companies can use these findings to identify the type of leadership they should source to drive this change agenda. Additionally even when not going through change, companies should lay emphasizes on building the skills of their management team by ensuring there are trained and retrained on leadership skills such as transformational leaders in order to improve employee job satisfaction