Role of Intellectual Stimulation and Inspirational Motivation on Performance of Commercial State Owned Enterprises in Kenya

Kenya state owned enterprises were design to spur growth and provide services in order to uplift the living standards of the Kenyans. However, over the years these state enterprises have face numerous challenges among them poor leadership. This paper sought to investigate the effect of transformational leadership on organizational performance of commercial state owned enterprises in Kenya, specifically the extent to which idealized influence and inspirational motivation affect organizational performance of commercial SOEs in Kenya. Data was collected from 170 senior managers from 34 commercial state corporations in Kenya using self-administered questionnaire.  Inspirational motivation was found to have a significant and a positive effect on organization performance implying that improving inspirational motivation will improve organization performance. However, idealized influence did not have any significant effect on organization performance. The study also found that inspirational motivation had a negative effect on organization performance through organization culture. This paper recommends that organizations targeting to improve organization performance must work on employee- friendly company culture, degree of employee’s inclination to be more productive than non-motivated employees, power of company financial incentives and team work. In addition, they must work towards discouraging delegation of tasks, career mentoring and couching, and creation of new learning opportunities alongside a supportive climate. Keywords: organizational motivation, inspirational motivation, State Owned Enterprise

The Effect of Individualized Consideration and Intellectual Stimulation on Organizational Performance of Commercial State Owned Enterprises in Kenya

There is a limited understanding about the role of leadership on organizational performance in the context of customer service sector. Customer service sector is getting more and more importance in recent years as firms are directing their attention towards proving the best quality of service to their customers along with manufacturing. Therefore, the motivation of this paper is to investigate the impact of leadership behaviour on organizational performance in the context of customer service sector. Data was collected from 170 senior managers from 34 commercial state corporations in Kenya using self-administered questionnaire. Using ordinary linear regression, the results show that individualized consideration had a significant and negative effect on organization performance implying that discouraging individual consideration in a commercially owned enterprise would improve organization performance. However, intellectual stimulation did not have any significant effect on organization performance. The paper recommends that organizations targeting to improve organization performance must work on employee- friendly company culture, degree of employee’s inclination to be more productive than non-motivated employees, power of company financial incentives and team work. In addition, they must work towards discouraging delegation of tasks, career mentoring and couching, and creation of new learning opportunities alongside a supportive climate. Keywords: Intellectual Stimulation, Individualized Consideration, Organizational Performance, State-Owned Enterprise

Stock Returns And Volatility İn An Emerging Equity Market. Evidence From Kenya

This study investigates volatility pattern of Kenyan stock market based on time series data which consists of daily closing prices of NSE Index for the period 2ndJanuary 2001 to 31st December 2014. The analysis has been done using both symmetric and asymmetric Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) models. The study provides evidence for the existence of a positive and significant risk premium. Moreover, volatility shocks on daily returns at the stock market are transitory. We do not find any significant leverage effect. Introduction of the new regulations on foreign investors with a 25% minimum reserve of the issued share capital going to local investors (in 2002), introduction of live trading, cross listing in Uganda and Tanzania stock exchange (in 2006) and change in equity settlement cycle from T+4 to T+3 (in 2011) significantly reduce volatility clustering. The onset of US tapering increase the daily mean returns significantly while reducing conditional volatility

Effects of Transformational Leadership on Work Stress among Top Managers in State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Kenya

Effective managerial leadership at all levels of society is essential for coping with the growing social and economic problems confronting a country. Currently most of the state owned enterprises (SOEs) are making losses or operating below their full potential. This poor performance could be influenced by the inability of top management to perform under stress. Work stress may reduce the productivity of the top management ultimately leading to poor performance. There are various factors that influence work stress among them is leadership styles. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of literature focusing on the effect of leadership styles on work stress in SOEs. This study sought to investigate the role of transformational leadership style on work stress in commercial SOEs in Kenya. Specifically, the study examines the effect of modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act and encouraging the heart on work stress among the top managers of Kenya SOEs. To achieve these objectives the study targeted 175 top managers of commercial SOEs but collected data from 162 managers representing a response rate of 93 percent. The study used factor analysis to create indices for modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, encouraging the heart and work stress. Correlation analysis was used to test the strength of the relationship between work stress and each dimension of transformational leadership. Multiple regression analysis was used to estimate the magnitude and direction of each dimension of transformational leadership on work stress. The study found that model the way positively influence work stress and inspire a shared vision negatively influence work stress while other dimensions of transformational leadership have no significant effect on work stress among top managers of commercial SOEs in Kenya. The study recommends that managers should be trained and retrained in order to incorporate good leadership practices that will reduce work stress and increase productivity of the SOEs in Kenya. Keywords: Work Stress, Transformational Leadership, State Owned Enterprise

The effect of a multi-component intervention on disrespect and abuse during childbirth in Kenya

Background Disrespect and abuse (D & A) during labor and delivery are important issues correlated with human rights, equity, and public health that also affect women’s decisions to deliver in facilities, which provide appropriate management of maternal and neonatal complications. Little is known about interventions aimed at lowering the frequency of disrespectful and abusive behaviors. Methods Between 2011 and 2014, a pre-and-post study measured D & A levels in a three-tiered intervention at 13 facilities in Kenya under the Heshima project. The intervention involved working with policymakers to encourage greater focus on D & A, training providers on respectful maternity care, and strengthening linkages between the facility and community for accountability and governance. At participating facilities, postpartum women were approached at discharge and asked to participate in the study; those who consented were administered a questionnaire on D & A in general as well as six typologies, including physical and verbal abuse, violations of confidentiality and privacy, detainment for non-payment, and abandonment. Observation of provider-patient interaction during labor was also conducted in the same facilities. In both exit interview and observational studies, multivariate analyses of risk factors for D & A controlled for differences in socio-demographic and facility characteristics between baseline and endline surveys. Results Overall D & A decreased from 20–13 % (p < 0.004) and among four of the six typologies D & A decreased from 40–50 %. Night shift deliveries were associated with greater verbal and physical abuse. Patient and infant detainment declined dramatically from 8.0–0.8 %, though this was partially attributable to the 2013 national free delivery care policy. Conclusion Although a number of contextual factors may have influenced these findings, the magnitude and consistency of the observed decreases suggest that the multi-component intervention may have the potential to reduce the frequency of D & A. Greater efforts are needed to develop stronger evaluation methods for assessing D & A in other settings

Financial Innovation as an Alternative Delivery Channel and Financial Performance of Listed Commercial Banks in Kenya

The study aimed at assessing the effect of product innovation and process innovation on financial performance of listed commercial banks in Kenya. Data was collected using Qualtrics Survey Software with which online questionnaires were administered to the respondents. Collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The study concludes that financial innovation and financial performance are indeed correlated. However, it’s only process innovation that has a significant relationship with financial performance while product innovation showed no significant relationship. The researcher recommended that commercial banks should invest more on process innovation strategies and less on product innovation

Effect of Intellectual Stimulation and Individualized Consideration on Staff Performance in State Owned Enterprises in Kenya

The aim of this study was to examine effect of Intellectual Stimulation and Individualized Consideration on performance of staff in State Owned Enterprises in Kenya. The study intended to answer the following research questions: does intellectual stimulation affect performance of staff in SOEs in Kenya?, and does individualized consideration affect performance of staff in SOEs in Kenya? Positivism research philosophy and descriptive research design were used in this study. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 163 senior managers from the target population of 275 senior managers. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the selected members of top management team in SOEs. The study used factor analysis to reduce data, correlation analysis to establish the relationship between staff performance and intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration, chi square test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and multiple linear regression model to test the hypotheses. The study found that intellectual stimulation was positively and significantly related with staff performance, r(139) = .73, p &lt; .00 and significantly predicted staff performance, β = .78, t (145) = 3.38, p&lt; .001. Individualized consideration was strongly correlated with staff performance r (138) = .75, p &lt; .00 and significantly predicted staff performance, β = 1.07, t (145) = 4.57, p&lt; .00.The study concluded that Intellectual Stimulation and Individualized Consideration positively and significantly increased performance of staff in SOEs in Kenya. The study recommended in order for the SOEs to achieve their objectives, top management should inspire and motivate their followers so as to increase performance. Keywords: Intellectual Stimulation, Individualized Consideration, Staff Performance, State Owned Enterprise

Autonomy, intimate partner violence, and maternal health-seeking behavior: Findings from mixed-methods analysis in Kenya

Gendered norms and discriminatory practices often limit women’s decision-making power, which over time can lead to social norms that systematically disadvantage women. Aspects of empowerment were explored in a global evaluation of Demographic and Health Survey data that measured how gendered social norms influenced maternal health-seeking behaviors. Analysis specifically explored associations of women’s autonomy and acceptability of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) on antenatal care use and facility delivery in 63 low- and middle-income countries. Service utilization is positively associated with increased autonomy and negatively associated with increased acceptability of IPVAW, but variability exists across countries and regions. In Kenya, maternal health-seeking behaviors are influenced by numerous interrelated factors. Little research exists on how gender dynamics and norms, including acceptability of various forms of IPVAW, may influence women’s decision-making autonomy, health-seeking behavior, and overall well-being. This country brief highlights quantitative and qualitative findings on the relationship between women’s autonomy and IPVAW acceptability and maternal health-seeking behaviors in Kenya