Elephants, Local Livelihoods, and Landscape Change in Tsavo, Kenya.

This dissertation provides a historical context for socio-ecological relationships in Tsavo, Kenya by focusing on the interaction between elephants and people in the landscape. A better understanding of the relationship between elephants and people in the Tsavo landscape promotes opportunities for better policy outcomes. The dissertation engages with the analytical approach of political ecology, which has enabled it to provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between elephants and people in Tsavo. Apolitical accounts of human-elephant conflicts in Tsavo do not adequately address the colonial roots of human-elephant conflicts or their consequences for local livelihoods. This dissertation demonstrates how landscape transformations in Tsavo have altered the relationship between people and elephants such that local communities now perceive elephants as having political, economic and land-use advantage over humans. Due to the special protection they enjoy from the state, elephants in Tsavo are now the subject of “everyday acts of resistance” by local people. This study drew upon archival and published sources, multi-sited ethnography and qualitative research methods to examine the relationship between people and elephants, during the precolonial, colonial and post-colonial periods in Kenya. Field work for this project involved over 200 local participants drawn from eighteen villages that are adjacent to Tsavo East, Tsavo West and Chyulu Hills National Parks in Kenya. Semi-structured and unstructured interviews, focus-group discussions, ethnographic observation, and transect walks with village residents were conducted to gain local views on elephants and livelihood conditions. This study advances Community Based Conservation (CBC) strategies that support collaborative learning about local places and people’s livelihood conditions before implementing new conservation agendas. Through an Adaptive Collaborative Management approach, this study contributes to literature on elephant conservation by exploring how local knowledge can be included in co-management plans between local people and conservation authorities. It demonstrates that oral histories of living elders among the Kamba, Taveta, Taita, Waata, Orma,and Maasai are a fundamental resource for ACM initiatives and can inspire adaptive management solutions in Tsavo. The study concludes that Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) initiatives need to be adopted to reconcile rural development and elephant conservation needs in the Tsavo region

The Role of A Decentralized Organizational Structure on KM Infrastructure Capability during the Implementation of ERP Systems in Kenya

It is a well-established fact that most Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) fail due to a myriad of implementation problems. This study was motivated by the high failure rate of ERP systems around the world during the implementation stage. Most studies report failure rates of between 65% and 75%. Many developed countries have adapted flexible organizational structures as a technique of minimizing ERP implementation problems. This paper investigated the influence of organizational structure on KM infrastructure capabilities during the implementation of ERP systems in organizations listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in Kenya, with the aim of establishing whether these organizations have embraced organizational structures which enhance knowledge sharing. Three hundred and six (306) questionnaires were distributed to senior managers and users of ERP systems in the companies listed in the NSE. One hundred and eighty four (184) responses were received representing a 60% response rate. The study employed factor analysis, correlation analysis, univariate analysis, multivariate regression analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationship among variables and measure the strength and direction of the relationships between constructs. Data was cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 20 and AMOS version 21. The research found out that organizational structure is not considered a significant component of KM infrastructure in the companies listed in the NSE. The findings imply that most companies listed in the NSE in Kenya still practice silo behavior where individual divisions, units, or functional areas operate as silos or independent agents within the organization. This study leads to the conclusion that the organizational structures in Kenya are not flexible enough to enhance ERP implementation success and recommends that organizations should embrace decentralized structures, which provide the flexibility required for knowledge sharing in ERP implementation projects. Keywords: ERP implementation, organizational structure, KM infrastructure capability, Social Capital Theory, Dynamic Capability View, Resource based theor

The Role of A Decentralized Organizational Structure on KM Infrastructure Capability during the Implementation of ERP Systems in Kenya

A Journal article by a DBA Alumni and co-authors who are Faculty in the Chandaria School of Business at USIU-AfricaIt is a well-established fact that most Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) fail due to a myriad of implementation problems. This study was motivated by the high failure rate of ERP systems around the world during the implementation stage. Most studies report failure rates of between 65% and 75%. Many developed countries have adapted flexible organizational structures as a technique of minimizing ERP implementation problems. This paper investigated the influence of organizational structure on KM infrastructure capabilities during the implementation of ERP systems in organizations listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in Kenya, with the aim of establishing whether these organizations have embraced organizational structures which enhance knowledge sharing. Three hundred and six (306) questionnaires were distributed to senior managers and users of ERP systems in the companies listed in the NSE. One hundred and eighty four (184) responses were received representing a 60% response rate. The study employed factor analysis, correlation analysis, univariate analysis, multivariate regression analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationship among variables and measure the strength and direction of the relationships between constructs. Data was cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 20 and AMOS version 21. The research found out that organizational structure is not considered a significant component of KM infrastructure in the companies listed in the NSE. The findings imply that most companies listed in the NSE in Kenya still practice silo behavior where individual divisions, units, or functional areas operate as silos or independent agents within the organization. This study leads to the conclusion that the organizational structures in Kenya are not flexible enough to enhance ERP implementation success and recommends that organizations should embrace decentralized structures, which provide the flexibility required for knowledge sharing in ERP implementation projects. Keywords: ERP implementation, organizational structure, KM infrastructure capability, Social Capital Theory, Dynamic Capability View, Resource based theor

The Influence of Top Management Support on Knowledge Sharing during the Implementation of ERP Systems in Kenya

A Journal article by Dr. Churchil a DBA Alumni, Dr.Kamau and Prof. Peter Lewa Faculty in Chandaria School of business at USIU-AfricaThis study was motivated by the high failure rate of ERP systems around the world during the implementation stage. Most studies report failure rates of between 65% and 75%. Many developed countries such as Kenya have embraced Top Management Support as a technique of improving knowledge sharing in organizations and is seen to be important in minimizing ERP implementation problems. This paper investigated the influence of top management support on the KM infrastructure capability during the implementation of ERP systems in organizations listed in the NSE in Kenya, with the aim of establishing whether these organizations have embraced top management support in ERP implementation. Three hundred and six (306) questionnaires were distributed to senior managers and users of ERP systems in the companies listed in the NSE. One hundred and eight four (184) responses were received representing a 60% response rate. The study employed factor analysis, univariate analysis, multivariate regression analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationship among variables and measure the strength and direction of relationships between constructs. Data was cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 20 and AMOS version 21. Results showed that most of the organizations regard top management as an important component which contributes to successful ERP implementations. The study recommends higher levels of involvement of top management as this improves on the levels of knowledge sharing which is important for ERP implementation success