Role of Customer Orientation on Customer Loyalty in the Hotel Industry in Kenya

The purpose of the study was to establish the role of customer orientation on customer loyalty in the hotel industry in Kenya. The study used the non-experimental cross-sectional survey design. A total of 147 hotels listed in the Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers (KAHC) guide 2014 were studied. A census sampling technique was used. The respondents comprised of 147 customer relationship managers or equivalent. Semi structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to analyze the data. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to analyse the data. Quantitative techniques were used to analyze the data. The study findings showed that customer orientation has contributed to customer loyalty in the hotel industry in Kenya. The study concludes that employees were easily accessible, empowered to take initiative and their knowledge of hotel procedures was recommendable. Stakeholders in the hospitality industry should be aware that a loyal customer does not only engage in repeat patronage but also provides positive word-of-mouth to other people, thereby increasing the revenue of the hotel. The implication of this,therefore, is that a customer’s change of patronage would have an impact in the long-term revenue of the hotel. Delivering quality service to customers is a must for success and survival in today’s competitive hospitality industry

TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE: A CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT DIMENSION IN MAINTAINING CUSTOMER LOYALTY

With intense competition among hotels, the study sought to assess the influence of technology infrastructure on customer loyalty as a strategy in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the hotel industry in Kenya. The study used the non-experimental cross-sectional survey design. A total of 147 hotels listed in the Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers (KAHC) guide 2014 were studied. A census sampling technique was used. The respondents comprised of 147 customer relationship managers or equivalent. Semi structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that the hotel industry had effective technology infrastructure and that technology facilities were a key determinant of customer loyalty. The study concluded that technology infrastructure in the hotel sub sector in Kenya were key determinants to customer loyalty. The study recommends that the hotel management ensures that the hotels are International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, United Kingdom Licensed under Creative Common Page 89 upgraded with the technological changes taking place in the whole world; the management conducts a market survey of the technological facilities in use in other hotels so as to minimize high competition from the competition

Improving early childhood development in the context of the nurturing care framework in Kenya: A policy review and qualitative exploration of emerging issues with policy makers

Introduction: The Nurturing Care Framework (NCF) describes “nurturing care” as the ability of nations and communities to support caregivers and provide an environment that ensures children's good health and nutrition, protects them from threats, and provides opportunities for early learning through responsive and emotionally supportive interaction. We assessed the extent to which Kenyan government policies address the components of the NCF and explored policy/decision makers' views on policy gaps and emerging issues.Methods: A search strategy was formulated to identify policy documents focusing on early childhood development (ECD), health and nutrition, responsive caregiving, opportunities for early learning and security and safety, which are key components of the NCF. We limited the search to policy documents published since 2010 when the Kenya constitution was promulgated and ECD functions devolved to county governments. Policy/decision-maker interviews were also conducted to clarify emerging gaps from policy data. Data was extracted, coded and analyzed based on the components of the NCF. Framework analysis was used for interview data with NCF being the main framework of analysis. The Jaccard's similarity coefficient was used to assess similarities between the themes being compared to further understand the challenges, successes and future plans of policy and implementation under each of the NCF domains.Results: 127 policy documents were retrieved from government e-repository and county websites. Of these, n = 91 were assessed against the inclusion criteria, and n = 66 were included in final analysis. The 66 documents included 47 County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) and 19 national policy documents. Twenty policy/decision-maker interviews were conducted. Analysis of both policy and interview data reveal that, while areas of health and nutrition have been considered in policies and county level plans (coefficients >0.5), the domains of early learning, responsive caregiving and safety and security face significant policy and implementation gaps (coefficients ≤ 0.5), particularly for the 0–3 year age group. Inconsistencies were noted between county level implementation plans and national policies in areas such as support for children with disabilities and allocation of budget to early learning and nutrition domains.Conclusion: Findings indicate a strong focus on nutrition and health with limited coverage of responsive caregiving and opportunities for early learning domains. Therefore, if nurturing care goals are to be achieved in Kenya, policies are needed to support current gaps identified with urgent need for policies of minimum standards that provide support for improvements across all Nurturing Care Framework domains

Hypothermia amongst neonatal admissions in Kenya: a retrospective cohort study assessing prevalence, trends, associated factors, and its relationship with all-cause neonatal mortality

BackgroundReports on hypothermia from high-burden countries like Kenya amongst sick newborns often include few centers or relatively small sample sizes.ObjectivesThis study endeavored to describe: (i) the burden of hypothermia on admission across 21 newborn units in Kenya, (ii) any trend in prevalence of hypothermia over time, (iii) factors associated with hypothermia at admission, and (iv) hypothermia's association with inpatient neonatal mortality.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted from January 2020 to March 2023, focusing on small and sick newborns admitted in 21 NBUs. The primary and secondary outcome measures were the prevalence of hypothermia at admission and mortality during the index admission, respectively. An ordinal logistic regression model was used to estimate the relationship between selected factors and the outcomes cold stress (36.0°C–36.4°C) and hypothermia (<36.0°C). Factors associated with neonatal mortality, including hypothermia defined as body temperature below 36.0°C, were also explored using logistic regression.ResultsA total of 58,804 newborns from newborn units in 21 study hospitals were included in the analysis. Out of these, 47,999 (82%) had their admission temperature recorded and 8,391 (17.5%) had hypothermia. Hypothermia prevalence decreased over the study period while admission temperature documentation increased. Significant associations were found between low birthweight and very low (0–3) APGAR scores with hypothermia at admission. Odds of hypothermia reduced as ambient temperature and month of participation in the Clinical Information Network (a collaborative learning health platform for healthcare improvement) increased. Hypothermia at admission was associated with 35% (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.22, 1.50) increase in odds of neonatal inpatient death.ConclusionsA substantial proportion of newborns are admitted with hypothermia, indicating a breakdown in warm chain protocols after birth and intra-hospital transport that increases odds of mortality. Urgent implementation of rigorous warm chain protocols, particularly for low-birth-weight babies, is crucial to protect these vulnerable newborns from the detrimental effects of hypothermia

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions

Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Understanding the health consequences associated with exposure to risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice. To systematically quantify the contributions of risk factor exposures to specific health outcomes, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 aims to provide comprehensive estimates of exposure levels, relative health risks, and attributable burden of disease for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Methods: The GBD 2021 risk factor analysis used data from 54 561 total distinct sources to produce epidemiological estimates for 88 risk factors and their associated health outcomes for a total of 631 risk–outcome pairs. Pairs were included on the basis of data-driven determination of a risk–outcome association. Age-sex-location-year-specific estimates were generated at global, regional, and national levels. Our approach followed the comparative risk assessment framework predicated on a causal web of hierarchically organised, potentially combinative, modifiable risks. Relative risks (RRs) of a given outcome occurring as a function of risk factor exposure were estimated separately for each risk–outcome pair, and summary exposure values (SEVs), representing risk-weighted exposure prevalence, and theoretical minimum risk exposure levels (TMRELs) were estimated for each risk factor. These estimates were used to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF; ie, the proportional change in health risk that would occur if exposure to a risk factor were reduced to the TMREL). The product of PAFs and disease burden associated with a given outcome, measured in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), yielded measures of attributable burden (ie, the proportion of total disease burden attributable to a particular risk factor or combination of risk factors). Adjustments for mediation were applied to account for relationships involving risk factors that act indirectly on outcomes via intermediate risks. Attributable burden estimates were stratified by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile and presented as counts, age-standardised rates, and rankings. To complement estimates of RR and attributable burden, newly developed burden of proof risk function (BPRF) methods were applied to yield supplementary, conservative interpretations of risk–outcome associations based on the consistency of underlying evidence, accounting for unexplained heterogeneity between input data from different studies. Estimates reported represent the mean value across 500 draws from the estimate's distribution, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) calculated as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile values across the draws. Findings: Among the specific risk factors analysed for this study, particulate matter air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, contributing 8·0% (95% UI 6·7–9·4) of total DALYs, followed by high systolic blood pressure (SBP; 7·8% [6·4–9·2]), smoking (5·7% [4·7–6·8]), low birthweight and short gestation (5·6% [4·8–6·3]), and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG; 5·4% [4·8–6·0]). For younger demographics (ie, those aged 0–4 years and 5–14 years), risks such as low birthweight and short gestation and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing (WaSH) were among the leading risk factors, while for older age groups, metabolic risks such as high SBP, high body-mass index (BMI), high FPG, and high LDL cholesterol had a greater impact. From 2000 to 2021, there was an observable shift in global health challenges, marked by a decline in the number of all-age DALYs broadly attributable to behavioural risks (decrease of 20·7% [13·9–27·7]) and environmental and occupational risks (decrease of 22·0% [15·5–28·8]), coupled with a 49·4% (42·3–56·9) increase in DALYs attributable to metabolic risks, all reflecting ageing populations and changing lifestyles on a global scale. Age-standardised global DALY rates attributable to high BMI and high FPG rose considerably (15·7% [9·9–21·7] for high BMI and 7·9% [3·3–12·9] for high FPG) over this period, with exposure to these risks increasing annually at rates of 1·8% (1·6–1·9) for high BMI and 1·3% (1·1–1·5) for high FPG. By contrast, the global risk-attributable burden and exposure to many other risk factors declined, notably for risks such as child growth failure and unsafe water source, with age-standardised attributable DALYs decreasing by 71·5% (64·4–78·8) for child growth failure and 66·3% (60·2–72·0) for unsafe water source. We separated risk factors into three groups according to trajectory over time: those with a decreasing attributable burden, due largely to declining risk exposure (eg, diet high in trans-fat and household air pollution) but also to proportionally smaller child and youth populations (eg, child and maternal malnutrition); those for which the burden increased moderately in spite of declining risk exposure, due largely to population ageing (eg, smoking); and those for which the burden increased considerably due to both increasing risk exposure and population ageing (eg, ambient particulate matter air pollution, high BMI, high FPG, and high SBP). Interpretation: Substantial progress has been made in reducing the global disease burden attributable to a range of risk factors, particularly those related to maternal and child health, WaSH, and household air pollution. Maintaining efforts to minimise the impact of these risk factors, especially in low SDI locations, is necessary to sustain progress. Successes in moderating the smoking-related burden by reducing risk exposure highlight the need to advance policies that reduce exposure to other leading risk factors such as ambient particulate matter air pollution and high SBP. Troubling increases in high FPG, high BMI, and other risk factors related to obesity and metabolic syndrome indicate an urgent need to identify and implement interventions

Nutrient enrichment of pineapple waste using Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma viride by solid state fermentation

The enrichment by microbial fermentation of agro industrial waste to alleviate their nutritional problems has been proposed but the nutritional value of the subsequent feed for animal consumption has not been fully elucidated. This study investigates whether solid state fermentation of pineapple waste using the fungi Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma viride could improve its nutrient content. Results show that fermentation of pineapple waste by solid state fermentation using the fungi A. niger and T. viride significantly (P < 0.05) enriches the nutrient content of the waste, particularly increasing the crude protein and ash content while lowering the crude fiber content. The most significant nutrient enrichment was recorded at 72 h of fermentation using A. niger and at 96 h of fermentation using T. viride. Indiscernible changes were noted in the mineral content of pineapple waste (PW). Dry matter increased significantly (P < 0.05) as fermentation progressed with the highest values recorded at 96 h. This study establishes no significant differences (P > 0.05) in the fermentation abilities of the two fungi, A. niger and T. viride. Fermented pineapple waste may be a potential supplement in compounding animal feed provided that it is acceptable and highly digestible.Keywords: Agro industrial waste, crude fiber, crude protein

Data Mining Model for Predicting Student Enrolment in STEM Courses in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract: Educational data mining is the process of applying data mining tools and techniques to analyze data at educational institutions. In this paper, educational data mining was used to predict enrollment of students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses in higher educational institutions. The study examined the extent to which individual, sociodemographic and school-level contextual factors help in pre-identifying successful and unsuccessful students in enrollment in STEM disciplines in Higher Education Institutions in Kenya. The Cross Industry Standard Process for Data Mining framework was applied to a dataset drawn from the first, second and third year undergraduate female students enrolled in STEM disciplines in one University in Kenya to model student enrollment. Feature selection was used to rank the predictor variables by their importance for further analysis. Various predictive algorithms were evaluated in predicting enrollment of students in STEM courses. Empirical results showed the following: (i) the most important factors separating successful from unsuccessful students are: High School final grade, teacher inspiration, career flexibility, pre-university awareness and mathematics grade. (ii) among classification algorithms for prediction, decision tree (CART) was the most successful classifier with an overall percentage of correct classification of 85.2%. This paper showcases the importance of Prediction and Classification based data mining algorithms in the field of education and also presents some promising future lines

Entrepreneurial opportunity discovery dimensions and growth of non-governmental organizations in Kenya

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) play a critical role in addressing social ills like poverty, employment, and food insecurity; therefore, their growth prospects enhance their ability to address these social ills. Discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities amongst the agro-based NGOs has not got the desired attention, and it is the least researched area in social entrepreneurship. This study investigated the relationship between Entrepreneurial Opportunity Discovery Dimensions and Growth of Non-Governmental Organizations in Kenya. It employed correlation design and was anchored on the Kirznerian Entrepreneurship Theory. The target population was 135 agro-based NGOs in Kenya. A mixed-method approach was used, combined qualitative and quantitative techniques. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS graphic-25) aided in the analysis. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS and Simple linear regression analysis were the primary analysis techniques used to evaluate the relationship between entrepreneurial opportunity discovery dimensions and the growth of NGOs. The results indicated that alertness0.372, p=0.033)and prior knowledge (0.163, p=0.031) have a significant favorable influence on growth, while social networks 0.047, p=0.713) showed an insignificant effect on the growth of NGOs. Investing in acquiring alert individuals and helping them gain relevant knowledge in the 21sttechnologies and emerging issues can lead to increased NGO ability to continue serving the community effectively and be engines of development for the general good of Kenya

Views of Secondary School Students on Adolescent Friendly Health Services in Level Two Facilities in Mombasa County, Kenya

Background: Sexual and reproductive health problems remain a major cause of ill health and/death among adolescents. Despite the adoption of adolescent-friendly health services in all government facilities in Kenya, incidences of teenage pregnancies and HIV infections among adolescents aged 15-19 years continue to rise. Understanding adolescents’ views on the health services offered at facilities is important to develop services that are responsive to their needs. Methods: The study was conducted to assess the views of secondary school students on adolescent-friendly health services in level 2 facilities in Kisauni Sub-County, Mombasa County, Kenya. The study looked at staff characteristics, facility characteristics, interpersonal relationships and their relationship on students’ perceptions on friendliness of services. A survey was conducted with 313 secondary school going students from two public schools in Kisauni Sub-County, Mombasa County Kenya. Students were selected using a simple random selection process and structured questionnaires used to collect data. Additionally, researchers assessed four public primary care facilities using an observational checklist. Key informant interviews conducted on the facility in charges. Relationships between variables were assessed using Chi-Square at a 95% confidence interval. Results: Of all the respondents (n=313), 42% reported the services to be friendly. More than half (65.5%, n=205), of all the respondents thought the facilities had appropriate staff to provide adolescent and youth-friendly health services (AYFHS) as well as majority (98%) of all the respondents reporting preference of staff of the same sex and age to offer services to them since they could understand them easily. Media (radio, newspapers) and static advertisements significantly influenced AYFHS (p - values 0.017 and 0.004 respectively). Less than half of those who reported friendly services mentioned being aware of services offered in other settings such as drop-in centres (43.2%, n=32), community outreach (43.7%, n=44) and school health programs (39.2%, n=65). Accessing facility by use of vehicle and walking on foot had a significant influence on AYFHS (p- values of 0.001 and 0.003 respectively). Involvement of other agencies in service review had a significant influence on the friendliness of services (p-value 0.003). Conclusion: Adolescents perceive the Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services as unfriendly, with access to service as a barrier to accessing these services. Keywords: Adolescence, Adolescent Health Services, Reproductive Health Services, Health, Kenya, Friendly Service