School of Business and Economics (SBE)http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/67442024-03-29T15:44:43Z2024-03-29T15:44:43ZDeterminants of Technical Efficiency in Pixie Production in Makueni County, KenyaWambua Samuel Muuo* , Simon Mwaura, Christopher Maokombahttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/154572024-03-14T11:43:25Z2024-01-01T00:00:00ZDeterminants of Technical Efficiency in Pixie Production in Makueni County, Kenya
Wambua Samuel Muuo* , Simon Mwaura, Christopher Maokomba
The purpose of the study was to determine the farm technical efficiency in pixie farming in Makueni County, Kenya
and the factors which influence the technical efficiency. The specific objectives of the study were: determination of technical
efficiency in pixie production, examination of how socio-economic characteristics affect the technical efficiency in pixie
production, and determination of how the adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies influence the technical efficiency in
pixie production. Primary data was collected where questionnaires and interview schedule were adopted to obtain information
from a sample of 311 pixie farmers through both purposive and simple random sampling technique. Non-experimental cross
sectional research design was adopted. Generalized linear regression model and stochastic frontier model were used. The study
results found that the mean technical efficiency was 75%. There only existed a 25% potential towards realization of optimum
output by the average farmer. Different socio-economic characteristics of the farmers were found to influence technical
efficiency among the pixie farmers. Maximum likelihood estimates of technical efficiency derived from the stochastic frontier
production function results indicated that use of fertilizer, manure and labour contributed to increased productivity. The adopters
of the different sustainable agricultural technologies had higher technical efficiencies than the non-adopters. The study
recommends young farmers be encouraged in the practice of pixie farming to help in realization of high pixie output. The
government should: Put in place measures to increase credit access to farmers, harmonize the repayment time of the loans and
design strategies in place for the pixie farmers to be educated on the need of adopting the sustainable agricultural technologies
and how to use them in order to reduce the big gap in their productivity levels.
Keywords: Adoption, Sustainable Agricultural Technologies, Technical Efficiency, Stochastic Frontier Model
2024-01-01T00:00:00ZTHE NEXUS BETWEEN REWARD MANAGEMENT AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. A KENYA COMMERCIAL BANK’S PERSPECTIVEJustus Nyongesa Wesonga, Johan Van Der Westhuizenhttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/150942024-02-08T09:34:54Z2023-01-01T00:00:00ZTHE NEXUS BETWEEN REWARD MANAGEMENT AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. A KENYA COMMERCIAL BANK’S PERSPECTIVE
Justus Nyongesa Wesonga, Johan Van Der Westhuizen
The foundation of reward management is the idea that people run organizations; they are the ones that generate value by
utilizing company resources to provide goods and services that customers want, and they must be paid for their labour. However, as
commercial banks compete for the same talent pool and the expenses are high, reward management is becoming a concern in the
banking industry in the twenty-first century. Talent scarcity has existed since globalization allowed talented workers to advertise
their skills internationally. Experts are worried about the potential for fierce global talent rivalry, which raises questions about how
talent is acquired and kept. This study aimed to examine how the Kenya Commercial Bank’s competitive advantage was affected
by reward management. The Equity theory of motivation served as the study’s theoretical cornerstone. The study’s target group was
108 senior and mid-level executives at the KCB headquarters. It was conducted using a case study methodology. Census data were
used because the population was not very large. A questionnaire was used to gather the information. The data was analyzed using
descriptive statistics for frequency and percentages, Pearson correlation analysis, and simple and multiple linear regression. The
study found that reward management significantly boosted commercial banks’ competitive advantage (r= 0.786, p-value = 0.000).
The simple linear regression analysis, used to test the null hypothesis, resulted in its rejection because the t-values were higher
than the critical t-values. The majority of respondents maintained that KCB’s competitive advantage was influenced by incentive
management. Therefore, the study recommended that commercial banks should use suitable reward management to increase their
competitive advantage.
Keywords: reward management, talent management, competitive advantage, banking industry.
2023-01-01T00:00:00ZTHE MODERATION EFFECT OF PERSONAL FACTORS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING AND SERVICE DELIVERY OF EMPLOYEES IN HUDUMA CENTRES IN WESTERN KENYAJustus Nyongesa Wesonga, Johan Van Der Westhuizenhttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/150932024-02-08T09:32:04Z2023-01-01T00:00:00ZTHE MODERATION EFFECT OF PERSONAL FACTORS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING AND SERVICE DELIVERY OF EMPLOYEES IN HUDUMA CENTRES IN WESTERN KENYA
Justus Nyongesa Wesonga, Johan Van Der Westhuizen
The Kenyan Government mounted the following efforts to improve service delivery: privatization, voluntary early retirement, and restructuring, but the results were not good, thereby opting for performance contracting using Huduma Centers. The
30,000 customers are served at the centres daily and collected Kshs 12 billion annually as revenue, as shown in a report by Government 2020. Past studies on performance contracting influencug service delivery were mostly case studies and not surveys. There
were mixed outcomes from the reviewed literature, a sign of a moderator impact yet to be tested, and there were no evidence for examining personal characteristics to demonstrate their moderation effect. The impact of personal factors on the relationship between
performance contracting and service delivery, on the other hand, has not been sufficiently explored. This study aimed to establish the
moderation effect of personal factors on the relationship between performance contracting and service delivery. The study utilized
an ex-post factor design with quantitative aspects. A questionnaire was used to gather data from a target population of 276. The data
analysis was done quantitatively to establish the moderation effect. The results showed that personal factors (R2=0.125; p=0.000)
positively and significantly influenced the association by 12.5 %. The study revealed that personal characteristics positively modified the association. The study recommends that managers and policymakers consider personal factors to enhance service delivery.
The implication of this study for theory is that it would result in theory refinement by emphasizing the integration of personal factors
in the performance contracting framework while opening research fronts for the future by recommending cross-sectoral studies that
are qualitative to be carried out to gain insights into the variations of moderations of personal factors.
Keywords: personal factors, performance contracting, service delivery, huduma centres, moderation effect.
2023-01-01T00:00:00ZThe impacts of community-based water development projects on rural poverty among small-holder farmers: Evidence from the Ewaso Ng’iro North Catchment Area, KenyaSimon Ng’ang’a Mwaura , Isaac Maina Kariuki , Simon Kiprop , Augustus Sammy Muluvi , Gideon Obare and Boniface Kitemehttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/150922024-02-08T09:26:55Z2021-01-01T00:00:00ZThe impacts of community-based water development projects on rural poverty among small-holder farmers: Evidence from the Ewaso Ng’iro North Catchment Area, Kenya
Simon Ng’ang’a Mwaura , Isaac Maina Kariuki , Simon Kiprop , Augustus Sammy Muluvi , Gideon Obare and Boniface Kiteme
The main challenge with respect to water in the rural setting, lies in
access, control and management. Collective action has been taken up following the
International Water Management (IWM) principles and institutionalized in the
Kenyan legal framework through water resource users’ associations (WRUAs). We
carried out this study to assess whether this collective action has any impact on
household poverty using objective poverty measures (consumption and income),
a subjective poverty measure and a water poverty measure. We used 2019 household survey data of 652 randomly selected rural households from the Upper Ewaso
Ng’iro North Catchment Area. We employed the full information maximum likelihood endogenous probit regression model to obtain the impact of WRUA membership on household poverty status. We find that collective water management
can have welfare improving impacts for rural households, especially where there
low public investments in water provision, management and access. We recommend that WRUAs be empowered through financial, legal and capacity building
interventions to enhance their community impacts.Subjects: Agriculture & Environmental Sciences; Environment & Resources; Sustainable
Development; Rural Development; Economics; Environmental Economics
Keywords: Objective poverty; subjective poverty; water poverty; collective action; rural
poverty; Upper Ewaso Ng’iro North Catchment
2021-01-01T00:00:00Z