SMC Scholarly Articles

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Browsing SMC Scholarly Articles by Author "Dimba, Beatrice A"

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    Culture and organization performance
    (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013) Dimba, Beatrice A; Samuel O. Idowu; Nicholas Capaldi; Liangrong Zu; Ananda Das Gupta
    These synonyms show at least two different groups of uses which should be stressed here. SHRM practices also known as high performance work practices (HPWP), or best practices, are those decisions and actions which concern the management of employees at all levels in the business, and which are related to the implementation of strategies directed toward sustaining competitive advantage (Kramar 1992). Examples include recruitment practices, staff appraisal systems, remuneration systems, and flexible work arrangements. Culture is the beliefs, values, assumptions, attitudes, and behaviors of a group of people. National culture is defined as the values, beliefs, and assumptions learned in early childhood that distinguish one group of people from another (Aycan et al. 2007).
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    Database marketing strategies in the industry: case of Kenyan organizations
    (North American Institute of Science and Information Technology, 2013-03) Lukandu, Ismail A; Dimba, Beatrice A; Omwenga, Vincent O
    Problem Statement: There are several organizations in both the private and public sector that collect information about their customers but do not proactively leverage on it. In most cases, the collected information would lie unused or underutilized for long periods and yet these same organizations do struggle business-wise. A major point is that they could actually utilize the information to create new avenues to the benefit of the organizations. Methodology: The methodology adopted for this research was to survey several private sector organizations. A sample of thirty-two (32) organizations out fifty (50) accepted to take part in the Database Marketing Survey. This survey consisted of organizations in the private sector ranging from airline industry, information and communication technology industry, retail and services and healthcare industries. We were interested to access information on what types of customer information they typically collected, stored and/or interpreted and how the organization’s databases were generally designed. Further, we needed to determine the frequencies of inaccuracies in the data collected, the liabilities/implications of incorrect data, the applied techniques (systems) to maintain data integrity and the maintenance systems and of the databases, which database formats were most successful, which procedures of data gathering were most reliable and subtly, which off-the-shelf programs were better for design of a customer database for the organizations. Results: Our preliminary analysis indicated these organizations routinely collected and stored customer information for various purposes. It was noticed that though most organizations collected data, it was mostly inaccurate, duplicate, inconsistent and non-standard. In this regard, it was extremely difficult to really harness or leverage on it. Due to this state of affairs, the organizations could not easily relate to the fact that the core data errors could be a pointer to lost revenue, lost opportunities or money wasted pursuing false assumptions or inaccurate accounts. Conclusions: The type of database design used by the private sector industries in Kenya is largely dependent on the “Off-the-Shelf” programs. The design of a customer database for an organization was largely related to the type of “off-the-Shelf” with a correlation coefficient of 0.738. Most organizations collected and stored data that can be described to be personal information from the customers and this information was predominantly used for the purposes of business growth, that is, sales at 73.91% and marketing at 56.62% though not strategically.
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    The effect of strategic human resource management practices on performance of manufacturing multinational companies in Kenya: moderating role of employee cultural orientations and mediating role of employee motivation
    (2009) Dimba, Beatrice A; K’Obonyo, Peter
    This study linked strategic human resource (SHRM) practices, cultural orientations, employee motivation and firm performance in foreign manufacturing multinational companies (MNCs) in Kenya. The objectives were: to establish the relationship between SHRM practices and firm performance; to determine the extent to which the relationship between SHRM practices and employees’ motivation depends on employees’ cultural orientations; to establish if the relationship between SHRM practices and firm performance is mediated by employees’ motivation; to gauge the relationship between motivation and firm performance. The respondents were HR managers, marketing managers and production managers, and nonmanagement employees working in 50 foreign MNCs. Data was collected using questionnaires developed by Hofstede and Huselid and modified by the researcher. Hofstede’s instrument contains measures of employees’ cultural orientations, whereas Huselid’s instrument contains measures for SHRM practices, motivation and performance. The findings of the study indicate that: all the variables of SHRM practices, except recruitment and selection were positively and significantly correlated with performance; relationship between SHRM practices and firm motivation did not depend on employee cultural orientations in the case where cultural beliefs were considered, but depended on employee cultural orientations when cultural values were considered; motivation mediated relationship between SHRM practices and firm performance; and motivation affected firm performance.
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    Strategic human resource management practices: effect on performance
    (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2010) Dimba, Beatrice A
    Purpose – Strategic human resource management (SHRM) practices are used by large foreign multinational companies to improve their performance. The purpose of this paper is to establish the direct or indirect relationship between SHRM practices and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – SHRM practices are conceptualized as independent variables measured through a bundle of distinct practices. Organizational performance as a dependent variable is measured using constructs of image, interpersonal relations, and product quality. The model is tested with data from 50 large foreign multinational companies operating in Kenya. Findings – Results of this paper show that the SHRM practices that best predict firm performance are training and development and compensation systems. The relationship between the use of SHRM practices and firm performance does not hold across the five bundles of what are considered as “high performance work practices”. This paper also assumes that the relationship between SHRM practices and firm performance is indirect through motivation. Research limitations/implications – Cross‐sectional data from 50 large manufacturing companies in Kenya are used, and it would be interesting to test this model for more industries and countries. Practical implications – Results of this paper have shown that the SHRM practices that best predict firm performance are training and development and compensation systems. Originality/value – To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first large‐scale empirical paper of the influence of SHRM practices on firm performance, using data from large foreign manufacturing companies operating in Kenya.