MBA Theses and Dissertations (2022)

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    Effects of government COVID 19 interventions on the financial performance of Small and Medium Enterprises within Nairobi County
    (Strathmore University, 2022) Oindi, F.
    SMEs form the backbone of economies. Developing countries rely on SMEs to a greater extent than their more developed counterparts hence emphasizing the need for support of such businesses in the event of economic crises. The Covid-19 pandemic has proven one such crisis event that has threatened the very existence of small businesses in the developing world. The purpose of this study was to focus on government interventions put in place to aid the performance of SMEs during the tumultuous government restriction period. The general objective was to assess the effects of government interventions on the financial performance of SMEs within Nairobi County during the Covid-19 government restriction period. The specific objectives were as follows: To determine the effect of the expenditure package on the financial performance of SMEs in Nairobi County. To determine the effect of tax reductions on the financial performance of SMEs in Nairobi County. To determine the effect of loan restructuring provisions on the financial performance of SMEs in Nairobi County. Data was collected through structured questionnaires issued through a random stratified process targeting SMEs in Nairobi County. A total of 262 businesses are targeted, all of which operate in the service and manufacturing industry. Data was analysed through ordinal logistic regression. The findings revealed that of the three factors, tax incentives were the only valid factor determining the performance of SMEs in Nairobi County (95% confidence level). However, this inference is to be made in light of the observation that only service and manufacturing entities were included in the study. These findings thus point to the need for additional investigations into the nature of SME performance and the implications of the lack of significance of direct expenditure and loan restructuring vis-à-vis Keynes’ laws.
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    Determinants of effective fraud risk management practices among medical insurance providers in Kenya
    (Strathmore University, 2022) Mwangi, A. W.
    According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority, at least 40% of medical insurance claims in Kenya bear an element of fraud. The inability to effectively manage fraud risk has tainted the image of the medical insurance industry, becoming a major contributory factor alongside high premiums for low uptake of insurance in the country. The market penetration rate of insurance in Kenya as at end of 2016 was the 3 rd lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa at only 2.7%, also significantly lower than the world average of 6.8%. This demonstrates that FRM in the medical insurance industry in Kenya is a major concern hence the motivation behind this study to examine the determinants of effective fraud risk management in medical insurance providers in Kenya. The study focused on top management support, technology adoption, regulatory policies and employee empowerment. The research was grounded on the fraud management lifecycle theory and the institutional theory. The study adopted a positivism research paradigm and applied a descriptive correlational research design. The population for the research was drawn from all the 26 medical insurance providers in Kenya with a claims manager, risk & compliance manager and underwriting manager from each insurance provider taking part in the research. The research utilized structured questionnaires in the collection of data. The final sample comprised of 54 responses from the sample size of 78 management staff which represented a 69.2% response rate. 61% of the respondents were female and 53.7% were claims managers. The collected data was analysed using descriptive, factor, spearman’s rank coefficient correlation, and ordered logistic regression analyses. The factor analyses results revealed that effective fraud risk management practices in medical insurance providers in Kenya fall under two main components - preventive and detective FRM practices. In sum, the study established that top management support, technology adoption and employee empowerment have a positive and significant effect on effective FRM practices among MIPs in Kenya. The study further established that regulatory policies have a positive but insignificant effect on effective FRM practices among MIPs in Kenya. The study recommends that there be more consultation and engagement between the insurance regulator and MIPs to increase the likelihood of formulation of regulations and policies which will complement effective FRM. The study further recommends that management in medical insurance firms make a concerted effort to foster an environment of teamwork in problem solving, delegation of duties, as well as facilitate professional development training to enhance employee skills and competencies as these contribute positively towards effective FRM. Finally, the study recommends that MIPs in Kenya should endeavour to abandon manual processes and embrace systemisation and automation, where possible. The adoption of digitalized forensic systems, fraud detection frameworks, machine learning technologies and other emerging technologies play a significant role in detection efforts towards effective FRM in Kenyan MIPs. Further, mobile technologies, blockchain technologies as well as the creation of automated platforms for regular systems audits and risk identification are a fundamental part of effective preventive FRM.
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    Effect of total quality management practices on the performance of coffee co-operative societies in Kiambu County
    (Strathmore University, 2022) Maina, Mary
    Within the last three decades, coffee production and exports in Kenya have declined substantially, especially in the smallholder co-operative sub-sector, and which accounts for over 60% of Kenya’s total coffee production. This has resulted in poor performance within coffee co-operatives in the country. Despite the various studies showing a positive relationship between TQM adoption and organizational performance, there was limited documentation on how various quality management practices influence the organizational performance of Kenyan coffee co-operative Societies at the local level. This study is on how total quality management practices (leadership management, quality focus and process management) affect the performance of coffee co-operatives in Kiambu County. The study was anchored on the Deming theory of quality management and the contingency theory. The research used a descriptive cross-sectional design in determining the relationship between the variables. The population of the survey was the 23 registered coffee co-operatives with the chairperson and operations manager considered in the study. The sample for this study was 46 officials with a census survey being adopted. The study adopted a structured questionnaire in the collection of study data with a drop and pick method as well as Google forms being used in data collection process. The study questionnaire was pretested among 10% of the participants of the study. The collected data was analyzed using quantitative techniques with charts and tables applied in the data presentation. The survey was able to obtain 91% which was adequate for this research. Findings revealed that majority of them 88% have operated within the county for more than 12 years, 5% had operated for 8-11 years with only 7% operating for 4-7 years. The correlation tests revealed that leadership management, quality focus and process management had a positive effect on the performance of the coffee co-operatives. Regression tests established that total quality management practices do predict 66.8% of the changes in the organizational performance of the coffee cooperatives operating in Kiambu County. The supported the conclusion that leadership management and process management have a significant positive effect on the performance of coffee cooperatives. The analysis led to the conclusion that quality focus does not have a significant influence on the performance of coffee cooperatives. The study recommends the management of coffee co-operative societies a TQM implementation division whose primary duty would be to streamline the process of TQM practices within the organizations. The research recommends that co-operatives should improve investments in new modern technologies that will help farmers in improving their coffee productivity. The study recommends the institutions should constantly review their production process to ensure they are able to maintain their quality standards.
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    Effect of strategic agility on the survival of star-rated hotels in Kenya
    (Strathmore University, 2022) Cheruiyot, Mary Cheruto
    The Covid-19 pandemic has presented numerous challenges to various sectors of the global economies. One of the most hit sectors in the hotel industry which is facing new challenges such as reduced demand for hotel services, limited occupancy, business closures, and a sector-wide scale-down in operations. Locally, most hospitality industry firms have closed down or are facing a turbulent environment that has negatively impacted their financial outcomes and survival rates. This study assessed the influence of strategic agility factors on the survival of hotel businesses in the context of the current operating environment. The study focused on the influence of team empowerment, service diversification, operational flexibility and resource fluidity on the survival of hotels in Kenya. The research applied the crisis management theory and the resource dependency theory to anchor the review of the variables. The study used a positivism philosophy which help draw relationships between the variables and generalize the results to a larger population. Further, a descriptive research design was applied to estimate the relationship between strategic agility and hotel survival using quantitative methods and techniques. The population was 83 star-rated hotels operating within Nairobi City County. The study targeted the managing director, strategy or operations director. Census sampling was used in the determination of the sample size of 83 senior managers from the star-rated hotels. Structured questionnaires alluding to the study objectives was utilized in data collection from the respondents. Quantitative analysis techniques were adopted in the study. The findings were presented using charts and tables. Responses for the research were sought from 83 hotels and the survey was able to obtain 87% (n=72) responses. Results revealed that most of the responses were from 3-star hotels (76%, n = 55), 17% (n = 12) were 4-star hotels while only 4% (n = 3) were five-star hotels. The correlation tests showed a positive effect of team empowerment, resource fluidity, service diversification and operational flexibility on business survival of the star-rated hotels in Kenya. The summary of the regression statistic indicated that holding all other factors constant strategic agility will predict 40.2% of the changes in the business survival of the star rated hotels. The study findings led to the conclusion that the survival of star rated Hotels in Kenya are positively and significantly related to the team empowerment, service diversification, operational flexibility and resource fluidity. Separately, the research concluded that service diversification, operational flexibility and resource fluidity do have a significant positive effect on survival of star rated Hotels in Kenya. The research further concluded that team empowerment had a negative and insignificant effect on the survival of star rated Hotels in Kenya. Study recommends that the hotel business should leverage on their staff by offering professional training to equip employees with adequate technical skills and people relational skills to manage employee fluctuations more effectively. Further, research and development will lead to products and services prices being competitive than other competitors due to cost leadership advantage leading to overall hotel financial performance improvement The study also recommends channeling of necessary resources to the firm’s main services offering. For a firm to be assured of sustainability, it must identify its competitive advantage and apply all the necessary available resources to the same for maximum benefit.
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    Turnaround strategies and performance of three-star hotels in Kenya
    (Strathmore University, 2022) Qiong, Liu
    The dynamism of the environment implies that organizations have to constantly redesign their strategies in order to remain competitive and survive since failure to do so leads to the closure of organizational operations. In the current Covid-19-ridden environment, the hotel industry faces the biggest brunt. This has resulted in many hotels closing down their branches or scaling down their operations which has led to dismal performance in the industry. This study sought to review how these hotels have applied turnaround strategies to influence their performance. Specifically, the paper examined how management restructuring strategies, staff rationalization strategies, asset restructuring strategies, and financial restructuring strategies impact the performance of the hotels. The research was premised on the resource-based view theory and the institutional theory. The study employed a positivism research philosophy in quantitatively examining the relationship between the variables. The research analyzed on the 63 Three Star Rated hotels in operation in Kenya. The study focused all the managing directors within the hotels using census sampling. A structured questionnaire was used in the data collection process, with 10% of the sample being used in testing the quality of the instrument in a pilot. After data collection, both descriptive and inferential approaches was used in the analysis of the data. The findings of the study were presented using charts and tables. The study was able to obtain responses from 54 star-rated hotels in Kenya which represented an 86% response rate. Research outcome showed that 43% of the employees had worked for 4-6 years, 33% were at the position for over 7 years with only 24% of the staff having retained their position for 1-3 years. The examination revealed that most of the hotels 39% for 12-15 years had a three-star rated hotels, 29% had the rating status for 8-11 years. According to the value of the regression output 63.1% of performance of three-star rated hotels could be explained by the independent variables (turnaround strategies). The study concludes that turnaround strategies have a significant positive effect on the performance of three star rated hotels in Kenya. Regarding the first objective, it was determined that managerial restructuring had an insignificant effect on the performance of the three-star rated hotels. The study came to the conclusion that providing opportunities for the continuous development of employees increases employee satisfaction and commitment to meeting and even exceeding organizational goals. The results pointing toward the conclusion that asset restructuring has significant positive effects on organizational outcomes. The study also recommends that hotels try to make the restructuring process more inclusive to ensure that all cadres of employees own the response strategies instituted by their organizations. The study recommends that the hotels team up with investment managers who will provide adequate advice on investment opportunities that can produce positive financial outcomes for the hotels.