Access to finance has remained one of the notable factors that impede the sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises in the developing world. This study aims to investigate the effect of financial accessibility on the sustainability of manufacturing small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in Nairobi County, Kenya. The elements of access to finance that are in the interest of this study include cost of credit, interest rate, credit rationing and business risk. The specific objectives were to analyse the influence of loan processing fees on the sustainability of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs); to establish the influence of interest rate on the sustainability of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nairobi County, Kenya; to determine the influence of credit rationing on the sustainability of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nairobi County, Kenya; and to find out the influence of business risk on the sustainability of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study was underpinned by the Delegated Monitoring theory, Relationship Lending Theory and legitimacy theory. The study adopted descriptive research design methodology, which involved the collection of firsthand data from the operators of manufacturing SMEs in Nairobi County, Kenya. Stratified sampling technique was used to select the manufacturing SMEs that were involved in the study. A total of 89 participants were involved in the study. Data collection involved administration of online questionnaire to the participants using online communication platforms. The study documented positive effect of loan processing fees on sustainability of manufacturing small and medium enterprises in Nairobi, Kenya. Secondly, there was a negative and not significant effect of interest rate on sustainability of small and medium manufacturing companies in Nairobi County. Thirdly, there was positive and significant effect of credit rationing on sustainability of manufacturing small and medium enterprises. Further, there was positive and not significant effect business risk and sustainability of manufacturing small and medium enterprises in Nairobi, Kenya. From the findings it can concluded that loan processing fees, legal fees, insurance fees and negotiating fees have inverse effect on sustainability of manufacturing small and medium enterprises in Nairobi County, Kenya. Secondly, sustainability of manufacturing small and medium enterprises is significantly affected by inflation rates and total cost of credit. Thirdly, credit access was limited by number of loans applied by manufacturing companies, type of loan products applied for, repayment period and collateral required. Further, the higher the price fluctuations, competition and emergence of technologies the hinders the odds of sustaining firms. There is need for evaluation of measures aimed at minimizing credit access costs through mitigation of loan processing fees, legal fees, insurance fees and negotiating fees. Moreover, there is need for adoption of time series approaches while managing price fluctuations, competitiveness and emergence of new products.

The effect of Food safety (FS) and Food Quality (FQ) on customer’s destination choice (DC) remains controversial. A number of empirical studies conducted in Kenya failed to seek the manner in which consumers themselves perceived FS and FQ in order to choose their destination of choice. Owing to this contradiction, this study was to determine the effects of FS and FQ on customer choice of dining destinations in Kenya. The objectives of the study were; to assess the relationship between food quality and customer choice on the dining destinations in Kenya, to determine the relationship between food safety assurance and customer choice on dining destinations in Kenya, to determine the relationship between food monitoring and surveillance systems and customer choice of dining destinations in Kenya, to assess the moderating effect of top management commitment on the relationship between food safety and quality and customer choice of dining destinations in Kenya and to assess the moderating effect of customer-based factors on the relationship between food safety and quality and customer choice of dining destinations in Kenya. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted in this study where1058 guests were sampled based on 49% average bed occupancy statistics. Additionally, 54 hotel staff (managers and Sous chefs) were purposively selected from 4-star and 5-star hotels in Kenya. Self-administered questionnaires and structured interview schedules were employed to collect data from respondents. Qualitative data collected through interview schedules was analyzed thematically while quantitative data was analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The study found out that there was positive significant relationship between FQ, FS and FSM in determining customer’s choice of dining destinations (pvalues 0.015, 0.005 and 0.044). The study also found out that there was a moderating effect of top management commitment on the relationship between FQ, FS and choice of customer’s dining destination (p-value = 0.004). While there was a general agreement that top management are committed in affirming food safety and quality, it was also revealed that for every positive improvement in top management commitment, there would be a corresponding positive rate of influence on dining destination choice. The output of the models with and without interaction confirmed that the moderation effect of customer-based factors was found not to be significant but presented itself as an explanatory variable (P=0.25). Although the study presented unique insights into food safety, quality, monitoring as well as surveillance; there were a number of limitations based on the empirical as well as conceptual settings. The study failed to investigate the physical, chemical as well as microbial contaminations that can cause unsafe food. This therefore could be a prime area for future research.

Empirical studies have shown that there is considerable evidence that public procurement performance in the country is deficient, as evidenced by poor allocation of resources, inefficiency in the process, gross negligence, non-adherence to procedures, untimely deliveries, unqualified personnel and incompetence of public administrators in Kenyan corporations. This study sought to examine how institutional factors influence procurement performance in parastatals. The study examined the impact of structure, management style, systems and staff on public procurement performance. The study was anchored on the Higgins model and institutional theory. The study was based on a positivist research philosophy with a descriptive research design. The population for the study was the 33 commercial and manufacturing state corporations in Kenya. The unit of observation was 165 respondents drawn from the strategy managers, finance managers, IT managers, human resource managers and procurement managers of each of the institutions. The study used a census survey of all respondents. The study used a structured research questionnaire. The research data was collected using physical questionnaires and Google forms. The research data collected was analysed using quantitative approaches such as descriptive and inferential analysis. The analysed research data was presented using graphs and tables. The findings revealed that there was a response rate of 95% (n= 114) between April and June 2022.Most of the respondents were procurement managers (26%) and finance managers (23%) in the companies. The results indicate that there was a statistically significant weak and positive association between structure, leadership style, staff and procurement performance within the state corporations. The correlation also showed a statistically significant moderate and positive association between system and procurement performance within state corporations. The results of the regression showed an R2 = .531 which indicates that at least 53.1% of the changes in the dependent variable (procurement performance) are determined by staff, leadership style, system, structure. The study also concluded that structure, system and staff of state owned commercial and manufacturing enterprises have a significant and positive effect on public procurement performance. The study further revealed that leadership style has a positive but insignificant effect on public procurement performance. Therefore, the results of the study indicate that institutional factors are key determinants of public procurement performance. Accordingly, a major focus should be placed on internal issues based on the factors examined in this study. However, more explanation is needed to further identify the specific issues in each organisation and possible structural patterns of problems.

The main target of the research was to measure and determine the effect of integrated marketing communication (IMC) on sales performance by Taking Keronche Brewery Nairobi plant as a case study and its branch office situated in Nairobi. Basically, integrated marketing communication is all about synchronizing or coordinating the five marketing communication tools for the best of marketing output. The five tools of IMC are, advertisement, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing and public relation. All the sales and marketing department staffs of the company are considered as target populations (census was taken), which were 240 in number out of which around 193 questionnaires were appropriately filled the rest 47 were not filled hence excluded from consideration. The collected data were processed through statistical package for social science (SPSS). Data obtained were analyzed by using multiple regression analysis to find out the magnitude and direction of each of the IMC tool in affecting sales performance. Based on the output of the multiple regression all the five elements of IMC, namely Advertisement, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing and public relation have positive and significant effect on the sales performance of Keronche Brewery Share Company. When it comes to the magnitude or the strength of the effect of the IMC tools on the sales performance of the firm the highest significance value is recorded by direct marketing and the lowest is for advertisement. Advertisement’s low significance value is found to be due to the government ban on advertising any alcoholic beverages through two of the most important broadcast advertisement means (TV and radio) and also through open air banners, which come in to effect in 2019. Therefore, it is recommended that the firm expected to find and engage in other contemporary advertising mediums such as social media advertisement not to lose its market positioning. The firm also doing its best to fulfil its corporate social responsibilities as a public relation activity but there is a gap in letting the public know about the firm’s public relation efforts so the company needs an extensive promotion of its public relation activities. The firm needs to maintain the effects of direct marketing and sales promotion since its effect on sales performance found to be significant and also needs to incorporate other tools to boost its sales promotion and direct marketing activities. Personal selling also has a significant effect on sales performance of the firm but still it needs much effort to improve its level of significance.

Mobile money has become a popular payment method for many Kenyan businesses. The goal of this study was to determine how mobile money merchant services affected the financial performance of small and medium-sized businesses. Nakuru is a city in Kenya. The specific goals were to determine the effect of affordability of mobile money merchant services on the performance of small and medium enterprises, the effect of availability of mobile money merchant services on the performance of small and medium enterprises, the effect of effectiveness of mobile money merchant services on the performance of small and medium enterprises, and the impact of Value Added Services available on mobile money platforms on the performance of small and medium enterprises. The theories underpinning the study were; Technology Acceptance Model and Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT). The study adopted explanatory survey design based on cause-effect relationship. The study targeted 12,250 licensed SMEs Mobile Money Merchants operating in Nakuru City. The study sampled 221 Small and Medium Mobile Money Merchant enterprises using stratified sampling technique. Small and Medium Enterprises in Nakuru City were chosen using simple random sampling. The study relied on primary data gathered through structured questionnaires as the primary data collection tool. The data was analyzed using regression analysis technique. The information was then presented in the form of frequency tables and figures. The study established that the effectiveness of Mobile Money Merchant Services had no effect on the financial performance of Kenyan Small and Medium Enterprises. Mobile Money services, according to the study, are becoming increasingly popular in many countries as a convenient, secure, and cost-effective way to make payments and transfers. The study recommends that the governments should create and enforce legislation that regulates and safeguards the use of Mobile Money services in order to ensure their safety and security.

The objective of the study is to examine the effect of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors on Job Satisfaction of Equity Bank S.C. In addition, the study consider independent variables which are Altruism, Consciousness, Sportsmanship, Courtesy and Civic virtue and dependent variable Job Satisfaction to determine whether a relationship exist between the variables. In order to attest the study objectives the researcher uses both descriptive & explanatory survey design. A total of 160 questionnaires were distributed to Equity Bank staff out of which 125 was used. The respondents were selected using proportionate stratified sampling technique. The questionnaire was tested for its reliability and found to be reliable enough to study the research questions. The data collected from the survey was analyzed using SPSS software and presented in the form of descriptive data analysis, correlations and logistic Regression Analysis. The finding of the study indicates that there is significant positive relation between the dependent and independent variables. The researcher proved that the entire hypotheses weren’t supported except one. The researcher concluded that that all predictors except one have insignificant effect on JS. Altruism, civic virtue, courtesy, sportsmanship and conciseness respectively. The study recommended some basic points such as; holding regular training programs, cultivating a good working relationship, devising policies that contribute to staff well beings and encouraging voluntary activities that go beyond the formal obligations of employees.

focus has over time been on competitiveness and productivity. Remote working has also been adopted to allow employees work from home. In such arrangement, workforce welfare is neglected and various health problems are reported, causing less employee engagement, morale, and dissatisfaction and suboptimal outputs. Consequently, even the adoption of technology turns out counterproductive in firms. This study sought to determine the effect of remote working on employee wellness by analyzing employees in non-governmental organizations in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study's specific objectives were to determine the effect of job-related factors, organizational factors, and work-life balance on employee wellness. The study followed a positivist research paradigm and applied a crosssectional descriptive research design to quantitatively describe the relationships between the study variables. From the total population of 80,229 employees in the registered nongovernmental organizations in Kenya, a sample of 398 was targeted. To achieve adequate response rate, the study targeted 7 respondents, which is 1 senior-level, 3 mid-level and 3 junior-level employees from each of the 60 international and national non-governmental organizations based in Nairobi County. Therefore, stratified random sampling was employed for an even representation of the 60 organizations. A convenient sampling technique was applied to choose participants based on availability. A pilot study targeting 40 employees from 6 organizations in Kiambu County was conducted. The firms used for pilot testing were not considered during the actual research. Adequate research quality concerning validity and reliability was achieved through Cronbach’s alpha. Data was analysed through SPSS. Regression analysis results indicated a weak relationship between the independent variables: job-related factors, organizational factors and work-life balance and the employee wellness. Based on coefficients, both Job-related and organizational factors were significant at 0.05 significant level. Similarly, work-life balance had a positive, statistically significant influence on employee wellness. The study concludes that job-related factors, organizational factors, and work-life balance have a weak joint effect on employee wellness. Work-life balance has a positive, statistically significant correlation with employee wellness while job-related and organizational factors have significant influence on employee wellness. Organizations should enhance job-related and organizational factors to enhance employee work-life balance which in turn improves employee wellness. Further research can be implemented to test the mediational role of work-life balance in the relationship between job-related and organizational factors and employee wellness.

Globally true magnitude of child sexual abuse is hidden because of its sensitive and illegal nature. Most children and families do not report cases of abuse and exploitation because of stigma, fear and lack of trust in the authorities. This study aims at establishing the effect of child sexual abuse on school performance among secondary school students in Mavoko Sub County, Machakos County. The objectives of this study were to examine the forms of CSA, the effect of CSA on school performance, social behaviour of CSA and school retention rate of CSA. The study was based on the descriptive-survey design. The target population was 3486 form three students divided into 14 strata that is corresponding to each of the 14 public secondary schools. Only 10% of students in form three (3) per school were targeted and to make a sample size be 84. The data was collected using semi structured questionnaires and interviews to school’s principals which were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. Descriptive statistics such as: frequencies, percentages and means were calculated. Inferential statistics such as (Multiple Regression Analysis) were used to test the relationships between the independent (academic performance, social behaviour performance and school retention) and the dependent variables (forms of sexual abuse). The findings of the study show that there was a statistically significant relationship between the level of sexual abuse and the practice of various forms of sexual abuse (r=0.872, p<0.05). The most common forms of sexual abuse were verbal sexual abuse, involuntary kissing, or being sexually touched. There were also cases of attempted oral, anal or vaginal penetration. Further, some students were forced to watch pornographic pictures, drawings, films, videotapes, or magazines The findings also show that there was a significant relationship between sexual abuse and school social behaviour performance (r=0.909, p<0.05). Sexual abuse led to various negative school social behaviours. It meant that some of the students did not trust other people, felt lonely, and experienced stressful inner tension. It also led to mood rapidly changing in terms of anxiety, anger, and depression. There was a significant relationship between sexual abuse and academic performance (r=0.920, p<0.05). Due to sexual abuse, some of the students did not feel interested in classwork and, did not concentrate on class activities. Most of them were also not happy with academic performance and were always absent-minded in class. Pearson correlation analysis also showed a significant relationship between sexual abuse and school retention (r=0.933, p<0.05). Sexual abuse made some students feel that nobody cared about them in school and some decided to drop out. Some felt vulnerable and felt out of place in school. They never felt at ease in school and often decided to drop out. There were instances of students dropping out of school after being sexually abused due to pregnancy, stigma, early marriages, and stigma among others. The study recommends the need to put in place measures aimed at educating students on some of the disregarded forms of sexual abuse. The school administration should promptly identify and curb the tolerance of some of these forms of abuse among students. Counselling measures should be enhanced to check the negative psychological effects of child sexual abuse such as negative school social behaviour. Students who were victims of sexual abuse should be encouraged to remain in school.

Employee performance is a critical component of the success and effectiveness of community-based organizations in Laikipia County, Kenya. However, there are several challenges that hinder optimal performance in these organizations. One significant issue affecting employee performance is the limited access to training and development opportunities. Hence the need to conduct a study on the effect of skills development on post covid-19 pandemic employee performance in community based non-governmental organizations in Laikipia County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to assess the effect of upskilling, cross skilling, reskilling and retooling on employee performance in community based organizations in Laikipia County, Kenya. This study was informed by human capital theory, cognitive theory of multimedia learning and technology acceptance model. This study adopted an exploratory research design. The unit of analysis was six community-based organizations in Laikipia County. The unit of observation was 151 employees working with the six community-based organizations in Laikipia County. The sample size was 110 respondents drawn from the six organizations calculated using the formula developed by Taro Yamane. Data was collected using questionnaires. A pilot study was conducted to test the data collection instruments for their reliability while validity was tested through subjecting it to subject matter experts. From the findings the Cronbach Alpha was between 0.706 and 0.838 implying that the research instrument was reliable. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages and means, and inferential statistics including correlation and regression analysis using SPSS. The findings revealed that there is a moderate positive and statistically significant correlation between upskilling and employee performance in community-based organizations in Laikipia County, (r = 0.543; p < 0.05). In addition, the findings revealed that there is a moderate positive and statistically significant correlation between cross skilling and employee performance in community-based organizations in Laikipia County, (r = 0.643; p < 0.05). Furthermore, the findings revealed that there is a moderate positive and statistically significant correlation between reskilling and employee performance in community-based organizations in Laikipia County, (r = 0.443; p < 0.05). Finally, the findings indicated that there was a moderate positive and statistically significant correlation between retooling and employee performance in community-based organizations in Laikipia County, (r = 0.654; p < 0.05). The study also concluded that as a result of being provided with an opportunity for retraining employees are more committed to the organization. The study also concluded that as a result of being provided with an opportunity for reskilling employees are more committed to the organization. The study also concluded that new technologies and working processes reduced errors at work. From the findings, the study recommended that training programs should address specific challenges faced by these organizations. Moreover, community-based organizations should design comprehensive training programs that expose employees to various aspects of community-based work. Finally, the study recommended that organizations should emphasize digital literacy and technology-driven skills to align with the evolving landscape of community development. The findings are significant to policy makers, practitioners and stakeholders in adjusting workforce development and capacity building initiatives.

This study was conducted with an objective of identifying the effect of supply chain management on performance of an organization in the case of East African Bottling Share Company. Supply chain management has become a valuable way of securing competitive advantage by improving organizational performances since competition is no longer between organizations, but among supply chains. This research conceptualizes and develops five dimensions of supply chain management practices which are strategic supplier partnership, customer relationship, level of information sharing, quality of information sharing, and internal lean practices and tests the relationships between supply chain management practices and organizational performance. The researcher used descriptive and explanatory research design. The data for the study was collected from 97 employees of East African Bottling Share Company. The relationships proposed in the framework were tested by Pearson correlation and the causal relations were analyzed by ordinary least square regression method by using SPSS Software. From the result of the analysis it is concluded that there is a strong relationship between supply chain management practices and organizational performance. Supply chain management practices have shown a positive and significant effect on performance of organization, all except internal lean practices. Therefore, in order to achieve growth in organizational performance, it is frugal for the organization to give due emphasis to the constructs of supply chain management practices.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of trade finance operation on the financial performance of Equity Bank as representative of the commercial banking industry. Its objectives were to describe the trade finance revenue streams of the Bank and establish the relationship between the dependent variable i.e. return on asset and the independent variables,Fees and commission, interest income, Foreign exchange trading income and capital adequacy as moderating variable. Descriptive and explanatory research designs were used and the target population comprised on Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. Data was collected from reports of the EB spans from 2006 to 2021 for sixteen years of the Bank’s operations. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version22. Descriptive and inferential methods helped incoming up with statistical results from the quantitative data. The findings revealed that interest income, non-interest income and foreign exchange trading income had been increasing over the years although there were slight fluctuations. The total Capital and the total assets had also been increasing over the years although there have been slight fluctuations. There was a strong, positive and statistically significant relationship between fees and commission, interest income, foreign exchange trading income with return on asset of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. It was concluded that income sources of trade finance, that is, foreign exchange gain were key in enhancing the financial performance of EB. The study recommends that trade finance operation shall give further attention to SME and micro customer to further leverage the performance of the Bank.

Researchers and practitioners continue to explore the drivers of firm performance. One relevant emerging research domain is the influence of employee intrapreneurial orientation on firm performance which has hitherto focused mainly on large enterprises in developed countries. Considering the critical role of small enterprises in national development and the numerous challenges that hinder their performance, this study sought to examine the effects of innovativeness, pro-activeness, risk taking propensity, autonomy, and competitive aggressiveness of employees on small enterprise performance in the Sunyani Municipality, Ghana and the possible moderating effect of employee commitment. The study adopted a quantitative research approach and a predictive research design. The convenience sampling technique was employed. Data were obtained through the administration of questionnaires using a sample size of 320 employees of small enterprises in the Sunyani Municipality. The results of structural equation modelling revealed that proactiveness, risk-taking propensity, autonomy and competitive aggressiveness of employees had significant effects on the performance of small enterprises. Furthermore, employee commitment as a moderating variable has a significant effects on the relationship between pro-activeness and competitive aggressiveness of employees and small enterprise performance respectively. As a recommendation, small enterprise owners should reorganise their employees’ activities to include more intrapreneurial activities and further focus on various aspects of commitment among employees as it has a significant effect on employee intrapreneurial orientation and small enterprise performance.

The purpose of the study was to assess the effectiveness of internal controls in credit unions in Kisii County. The study used cross-sectional descriptive survey. It was conducted in Kisii County for the staff/workers, management and the clients of Shama Co-operative Credit Union and Work place credit union. Simple random was employed to select 102 workers each from the various credit unions, however, purposive sampling was used to select 2 management officials each from various credit unions to form part of the study, thus, 208 respondents in all. Questionnaire and structured interviews were the main data collection instruments. The questionnaires were analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages, however, the recordings of the interviews were transcribed verbatim, organised, presented in themes based on the research objectives. It was found out that respondents were negligence on the one responsible for setting up the internal control system in the credit unions. Also, there was no procurement policy and procurement committee in the credit unions in the metropolis. However, the major challenges in the implementation of internal controls in the various credit unions include; resistance to change, human factor and lack of independence, inadequate resources and wrongful application of findings by management of credit unions. On the other hand, possible solutions for sound and effective implementation of internal controls included; adequate training on internal controls for workers and management, effective monitoring and evaluations intermittently and given out operational policies and manuals to members in order to ensure effective implementation of internal controls.

Despite the government's commitment to the ease of doing business, there has been debate over why small and medium-sized enterprises are experiencing a downward trend in business survival. Statistics from the Economic Survey of 2021 show that small and medium-sized enterprises have grown significantly in Kenya during the past 10 years, accounting for around 96 percent of all business enterprises in the country. However, 90% of new businesses fail to survive past their third anniversary. The main objective of this study, therefore, was to investigate the effect of internal control systems on fraud detection and prevention among SMEs in Nairobi, Kenya; specifically to establish the effect of the control environment on fraud detection and prevention among SMEs in Nairobi, Kenya; to establish the effect of risk assessment mechanisms in fraud detection and prevention among SMEs in Nairobi Kenya; and, to establish the effect of monitoring in fraud detection and prevention among the SMEs in Nairobi Kenya. The study was anchored on Reliability and Fraud Diamond Theories. The study adopted an explanatory research design, also known as an experimental design. The group of interest was all the SMEs in the Nairobi Central Business District registered with Nairobi City County. According to the Nairobi City County License Register of 2021, there are 993 business enterprises in the Nairobi Central Business District with between 10 and 99 employees. Therefore, the target population of this study was 993 managers/owners of business enterprises in the Nairobi Central Business District. Yamane's (1967) formula was utilized to determine the sample size for the study in this circumstance. 400owners/managers from the target population served as the respondents for the study. Primary data was used in the study, and semistructured questionnaires were used to gather it. To evaluate the accuracy and dependability of the research instrument, a pilot test was carried out for the study. To assess this data, various data analysis techniques were used. Additionally, descriptive statistics, as well as inferential statistics, were used to examine the quantitativedata. SPSS version 28 was used to complete the data analysis task. The inferential statistics used were factor analysis and ordinal (ordered) logistic regression. The results were that there was a positive correlation between risk assessment and monitoring and fraud detection and prevention among SMEs in Nairobi Kenya. However, there was a weak correlation between the control environment and fraud detection and prevention among SMEs in Nairobi, Kenya. This study contributes to theory by building on the theoretical framework such as the Fraud Diamond theory and improving on the understanding of internal control systems, and the possible effect ICS could have on fraud detection and prevention. Empirically, the study guides management practices by giving insights on how to close the gaps in accounting requirements and other laws that SMEs employ to manipulate profits and deceive investors. The findings of this study were limited to the ICS components of the COSO framework. The study was also limited to data collected using an explanatory research design yet fraud detection and prevention may be affected by technological advancements and unprecedented occurrences which may affect how business is carried out in organizations.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of alcoholism on the youths of Roka location, in Kilifi County. The study was guided by the research objectives which were; to identify the causes of alcoholism among the youths, to analyze the effects of alcoholism among the youths, to find out the measures that can be initiated to deal with the problem of alcoholism among the youths. The study will be of great significance as the effort to address alcoholism is the key for the community development. The study will cover all youths of Roka location and the information that will be acquired will facilitate the understanding of the causes of alcoholism. The study involved the literature review that showed the patterns of alcoholism in the World, in Africa and in Kenya. The theories that spearheaded the issue of alcoholism like; the Deviant and SocialDisorganization perspectives were also used. The study site was Roka location in Kilifi County and the adopted research design was the descriptive survey. Forty (40) respondents and ten (10) key informants were used for the study. The provision of information was through the Questionnaire and Interview methods. The research found that the factors leading to excessive alcohol consumption among the youths in the study area included; peer influence, unemployment, desire to reduce stress, and media influence. The effects of alcohol consumption to the youths according to the study findings were; school dropout, increased thefts, loss of jobs, committing suicide, wastage of money, increased stress, poor coordination, slurred speech, destruction of reproductive system, damage of; the brain, liver, kidney, and breast, contraction of HIV, and death. In relation to the measures used to address the problems of alcoholism, the research established that, both the Community and the Government measures were employed. In conclusion, the research pointed out that, excessive alcohol consumption has more negative effects as compared to the positive effects. Due to this therefore, the research spearheaded on the issue of exerting more efforts by the Community members and the Government. Apart from the efforts made by the community members and the Government, the research recommended that the County Government of Kilifi and the National Government should come up with policies to establish more Agricultural projects that could employ youths, train the village elders and the chiefs on the best ways of dealing with alcoholism, and also to come up with more rehabilitation centers. The roles of rehabilitation centers in dealing with excessive alcohol consumption are to be considered for further attitudes.

The purpose of this research was to assess the effects of compensation and benefit package on employees’ turnover and job satisfaction at Equity Bank, Nairobi , Kenya . To achieve this objective, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 91 employees who were selected using simple random sampling technique. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from employees of Equity Bank working in the Head office. Once the data were collected, they were coded, edited, and analyzed. The major findings indicated that in Equity Bank there are different compensation packages such as salary, transport allowance, hardship allowance, telephone allowance, etc. The bank is good at providing annual leave. However, it is weak in the following benefit packages: providing food and beverage to its employee, establishing employee clubs and implementing weak talent management practices, this means the existence of ineffective, redundant and not carrier related training practices. On the other hand, there are different other major problems. Employees do not participate in compensation and benefit decision-making process. Additionally, poor work environment and work culture prevail at the bank. These all may decrease job satisfaction and increase staff turnover. It can then be concluded that most of the respondents were not satisfied with the existing compensation and benefit packages because of the aforementioned reasons. Finally, the all findings lead to the thought that Equity Bank S.C. has to review its current compensation and benefit package in order to retain employees for long period of time (decrease turnover) and increase their job satisfaction.

This research proposal is subdivided in to three main subsections or chapters, which have been named as chapter one, chapter two and the chapter three. Chapter one, also referred to as the introduction and it contains the background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, the research questions, significance of the study, limitations of the study and definitions of terms. Chapter two, also referred to as the literature review contains the introduction bit of it, review of related studies which has been categorized in to theoretical review, empirical review, critical review, and a summary of the above. In general the chapter contains literature material which has been sourced or obtained from other written documents such as books, magazines, journals among others.

Customer experience remains a key success factor for financial institutions. With the current digital evolution, which has seen an increase in the number of customers, financial institutions have been pushed to re-design their products to adapt to the expectations of the growing digital customers. In a bid to avoid losing out to FinTech companies, banks have moved from their domain to design financial products fitting digital customer opportunities. Some customers prefer to undertake banking and pay bills from the comfort of their homes and transact on 24-hour basis. As a result, the trustworthiness of the banking applications, their ease of use, accessibility, assurance of customer privacy, availability of quality network and web interface is vital for speedy, convenient and reliable offering of satisfactory banking services leading to customer loyalty and positive referrals to their friends. However, Digital banking has also come with several risks including loss of funds and increasing cases of money laundering. Some customers also prefer hard cash because of illiteracy, lack of proper governing regulations and inadequate technological infrastructure. Even with the introduction of mobile, internet banking and electronic banking cards, some of the micro finance institutions customers are reluctant in utilizing the channels. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of digital banking on customers’ experience among microfinance bank institutionsin Kenya. The conceptual framework in this study was based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and expectancy disconfirmation theory. For this purpose, the study used descriptive research design and a sample of 400 digital banking customers were selected. Further, primary data was relied upon and was collected using structured questionnaires. A quantitative approach was used to analyze data through SPPS software and the results interpreted and presented using tables and figures. Pearson correlation techniques were used to establish the nature of relationship between the independent and the dependent variables while regression technique was used to determine the effect of digital banking channels on customer experience among microfinance institutions in Kenya. The study concluded that mobile banking, internet banking and electronic card banking in the microfinance institutions are significant determinants of thecustomer experience amongdigital banking customers of microfinance institutions in Kenya. The study recommended that the microfinance institutions in Kenya ought to tap on the benefits of the digital banking channels to enhance the experience of their customers. However, the adoption of digital channels comes with its package of challenges including cyber-attacks. The security of the technology systems ought to be enhanced to avoid loss of customer funds and information. The study was limited to digital banking customers in microfinance sector only leaving out customer experiences from other financial sectors including Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCO), insurance companies, commercial banks and credit unions.

Workforce diversity is a multi-faceted phenomenon that will continue to evolve as the world becomes a global marketplace. No doubt many believe workforce diversity is fundamental for employee performance. This study sought to find out the effect of workforce diversity on employee work performance, using the MEKAB plc. In the context of this study the term workforce diversity was defined as the similarities and differences among employees in terms of ethnic background, gender and education. These similarities and differences formed the independent variables of this study. Literature review was done and an attempt was made to link the various published studies with this study with a view to discovering how each variable effect on employee work performance at the MEKAB. The most unfortunate is that there are no Work force Diversity (WFD) related studies done in Ethiopian context to the knowledge of the researcher. So the purpose of this study was twofold. The primary goal was to fill the research gap on the area in Ethiopian context by examining work force diversity practices of Case Study Affiliate Company and its effect on employee performance. To achieve the objective of the thesis, the research method used was explanatory survey design study. Through the use of primary and secondary data sources, the researcher has gathered the necessary information regarding WFD practices of the case study company MEKAB PLC and its effect on employee’s performance besides intensive literature review to identify gapes and different scholars point of view on WFD and demographic diversity model. The data collected from primary sources were analyzed quantitatively (using descriptive inferential method of analysis).The summarized responses were used to examine the effect of each variable on employee work performance. Correlation Coefficient analysis showed a significant level of association between performance and the tested variables of diversity. It became evident that workforce diversity has significant correlation between gender and employee performance the finding of this study showed gender, ethnic and employee performance is positively linked and education diversity has no significant effect on work performance of the employee. This study could be a guideline for future studies. It is therefore important for the institution to realize the need to capitalize on these demographic categories in order to stay ahead of other company or organization.

Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the Kenyan Economy. The sector contributes approximately 80.6 percent of new jobs created in the country every year. Despite their significance, SMEs are faced with threat of failures with past statistics indicating that three out of five fail within the first few months. Although the role of factors such as access to funds and culture have been widely studied, influence of financing constraints on operation, profitability and growth have not received much emphasises. To bridge the gap, this research investigated the influence of financing constraints on operation, profitability and growth of SMEs. Survey research design was used because it involves interaction between the researcher and the respondent. Stratified random sampling was applied to select a sample size of 246 SMEs from a population of 677. Primary data was collected through use of questionnaires while secondary data was collected through documentary analysis of past sales records. The data was analysed by use of descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics which include Pearson’s Correlation coefficients, Regression and chi-square test were also applied. The results show that majority of the interest rates between 15% and 31% charged by financial institutions were high but businesses could survive so long as loan availability was not a challenge. Better financial skills had an influence on the SMEs’ growth, operation and profitability. Access to finance was a major constraint to business growth since majority of the respondents (36.3%) cited lack of bank financing as a major problem. This study recommends that the government ought to provide conducive institutional environment in formal banking and non-banking set up, providing regulatory frameworks and fostering competition so that the rates of interest provided by the institutions can reduce to a reasonable market rate. It should revise its regulatory framework in order to create and encourage an environment that encourages more financial institutions in the study area. Since majority of small enterprises lack finance, government should establish friendly small loaning system.