Organizations currently are operating in an environment which is global and competitive where customers are frequently making higher demands for quality services. Lack of accountability, corruption cases and misuse of force are however some of the ills that police officers in Kenya have been linked with despite the reforms in policing undertaken by the government. This thus points to a need to rethink how police officers’ service delivery can be improved especially in the current dynamic and turbulent security situation by being agile. There are however very few studies done on work force agility practices and service delivery and also the ones reviewed are on direct relationship without incorporating mediating and moderating variables. It is against this backdrop that the researcher purposed to establish the influence of workforce agility practices on police officers’ service delivery in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Specifically, the study investigated the influence of organization training, reward strategies, employee involvement and information systems on service delivery of police officers in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study also determined the mediating and moderating influence of job satisfaction and leadership style respectively on the relationship between workforce agility practices and service delivery. The study was anchored on Ability- Motivation-Opportunity Theory, Equity Theory, SERVQUAL Model, Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory and Technology Acceptance Model and will be underpinned on positivism philosophy with causal and descriptive designs being adopted. The target population comprised of 6,945 police officers drawn from eleven police sub counties in Nairobi City County. A sample of 247 police officers was drawn from six sub counties obtained using multistage probability sampling. A questionnaire was used while collecting primary data. A pilot study was conducted on 25 police officers using a questionnaire which was pretested for reliability and validity prior to data collection. Tests for multicollinearity, normality, heteroscedasticity, linearity and sampling adequacy were the diagnostic tests performed. The standard deviation and mean were the descriptive statistics that described the data while multiple linear regression analysis was employed in testing the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Analysis of qualitative data was by use of content analysis. Presentation of results was by use of graphs and tables. The study findings were that organization training, reward strategies, employee involvement and information systems have a significant positive effect on service delivery of police officers in Nairobi City County, Kenya. There was also a finding that job satisfaction has a complete mediating influence on the relationship between workforce agility practices and service delivery of police officers in Nairobi City County while leadership styles were found to have a statistically significant moderating influence on the relationship between workforce agility practices and of police officers’ service delivery in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study thus recommends that the management of the KPS should focus on employee service delivery improvement by employing workforce agility practices through interventions such as organization training, reward strategies, employee involvement and information systems. The management should in addition employ both transactional and transformational leadership styles based on the particular task to be executed. Job satisfaction policies in the organization should also be enhanced by considering employees’ wellbeing, work life balance and proper supervision strategies with an aim of service delivery betterment.

East African farmers have been facing low crop productivity as indicated by low yields of major staples, maize and rice, leading to food insecurity. As a result, the respective governments have offered solutions such as the introduction of high yielding maize and rice varieties. Farmers have expanded their farms into productive areas such as wetlands in an attempt to increase output to counter the effects of climate change complications, population pressure, and the declining productivity in the upland fields. Agricultural production is done under different agricultural land-use management systems including; upland-rainfed, upland-irrigated, and wetland-only. Continuous pressure on wetlands compromises wetlands’ capacity to offer other critical ecosystem services. This calls for a need to enhance efficiency in production to strike a trade-off between food production and wetland sustainability. Productive efficiency will ensure increased output with reduced wetland degradation, especially from further drainage. The objectives of this study were to identify the determinants of productivity, assess technical, allocative, and economic efficiency under the different systems, and determine the factors influencing productive efficiency. Three wetlands (Ewaso Narok, Namulonge, and Kilombero) were purposively selected. A sample of 445 households was randomly selected using a semi-structured interview schedule in a household survey. Stochastic frontier analysis was used to analyze technical, allocative, and economic efficiency scores while a two-limit Tobit model analyzed determinants of productive efficiency. Results indicate that maize farmers under the upland-irrigated system had a relatively higher technical efficiency at 52% level. Those under the wetland-only system had the highest mean allocative efficiency and economic efficiency levels of 59% and 35% respectively. Maize farmers under upland-rainfed system could proportionally save resources up to 59% by operating on wetlands best technical efficiency frontier of 93% level. Rice farmers had technical, allocative, and economic efficiency of 59%, 72%, and 46% levels respectively. Those operating at the mean technical efficiency could have inputs saving up to 37% of the resources by operating on the wetlands best frontier of 94% level. The study concludes that the upland-irrigated system is associated with the highest maize productive efficiency and that there can be a sustainable expansion of land in rice production in Kilombero wetland. The study recommends that governments and other stakeholders should ensure interventions that guarantee agricultural extension and formal education, which are necessary for improved maize and rice productive efficiency. National and county governments should encourage sustainable maize production under the upland-irrigated system especially with subsidized alternative water sources to enhance farmers’ efficiency and sustainable agricultural production in wetlands. There should be an intervention to enable farmers to use optimal fertilizer amounts in rice production to enhance sustainable expansion of rice production with minimized degradation and drainage.

Commercial Banks are a great contributor to economic development and prosperity of a country. They facilitate the flow of funds, aid the accumulation of capital, mobilise savings and finance industries. However, between 2016 and 2018 there was high disparity on return on equity. Insider lending, fraud and mismanagement were the key causes for disparity and poor performance. This study investigated the effect of strategic intelligence on the performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya. In particular, the study sought to determine the effect of business intelligence, competitive intelligence and knowledge management on the performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya. The study further sought to establish the moderating effect of regulatory framework and the mediating effect of dynamic capabilities on the relationship between strategic intelligence and performance of the Commercial Banks in Kenya. The study was anchored on balanced scorecard model, resource-based view, dynamic capabilities, and Knowledge management model and stakeholder theories. It adopted positivism philosophy and used both descriptive survey and explanatory design. The target population comprised 40 Commercial Banks in Kenya. The respondents were obtained through stratified proportionate and random sampling technique. The study employed both primary and secondary data, where primary data was obtained using semi-structured questionnaires, administered through drop-and-pick method, while secondary data was acquired from annual publications of the Central Bank of Kenya found on the internet. The study further used themes and narratives to present qualitative data. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the survey data which was later presented in frequencies, means, standard deviations and regression models. The study used ordinary multiple linear regression analysis to confirm the effect of strategic intelligence on the performance of Commercial Banks. In order to assess statistical significance, hypothesis testing was conducted at P-value<0.5. Findings indicated that business intelligence, competitive intelligence and knowledge management had a positive effect on both return on equity and non-financial performance indicators in Kenya Commercial Banks. Regulatory framework had a moderating effect on the relationship between strategic intelligence and non-financial performance measures, but it had no effect on relationship between strategic intelligence and financial performance measures of Commercial Banks. On other hand, dynamic capabilities had a mediating effect on the relationship between strategic intelligence and non-financial performance measures, but partially mediating effect on the relationship between strategic intelligence and performance of Kenya Commercial. The study, therefore, recommends that corporate level managers of Commercial Banks should engage more on strengthening strategic intelligence skills to remain a pertinent in a competitive banking industry. Moreover, the Commercial Banks need better functional forecasting methodologies, training, constructive application of both theories and practice, and innovative scientific approaches to capture more customers. Additionally marketing management teams should work closely to enhance dynamic capabilities in order to catch-up with volatile business environment. For more improvement, the Central Bank of Kenya should work closely with Commercial Banks policy makers to explore weaknesses of the ongoing banking regulations and improve where necessary, to attract more investors.

The financial sector in Kenya is essential for the economic growth of the country. Moreover, Microfinance Institutions,which form part of the financial sector, are critical stakeholders in achieving the Vision 2030 economic goal.They provide financial services to the low cadre people in Kenya. The government has set up various reforms to ensure Micro Finance Institutions' stable performance. Despite these reforms, Micro Finance Institutions have recorded high losses. The study's main goal was to analyse the effect of Strategic Innovation Orientation on the performance of Microfinance Institutions in Nairobi City County. Precisely, the researcher sought to establish the how product innovation orientation, financial innovation orientation, organizational innovation orientation, and market innovation orientation affected the performance of Microfinance Institutions in Nairobi City County. Moreover, the researcher assessed the mediating effect of customer satisfaction and how the regulatory framework moderated the relationship between strategic innovation orientation and the performance of Microfinance Institutions in Nairobi City County. Balanced Scorecard, resource-based view, dynamic capability view, Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, Theory of Innovation, and Institutional theories anchored the variables of the study. The research philosophy was positivism. Descriptive and explanatory research designs were carried out. The target population comprised 13 Microfinance Institutions with 1740 employees, and a proportionate stratified and simple random sampling technique was used to sample 352 respondents. Self-administered semi-structured questionnaires were used for gathering both quantitative and qualitative primary data. Moreover, secondary sources of data included reviews of credible published documents. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 23. The results indicated that the effect of product innovation orientation, financial innovation orientation, and market innovation orientation on performance was significant. However, the study found that organizational innovation orientation had an insignificant effect on the performance of Microfinance Institutions. The research findings also pointed out that customer satisfaction partially mediated the nexus between strategic innovation orientation and the performance of Microfinance Institutions. Finally, the findings indicated that the regulatory framework moderated the relationship between strategic innovation orientation and the non-financial performance of Microfinance Institutions however, the moderating effect of regulatory framework on the relationship between strategic innovation orientation and financial performance of Microfinance Institutions was insignificant. The study concluded that strategic innovation orientation is an essential resource that Micro Finance Institutions and other firms need to leverage for improved customer satisfaction, leading to improved financial and non-financial performance. Firms operate optimally under the control of the regulatory framework. The study recommends that firms’ intelligence cohorts, both at strategic and operational levels, need to focus on all the strategic innovation orientation constructs to enable broad decision-making that leads to improved and sustained performance, especially in a complex and ambiguous environment. Further, focus on customers is prudent as they are the centre of gravity for performance evaluation. Continued update on the regulatory framework ensures that firms operate within the law.

Globally, the role played by Small and Medium Enterprises is critical in contributing towards industrialization and economic growth. However, this contribution is minimized by the numerous challenges experienced by Small and Medium Enterprises which also affect their performance. The general objective for the study was to investigate the effect of strategic alliance on performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in the manufacturing sector in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The specific objectives for the study sought to establish the effect of firm-based motives, environmental-based motives, and partner related motives on the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in the manufacturing sector in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study also sought to determine the mediating effect of level of collaboration and the moderating effect of institutional pressure on the relationship between strategic alliance and performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in the manufacturing sector in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study was grounded on the resource-based view, resource dependence theory, dynamic capabilities theory, institutional theory, the model for inter-organizational network structures, strategic choice theory and the goal approach theory. A positivism research philosophy was adopted for this study while the study used a descriptive and explanatory research design which was cross sectional in nature. A census was done of all 74 Small and Medium Enterprises that formed the target population while the chief executive officer or a senior manager formed the respondents for the study. The survey used a structured questionnaire which was self-administered to collect primary data. The reliability of the research instrument was measured using Cronbach alpha coefficient and was considered reliable at 0.7 level. The survey data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the study findings revealed that firm-based motives, environmental-based motives, and partner related motives had a positive and significant effect on performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in the manufacturing sector in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The level of collaboration had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between strategic alliance and organizational performance while institutional pressure had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between strategic alliance and organizational performance. The study concluded that diverse firm-based, environmental-based, and partner related motives motivate Small and Medium Enterprises in the manufacturing sector to form strategic alliances and that these motives have a positive and significant effect on the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises. The study also concluded that level of collaboration is a critical component that influences the contribution of strategic alliance towards organizational performance while institutional pressure, though an important factor that influences firm strategic behaviour, its effect was not significant on the relationship between strategic alliance and organizational performance. The study recommended that top managers in Small and Medium Enterprises should align their alliance formation motives to their value chain activities to enable them amass critical resources to support such activities. Future research can be undertaken targeting other sectors and counties to establish whether the same conclusion can be drawn.

Maize is still largely a subsistence food crop under promotion as a food security crop and source of income for smallholders. In a bid to attain self-sufficiency, Rwanda made remarkable efforts to develop the subsector. These were mainly directed towards the expansion of the area under maize, organisation of farmers’ cooperatives and easy access to inputs. In improving maize productivity and marketing of maize several both public and private interventions were added in Musanze and Bugesera districts those interventions include breeding, distributions of improved seed that are pest and diseases resistant and promotion good agricultural practices. Despite efforts put up by the Government of Rwanda and other stakeholders, maize still faces low productivity compared to the expected potential yields and the actual yield. The objectives of this study were to estimate the technical efficiency level in maize production in both Musanze and Bugesera districts and to determine some socio-economic factors affecting technical efficiency of maize producers in Rwanda. Primary data was used. Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) with the Cobb-Douglas functions on a random sample of 276 maize farmers. The findings indicated that the mean technical efficiency for maize production in both districts is 23% which means that farmers can increase their output through efficient use of available resources and existing technology if they are to be technically efficient. The study concluded that age, educational level, fertilizers, labor, land size, seeds, visit of agent of extensions and access to credit were significant variables leading to technical inefficiency in Rwanda. On the other hand, family size, type of seeds, and experience, had no significant impact on farmers' inefficiency. To increase technical efficiency for maize production in the Rwanda, the study recommended improvement in education level of the farmers and availability of funds in the optimum time.

Globally, manufacturing firms play a fundamental role in a country’s social economic development. Performance of manufacturing firms has not met the expectation of the key stakeholders because of several factors as exhibited by stiff competition leading to low market share, customer dissatisfaction, reduced profitability, environmental uncertainty, poor response rate to market crisis and lack of required raw materials. This study investigated the effect of repositioning strategy on performance of selected large manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County. Specifically, the study sought to determine the effect of network relationships, corporate rebranding and internal processes on performance of selected large manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County. In addition, the study sought to determine the mediating and moderating effects of organisational competence and environmental dynamism respectively on the relationship between repositioning strategy and performance of selected large manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County. Stakeholder theory was the main theory being supported by institutional theory, resource-based view theory, competency theory and strategic choice theory. Positivism philosophy was adopted for the study and descriptive and explanatory research design were used for the study. The target population was 107 large manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County. Four heads of departments from each manufacturing firm (Planning department, operations department, marketing department and finance department) were targeted thus yielding a sample size of 428 respondents. Semi structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. Validity of the research instrument was tested using face, content and construct validity. Reliability was tested using Cronbach’s alpha (α) coefficient of 0.7 and the overall reliability for the instrument was 0.825 which was considered satisfactory for the study. Descriptive statistics were computed to describe the characteristics of the study variables while multiple linear regression analysis was used to establish the nature and magnitude of the effect of the independent on dependent variables. Quantitative data was presented in form of tables and charts. Qualitative data collected through open ended questions were analyzed using content analysis on the basis of common themes and presented in a narrative form. The study found out that network relationships and internal process control had a significant positive effect on performance of the selected large manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County while corporate rebranding had no significant effect on performance of selected large manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County. Organizational competences had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between repositioning strategy and firm performance of the manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County while environmental dynamism had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between repositioning strategy and firm performance of selected large manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County. The study recommends that the government through Kenya Association of manufacturers should focus on policies that promote networking and collaborations for sustained competitive advantage. The study called on the board of directors of the sampled manufacturing firms and the minister for industrialization to facilitate development of environmental management strategies capable of reducing the effects of environmental turbulence. Future research to investigate the effect of repositioning strategy on firm performance in other regions with different contextual characteristics.

Globally, organizations are persistently considering methods to enlarge their companies in relations to employees‟ performance. Water service providers have addressed participatory management by involving their employees in decision making. This study established how participatory management affects employees‟ performance in selected water service providers in Murang‟a County, Kenya. The following objectives guided the research to: determine the effect of consultative management, quality circles, representative participation and delegation on employees‟ performance. The study further sought to examine how political environment moderates the relationship between participatory management and employees‟ performance in selected water services providers in Murang‟a County and to evaluate mediating influence of employee‟s commitment on participatory management on employees‟ performance. The study was anchored on role theory, resource-based theory, Servqual model and collegial model. Positivism philosophy was embraced and assisted in investigating relationships among variables. Both descriptive and explanatory research design were used. Target population comprised 5 water service providers in Murang‟a County stratified under top level management, middle level management and lower level. The inquiry adopted primary and secondary data. Self-administered questionnaires aided in collecting primary data. A sample of 206 participants was considered through simple random sampling technique. The statistical package for social science application software type 21.0 was used to analyze data. Validity of the instruments was ensured through construct and content validity. Cronbach‟s Alpha with a coefficient of above 0.7 was used to test reliability. Data was analyzed using inferential and descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics used to define variables characteristics included standard deviation and aggregate mean score while inferential statistics involved both multiple linear regression analysis and correlation analysis. Correctness of the data was certified by conducting diagnostic tests which included normality test, linearity test, multicollinearity test, heteroscedasticity test and sampling adequacy test. The results were presented using tables and charts. Hypotheses were tested using correlation analysis using significance level of p ˂ 0.05. The results of the research showed consultative management, representative participation and delegation positively and significantly affected employees‟ performance while quality circles negatively but insignificantly affect employees‟ performance. Political environment had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between participatory management and employees‟ performance while employee‟s commitment did not mediate the relationship between participatory management and employees‟ performance. The study concludes that participatory management through consultative management, quality circles, representative participation and delegation is vital and significantly affects performance of employees in water service providers in Murang‟a County, Kenya. The study recommends water service providers in Murang‟a County to engage more in participatory management as it positively and significantly affects employees‟ performance The study also recommends that Kenya government ought to come up with policies to guarantee organizations which have employed participatory management initiatives to get backing throughout the period they are implementing and after implementation of participatory management for uninterrupted employees „performance. The ministry of water and sanitation ought to work cautiously with the water industry regulators to tactically develop a superior understanding of political operating environment undercurrents for greater employees‟ performance. The management of water service providers in Murang‟a County, Kenya to institute programmes that will ensure employees is committed to the job and organization.

Police performance across the world has been a major concern as each police service is expected to be efficient, effective, and responsive, and be customer friendly. These have propelled various governments to initiate performance initiatives to realize their missions and visions in their efforts to meet the stakeholders’ expectations. In this endeavor, the Kenya Government has in the past years heavily invested in the National Police Service, through the implementation of various performance initiatives aimed at making it more effective, efficient responsive, and productive. However, the National Police Service is still characterized by inefficiency, ineffectiveness, nonresponsiveness, and poor customer service. This research sought to establish the effect of organization development on the performance of the National Police Service in the Nairobi Metropolitan region, Kenya. Specifically, the research sought to establish the effect of organization development diagnosis, organization development action planning, organization development intervention, and organization development evaluation on National Police Service Performance. Moreover, the research sought to establish the mediating effect of organizational health on the link between organization development and performance of the National Police Service. The research also sought to establish the moderating effect of environmental turbulence on the relationship between Organization Development and National Police Service performance. The main theory of the research was the Organization Development Model. Other theories include organization developmental theory, action research model, organization health model, and environmental turbulence model. The study used a positivist paradigm and descriptive and explanatory research designs. The study targeted 1111 senior staff in the National Police Service in Nairobi Metropolitan Region, Kenya. Stratified proportionate random sampling techniques were used to select 294 senior staff from five counties within the Nairobi Metropolitan Region. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Validity and reliability of research instrument were undertaken using Cronbach alpha and threshold of 0.7 was used whereas content, construct and face validity were ensured. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The organization development diagnosis had a negative significant effect on the performance of the National Police Service. On the other hand, organization development action planning, organization development intervention, and organization development evaluation all had a positive significant effect on the performance of the National Police Service. This showed that all the components of the organization development process have a significant effect on the performance of the National Police Service. Also, it was established that organizational health had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between organization development and the performance of the National Police Service. In addition, the study established that environmental turbulence as a moderating variable had no significant effect on the relationship between organization development and performance of the National Police Service. The Inspector General of Police should embrace organization development as a process and strategy in the implementation of the policy initiatives as well as embracing organization health as a critical component of enhancing performance.

Collective action through formation of Avocado producer and marketing groups (APMGs) is one of the interventions adopted by Murang‟a County government to enable smallholders mitigate the market imperfections and contend with the recent transformations in agri-product markets. Despite this, most of the APMGs are dysfunctional due to free riding and lack of member commitment regarding participation in the group and its operations. Participation in group operations is critical to enable the members leverage their input and output resources in order to achieve economies of scale, enforce democracy, transparency and accountability of group leadership besides fostering member solidarity, trust and cohesion. This study therefore, analyzed the determinants of decision to join APMGs, participation and intensity of participation in APMG activities, in Kandara Sub County, Murang‟a County. Probit model was applied to analyze the decision to APMG membership and double hurdle model for participation and intensity of participation in the APMG activities. Participation and intensity of participation in group sales, annual contributions and group meeting attendance were used as proxies of member commitment to the APMGs. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire to interview 138 households who were sampled randomly (110 group members selected proportionately to the group size and 28 nonmembers) from Kandara Sub county in Murang‟a County. The data was then analyzed in STATA 13. The probit results indicate that avocado quantity, gender, farm experience, assets, off-farm income and information access had a positive effect on the probability of joining APMGs. The double hurdle model results revealed that avocado quantity, education level, household size and credit access emerge as key determinants of participation in the APMG activities. Finally, farm size, membership density, group age, trust index, group size, homogeneity index, decision making index, fine existence and provision of free inputs had a significant effect on the intensity of participation. Policy implications drawn by this study encourage strategies that enhance member registration and commitment to the APMGs. First, strategies to foster inclusivity in decision making in group matters as well as offering incentives such as free inputs and imposing fines to non-compliant members should be encouraged. Also, the group size should constitute of group sizes 14 to 19 members. In addition, polices to facilitate accessibility of credit markets to smallholders and market information can enhance production and better quality avocadoes thus heighten participation in the producer and marketing groups. Finally, there is need to foster trust among the group members and other actors involved such as the extension providers, export agents and NGOs to win the members confidence to the APMGs.