In Kenya the investment banking environment has been rapidly evolving posing a threat to the commercial banks’ operations. The current economic environment in Kenya is faced with the Covid-19 pandemic protocols, advanced technology and increased competition which has been a threat to the continuity of the operation of investment banks. To mitigate the threats, investment banks had adopted contingency planning as a way of improving the continuity of the firms, securing shareholders wealth and preventing likelihood of financial losses as well and creating a positive brand image, in case of occurrence of a risky incident. The primary goal of this study was to examine the impact of contingency planning on business continuity among Kenyan investment banks. The objectives utilized in giving guidance were; to establish the influence of organizational systems on business continuity and to establish the effect of organizational innovative culture on business continuity. This research adopted the environmental dependency theory and resource based theory. A descriptive research design was used. The 22 registered investment banks in Kenya served as the research population. The unit of analysis was 4 senior managers from each investment bank giving a total of 88 respondents. This research used primary data which was gathered through use of questionnaires. To administer the questionnaire, the researcher used Google forms. The data collected was then converted into quantitative format so as to enable analysis using the statistical package for social sciences. The data was analyzed both for descriptive statistics which encompassed mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics that comprised of multiple linear regression and correlation analysis. The study established a significant positive association amongst organizational systems and organizational innovative culture with business continuity among investment banks in Kenya. Regression analysis established that 55.5% of changes in business continuity among investment banks in Kenya were ascribed to the two variables selected in this study. In conclusion, organizational systems and organizational innovative culture are essential in enhancing business continuity. The study recommends that the management of investment banks in Kenya ought to consider enhancing their organizational systems such as recruitment systems, promotion systems and information systems to enhance business continuity. The study also recommends the need for investment banks to consider allowing employees to try new ways of solving job related problems, highly encourage innovation, consider customer information when developing new products and services and be highly flexible in their mode of operation.

Managing the liquidity of an organization is imperative for all businesses; large, small or medium. If an organization fails to manage its liquidity appropriately, there is bound to be cash shortages. As a result, the organization experience issues in settling its debts. No evidence of WCM's positive effect on productivity in Kenyan manufacturing or associated companies has been shown in the existing literature. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis were employed in this study. Information regarding characteristics of a phenomenon or population is what you may expect to find in descriptive studies. Nevertheless, descriptive studies are often conducted before quantitative ones. Stata and Microsoft Excel were used for the analysis. We used a quantitative approach to arrive at our conclusions. Through the use of regression and correlation analysis, we were able to ascertain the nature and extent of the partnership and the bearing of working capital management elements on efficiency indicators. Inventory turnover time was shown to have a positive influence on profitability for this organization, albeit the results were not statistically significant. It follows that the manufacturing and construction sectors' financial results are immune to variations in inventory turnover time. This fits very well with what's been written. Results showed that for NSE-listed manufacturing and associated businesses, the average payment duration had a positive but statistically negligible influence on profitability. This study lends credence to previous studies which found no correlation between payment terms and business outcomes. There was a marginally positive effect on financial outcomes, but it was attributed to the longer average collection time. The findings prove that a company's bottom line is immune to payment collection delays.

Strategic leaders are termed as the focal point for better organizational performance. Strategic leadership promotes the culture of inquiry and allows the employees to learn from their mistakes and failures. Through good leadership, employees can work better thus improve their performance. Determining how strategic leadership impacted employee performance in Kenyan government ministries was the aim of this study. The study, which employed a cross-sectional research approach, concentrated on all 21 government ministries in Kenya. The respondents were in charge of the departments of strategy or human resource management. the department of strategy or human resource management managers provided the study's principal sources of data. Before analysis, the data was carefully examined to make sure it was accurate and comprehensive. Regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable. The study found out that strategic leadership (strategic direction, organization resource portfolio, strategic planning and forecast, and corporate communication) was a key factor in ensuring employee performance. The results of the regression analysis also showed that the organization resource portfolio has a significant and favorable impact on the employee performance in government ministries, indicating that an increase in the organization resource portfolio will result in an improvement in employee performance. Further research revealed that strategic planning and forecasting significantly affected employee performance in government ministries; as a result, an increase in strategic planning and forecasting would improve employee performance in government ministries while maintaining all other variables constant. In government ministries, an increase in corporate communication would result in higher employee performance while keeping all other variables constant. According to the survey, government ministries should place more emphasis on strategic direction to prevent personnel turnover. The study also recommends that government ministries should have more organized ways of handling government resources. Strategic planning and forecasting should be streamlined to ensure up to date approaches are used. Communication flow should be improved for better employee performance in the ministries. This study only looked at three factors on strategic leadership, that is, strategic direction, organization resource portfolio, strategic planning and corporate communication

Banks in Kenya have made significant investments in corporate governance to tackle issues about competition, income and cost. At the same time, the number of nonperforming loans held by commercial banks has increased. The critical question is whether corporate governance practices have been effective in enhancing the asset quality of banks. Given that corporate governance structures costs money, it is critical to investigate the link between growing NPLs and corporate governance. This study sought to investigate how corporate governance affects asset quality among commercial banks in Kenya. The Corporate governance indicators were board size, gender diversity and board independence. Bank liquidity, capital adequacy and bank size were the control variables while the dependent variable was asset quality, measured as the ratio of NPLs to total loans. The study was guided by agency theory, stakeholder theory and stewardship theory. Descriptive research design was utilized in this research. The 40 commercial banks in Kenya as at December 2021 served as target population. The study collected secondary data for five years (2017-2021) on an annual basis from CBK and individual banks annual reports. Descriptive, correlation as well as regression analysis were undertaken and outcomes offered in tables followed by pertinent interpretation and discussion. The research findings yielded a 0.530 R square (R2) value implying that 53% of changes in banks’ asset quality can be described by the six variables chosen for this research. The multivariate regression analysis further revealed that individually, board size has a negative and significant effect on asset quality of banks (β= -0.141, p=0.001). Board independence also has a negative and significant effect on asset quality (β= -0.310, p=0.000) while gender diversity exhibited negative but not statistically significant influence on asset quality (β= -0.030, p=0.116). Both bank size and bank liquidity have a negative effect on asset quality of banks as shown by (β= -0.927, p=0.000) and (β= -0.287, p=0.000) respectively. Capital adequacy exhibited a negative but not significant influence on asset quality as shown by (β= -0.036, p=0.103). The study recommends the need for banks to have adequate board members as this reduces the level of NPLs in a bank. The study further recommends the need to have an independent board as this also enhances asset quality by providing a better monitoring mechanism. Future research ought to focus on other financial institutions in Kenya to corroborate or refute the conclusions of this research.

The provision of basic services, secure and cheap housing, and the modernization of slums are the main objectives of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) number 11. Since 1950, the number and scope of national development plans have increased at a rate that is commensurate with the emergence of African national movements and the achievement of independence. Almost all African states consider a plan like this to be one of the fundamental aspects of sovereignty. According to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) tracker, as of 2018, about 50% of urban residents resided in slum neighborhoods. Narok County, Kenya, had a population of 1,158,000 people as of the 2019 census, which puts pressure on land and increases the need for affordable housing. The study sought to determine how the County Integrated Development Plan affects the implementation of affordable housing projects in Narok North constituency, Narok County, Kenya. Since the adoption of the Narok County Integrated Development plan in 2012 there has been a need to access several dimensions of the plan and to what extent it has contributed to the development of affordable housing. The study focused on the following four goals: to determine the influence of the County Annual Plan on implementation of the affordable housing projects in Narok North constituency, to assess the influence of the County Sectoral Plan on implementation of the affordable housing projects in Narok North constituency, and to establish the influence of the County Municipal Plan on implementation of affordable housing project in Narok North constituency and influence of County Spatial Plan on implementation of affordable housing projects in Narok North constituency. Wagner's theory, the theory of project implementation and systems theory served as the study's pillars. Study may enable project managers establish effective plans for project implementation and completion, it might assist government in developing effective affordable housing policies, and it can also help the residents of Narok County to actively participate in the provision of affordable housing and also may allow further research to other scholars in related areas. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and quantitative data was collected through a structured questionnaire and qualitative data using a key informant interview guide. The study also adopted a stratified random sampling targeting 1,150 representing Narok county government departmental employees and tenants occupying housing units provided by the county government. The sample size was determined using the Slovene formula to generate a sample size of 296 respondent. Each of the two strata representing Narok county departmental employees and tenants comprised of 257 and 39 respondents respectively. After approval of the research project proposal, the necessary licenses and documentation were gathered to assist in data collection. The conclusion of the study showed a positive relation between the County Annual Plan, County Sectoral Plan, County Spatial Plan and County Municipal plan in relation to the implementation of affordable housing projects in Narok North constituency. Municipal plan showed a more positive significant impact on the implementation of affordable housing projects. The study recommended a comparative analysis of the Nairobi CIDP as a benchmark to other counties, assessment of challenges affecting county government management and the impact on the implementation of affordable housing projects in Kenya.

Research sought to determine the effect of financial inclusion on financial performance of SMEs in Mombasa. Specific objectives were anchored on financial access, quality, usage and service delivery. The development of mobile banking, microfinances, SACCOs and internet banking in Mombasa County was aimed at improving financial access, enhance finance quality, financial use and service delivery, however, small businesses are still failing in their performance. There was need to empirically study these problem and be able to understand how financial inclusivity can help the financial exhibition of Small and medium enterprises. The study theoretical framework comprised of Grameen Theory, Credit Rationing Theory and Financial Intermediation Theory. Research methodology comprised of a descriptive research approach, a target population of 3000 SME owners in Mombasa County from which a study sample of 300 SME owners was selected forming a 10% representation. Data was collected primarily using questionnaires which were then tested for reliability and validity before a full scale was done. Data obtained was subjected to diagnostic tests to check collinearity, linearity and significance. Inferential and descriptive statistics was used to analyse the variable relationships aide by SPSS. The study established; a weak positive relationship between financial access and financial performance of SMEs in Mombasa County, the effect of financial access was attributed to accessibility of commercial banks and mobile banking that are more convenient to SME owners; a weak positive relationship between financial quality and financial performance of SMEs in Mombasa, the impact of financial quality was ascribed to adaptability in credit reimbursement period and protection of advance in order to limit defaulting; a weak positive relationship between financial use and financial performance of SMEs in Mombasa, the effect of financial use was ascribed to appropriate usage of assets for organizations and infusing of individual budgets to help business and a positive relationship between service delivery and financial performance of SMEs in Mombasa, the influence of financial use was attributed to good preparation of financial institutions and their intermediaries to serve the SMEs and special service line to help SMEs overcome challenges. The conclusion reached by the study was that; financial inclusion, significantly influence the financial performance of small and medium enterprises in Mombasa County. The measures recommended by this study include; training of SMEs on use of mobile banking application as many were found to borrow from multiple applications and failed to payback; an action that affected their credit rating. SME owners also need to be trained on the importance of recording their transactions so they can track all income and expenses. This study recommends for another study to be done on SMEs once the economy fully recovers to test if a stronger relationship will be obtained. Furthermore, the study was done in Mombasa County which is a financial hub for the region, also, subsequently there is need for a study to be conducted in different counties like Kilifi and Kwale to make a comparison if similar results can be obtained.

The study sought to determine the service design implemented by the four and five-hotels in Nairobi, Kenya and to establish the relationship between the service design and delivery in the four- and five-star hotels in Nairobi, Kenya. Relevant empirical studies were reviewed to inform the conceptual framework. The study adopted cross-sectional descriptive survey research design. The study targeted 34 four- and five-star hotels in Nairobi and census was used. Primary data was gathered with aid of the questionnaire and the analysis was done through SPSS by means and standard deviations and regression analysis and presented through Tables. It was noted that service design had been implemented in the studied hotels where service concept (β=0.412) had the largest effect on service delivery followed by service delivery design to customer needs (β=0.280), delivery systems (β=0.255) and then service encounters (β=0.181). The study concludes that implementation of this service design had positively contributed towards service delivery of these hotels. In particular, service concept had the largest effect on service delivery followed by service delivery design to customer needs, delivery systems and then service encounters. The study recommends that the human resource managers in four and five-hotels in Nairobi, Kenya should have in place customer and service delivery training for employees to enhance their customer service and care skills. The operation managers working in four and five-hotels in Nairobi need to enhance the service delivery landscapes including the enhancement of the delivery systems.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of task-based instruction on students’ English listening and speaking skills among public secondary schools in Busia sub-county, Kenya. The fundamental objectives were to: analyze the influence of group discussions on students' English listening and speaking skills in public secondary schools in Busia sub-county, establish impact of role-play on students' English listening and speaking skills, establish impact of brainstorming on students' English listening and speaking skills, and to lay out the impact of problem solving on students' English listening and speaking abilities in public secondary schools in Busia sub-County. The review was directed by hypothesis of Second Language Learning- Language theory. A clear review configuration was utilized to convey the research since it empowered the scientist to choose gatherings who are unique yet explore them at one moment. A pilot study was led to approve the exploration instruments before the examination started. The review utilized two example t-test to lay out the unwavering quality of the exploration instruments, which had an importance level of 0.05. The review populace was 2,315 respondents out of which an example size of 175 respondents were gotten basing on Yamane (1967). Information was gathered by the utilization of surveys and interview. Information was dissected utilizing unmistakable insights like frequencies, rates and means. Quantitative information was summed up to evaluate the strength of the connection between the factors. The researcher led a various straight relapse examination to lay out the connection among free and subordinate factors. The outcomes were introduced in tables, diagrams and pie graphs. Findings of the study reveals that Group discussion was able to predict 0.632 (63.2%) of the variation in English listening and speaking skills, Role play was able to predict 0.550 (55%) of the variation in English listening and speaking skills. Brainstorming was able to predict 0.580 (58%) of the variation in English listening and speaking skills and Problem solving was able to predict 0.343 (34.3%) of the variation in English listening and speaking skills. Based on the study findings, this study concludes and recommends that the policy makers should ensure that the group discussion is included in English course books when reviewing the curriculum as they can enhance learners’ speaking skills, the School administrators of English programs and subject teachers should suggest books that emphasize and stress on speaking through role play activities, the teachers of English should create a conducive environment for learners and encourage shy students to participate xii in speaking by using task-based instruction activities through brainstorming and problem solving skills.