Intense competitive pressures have forced firms to go beyond their neighbourhoods to achieve competitive advantage. A feasible course of action for firms is embracing supply chain integration. However, there is concern on whether implementing supply chain integration results in enhanced firm performance. Hence, the major aim of this research was to investigate the link connecting supply chain integration implementation and performance of large manufacturing companies in Kenya. In particular, the study examined the link connecting supply chain integration, competitive advantage, environmental dynamism to firm performance. The study was anchored on four theories; resource-based view, resource dependence theory, systems theory and network theory. The objectives of the study were attained through four main hypotheses. The study used positivist research lens. A cross-sectional descriptive research design was applied with primary data. The respondents of the study were persons overseeing supply chain functions in the sampled firms. From a sample size of 200 firms, 94 usable questionnaires were obtained resulting in a response proportion of 47%. The main data analysis method was partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The outcomes of the study are that; first, supply chain integration has a positive and significant effect on organizational performance. Next, there was a significant partial complementary mediating influence of competitive advantage on the connection linking supply chain integration and company performance. The study also found that environmental dynamism has an overall significant and negative moderating effect on the link connecting supply chain integration to firm performance. Both customer uncertainty and government policy had significant negative moderating effect on the connection linking supply chain integration to firm performance while supplier uncertainty, competitive intensity and technological uncertainty had no moderating effect. Finally, the study found that supply chain integration, competitive advantage and environmental dynamism had a significant combined effect on firm performance. The study affirms that the performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya can be strengthened by implementation of supply chain integration. This helps to settle the debate to some extent on whether it is fruitful for organizations to integrate their supply chain operations. The results are consistent with the resource dependence theory that supply chain integration reduces uncertainty via integration with suppliers and customers leading to improved performance. These outcomes are also in congruence with resource-based perspective in the sense that integrating internal operations can be regarded as a rare, non-substitutable, valuable and imperfectly imitable resource. The study findings will also be useful to policy makers in developing appropriate legislations such as protection of copyrights and patents. Moreover, the findings of the study are expected to provide directions to scholars on the possible influence of supply chain integration on organisational performance with the possibility of competitive advantage and environmental dynamism acting as mediation and moderation variables respectively. This is particularly pertinent in the context of the developing world where such studies are scarce.

This study sought to explore the application of digital diplomacy at the Kenya Permanent Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva to recommend ways of strengthening digital diplomacy in Kenya’s diplomatic ecosystem. While the study identified significant strides made at the Mission and the broader foreign affairs ecosystem in adopting digital diplomacy, much work still needs to be done to ensure Kenya fully leverages this new frontier for better foreign policy outcomes. The study recommends developing and implementing a Digital Foreign Policy (DFP) to help the country become a pacesetter in this diplomatic race. The DFP recommended for implementation will be anchored on several issues. At the core of this policy are the national values and interests. In the inner layer is a Strategic Plan to support the implementation of the DFP along critical thematic areas and to leverage digital tools such as social media, online conferencing, and big data analysis in the practice of diplomacy. The third layer will focus on emerging issues in the foreign policy ecosystems, such as cybersecurity, digital governance, digital self-determination, and e-commerce. Finally, the outer layer addresses a broad range of changes and events shaping the global technological ecosystem, including the emergence of new communication technologies which fundamentally influence diplomacy. If properly executed, Kenya will likely have a structured approach to executing its diplomatic objectives while being attuned to the changes in the information and communications technology space for positive foreign policy outcomes.

Most hydropower projects follow face numerous implementation trials that impend sustainable realization of clean energy. Moreover, these projects follow a top-down approach paradigm whereby projects are identified, planned, and executed according to the governments’ or investors’ preferences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of stakeholder participation on the implementation of off-grid micro-hydropower projects in Kenya, a case of Iriamaina Micro hydropower in Bomet County. The objectives that guided the study were: to establish the influence of stakeholders' participation in decision-making on the implementation of off-grid hydropower in Kenya; to assess the influence of stakeholders' participation in project design on the implementation of off-grid hydropower projects, and to determine the involvement of stakeholders participation in project financing on the implementation of off-grid hydropower. The stakeholder theory and the systems theory served as the foundation for the study. The research used a descriptive survey methodology. The study population included stakeholders from the project committee and community at Iriamaina Micro hydropower in Bomet County. The data was collected using the Linkert scale and presented through standard deviation, Mean, and proportions. The inferential statistics used namely; Pearson’s correlation coefficient(r) and regression analysis. The study had a hypothesis test. The target population of this study was 160 stakeholders. The response rate was at 96%, a proportion of 4% posed unavoidable discrepancies such as incompleteness. The quality of data entered in SPSS was above average. This translated to 153 questionnaires being utilized. A cross-sectional research design was used during this study. Primary data was collected by the use of 5-point Likert levels highlighted in brackets (1-strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral/undecided, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree) and interview guide. The data was reliable as Cronbach’s coefficient was above 0.7. The data collected was sorted, keyed in, and analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics were used to know to what extent and where the stakeholders influenced project financing, project design, market assessment and project decision-making. The research findings on descriptive statistics indicated that majority of respondents agreed on involvement in project decision making with respective combined mean of (4.011), market assessment(4.394) , project financing (4.086) whereas the respondents were neutral on their involvement in project design (3.674). Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed that there was a positive correlation as follows on the variables; decision making (r =0.323), market assessment (r = 0.145), project financing (r =0.240) and project design (r = 0.401). Findings showed a strong positive correlation between involvement of stakeholders and implementation of hydropower r = 0.506. Descriptive data showed that respondents agreed on being involved on implementation of Iriamaina micro hydropower with combined mean (3.54).The regression analysis showed that; involvement in project design, project financing and decision making were significant predictors of the implementation of hydropower ,however, the market assessment was not significant.

Financial technology has significantly affected the operation of financial firms and created the foundation for the financial institutions to differentiate between their products and their competitors. Fintech is essential for directing money to efficient purposes and allocation of risk to people who can utilize them, and this boosts economic growth. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of financial technology on Kenya’s economic growth. The study was based on disruptive innovation theory, diffusion of innovation theory and Schumpeterian theory. The independent variable was financial technology measured using the number of transactions through mobile banking, internet banking, agency banking and Mpesa while the control variables were unemployment rate and inflation. The dependent variable that the research attempted to explain was the economic growth in Kenya. The data was collected on a quarterly basis over a period of 10 years (from January 2012 to December 2021). A descriptive research approach was employed in the research, with a multivariate regression model used to examine the connection between the study variables. The study's findings yielded an R-square value of 0.995, indicating that the chosen independent variables could explain 99.5 percent of the variance in Kenya’s economic growth, while the other 0.5 percent was due to other factors not investigated in this study. The F statistic was significant at a 5% level with a p=0.000. This suggests that the model was adequate for explaining economic growth in Kenya. Further, the findings demonstrated that mobile banking; internet banking and Mpesa had a significant positive impact on economic growth as indicated by positive coefficients and p values less than 0.05. Inflation was established to possess negative and considerable outcome on economic growth, as shown from the negative coefficient and a p value less than 0.05 while agency banking and unemployment rate were found not to have a significant effect. The research recommends the need for policy makers to create a conducive environment for development of more fintech innovations while at the same time ensuring the safety of the existing ones as this contributes to a rise in economic growth. The study also recommends that there is need to come up with effective measures of managing inflation levels as high inflation has an adverse effect on economic growth. The study recommends the need for future researchers to conduct a study for a longer period of time to capture the effects of economic cycles.

One of the most crucial tactics used by firms to assist staff in acquiring the necessary experience, education, and competencies to function well is learning and development. Employee performance rises as a result of increased self-direction and work-based ability provided by learning. The objective of the study was to assess how employee performance at the personnel management office in the Gambia was impacted by learning and development. The study was applied. In order to analyze 166 employees in the administrative cadre at the personnel management office in the Gambia, a cross-sectional research methodology was adopted. 166 surveys were sent out, and 130 of them received responses. Google surveys and structured questions were used to collect the data. It used a quantitative approach. With SPSS version 22, the statistical analysis was completed. The goals of the investigation were supported by regression analysis. To do this, accurate generation and interpretation of frequency tables, percentages, means, and standard deviations was done. The normalcy test involved using the Pearson moment correlation coefficient (r). The relationship between the dependent variables and the independent factors (learning and development) was looked into using linear regression (employee performance). According to the findings, there is a strong link between employee performance and learning and development (R2 =.632, F = 2.667, T = 4.63, P > 0.05). The study came to the conclusion that learning and growth have a substantial impact on employee performance. According to the report, in order to improve staff performance, PMO guidelines should include provisions for employee learning.

Accessibility to financial institutions is commonly restrained or unavailable for the needy in the rural setting, as the distance to cover in order to access the nearest commercial institution, micro-finance organization or credit union is always a distance and transport expenses are so high. In promoting women empowerment, Catholic Relief Services established the savings and internal lending community programme to improve financial accessibility to rural women for livelihoods. The study investigated the influence of savings and internal lending community programme strategies on sustainability of rural women livelihood projects in Suna East Sub-County and the guiding objectives for the study were: assess how financial services influences sustainability of rural women livelihood projects in Suna East Sub-County, Kenya; to determine how capacity building influences sustainability of rural women livelihood projects in Suna East Sub-County, Kenya; to establish how social bonds influences sustainability of rural women livelihood projects in Suna East Sub-County, Kenya; and to examine how performance monitoring influences sustainability of rural women livelihood projects in Suna East Sub-County, Kenya. Joint Liability Theory will be adopted in the research. The research work assumed descriptive survey research design, and questionnaires and interview schedules applied for data collection. The research target population was 180 women SILC beneficiaries and 1 field officer. Krejcie and Morgan sample size determination was applied to get the study‘s 170 as the sample size, while 1 field agent was purposively sampled. The structured questionnaire was self-administered by the researcher and interview guides to the field agent. Data obtained was analyzed descriptively and inferentially by assistance of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software and the findings displayed in tabular form. Content analysis was applied in analyzing the qualitative data. The study found that financial services, capacity building, social bonds and performance monitoring had a strong positive influence on sustainability of rural women livelihood projects in Suna East Sub-County, Kenya. Thus, concluded that SILC programme strategies effect on the sustainability of rural women livelihood projects was found to be significant. The research recommends that SILC management should actively promote SILC programme strategies for sustainability, as well as the government of Kenya need to formulate a policy protecting and guiding the operations of SILC programme. The study further suggested further studies on the environmental aspect of the programme, as well as similar to this study but in other constituencies for results comparison.

The purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence adoption of telemedicine by healthcare practitioners at Kenyatta National Hospital. Despite various studies arriving at several factors that influence adoption of telemedicine, it was important to look at user-specific factors which have scarcely been investigated. Therefore, this study focused on the investigation of user-specific factors through the specific objectives of determining whether perceived ease of use of telemedicine, perceived usefulness of telemedicine and whether individual user attitude and personality influence adoption of telemedicine by healthcare practitioners at KNH. This study’s background was drawn from the existing literature on the status of telemedicine adoption internationally, continentally, and nationally. The problem statement was founded on the realization that despite presence of adequate literature and overwhelming evidence on the benefits, applicability, viability, sustainability, clinical usefulness and scalability of telemedicine in provision of healthcare in Kenya, still, major referral hospitals in the country are have a low adoption rate of telemedicine in healthcare delivery. The study employed the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which assumes that beliefs about usefulness and ease of use are always the primary determinants of information technologies adoption in organizations or by individuals. Literature review indicated that the use of telemedicine is largely adopted in scenarios where the physicians’ satisfaction and recall levels are increased due to perception in ease of use/ access and perceived usefulness of ICT. The study adopted a mixed methods approach where both qualitative and quantitative research techniques were used in data collection and analysis. The targeted research population included 1,260 clinicians (doctors and nurses) and administrators working at KNH. To reach a feasible sample size, the study used the Cochran’s method of sample size determination. An estimate of 196 respondents was drawn from the population. Stratified sampling method was then used in selection of the 196 respondents from the accessible population. To verify the reliability or trustworthiness of the data collected, the study employed the triangulation of data sources through usage of different respondents. Additionally, a pre-test of the interview schedule was done for four key informants who were purposively selected from the accessible population, enabling the researcher to review and adjust the interview questions/schedule before the interviews were conducted with the selected sample group. All ethical considerations of informed consent, assent, voluntary participation, confidentiality and anonymity, were ensured while conducting the study. The data collected was analyzed by use of excel and R software. The results from the analyses were summarized and presented by use of frequency tables and graphs. The study findings showed that the respondents’ age ranged from 20 to 59 years with majority of the respondents being between ages 30 to 49 years. Furthermore, female represented a bigger percentage of the respondents accounting for 59.24%. Investigation into the respondents’ level of education revealed 88 (48%) of the respondents attended colleges while 92 (52%) attended universities revealing the high education levels. The respondents were estimated to have adequate professional experience as they averagely had 12 years of professional experience. From the findings of the analysis, the three factors of perceived ease of use, usefulness and user attitude and personality were found to have a correlation with adoption of telemedicine. The major factors influencing the low adoption levels included the personal beliefs; attitudes towards ICT mediated healthcare, and the perception of increased workload especially for the older medical practitioners, despite the perceived usefulness of telemedicine.

There has been increased support for environmental based urban green spaces (UGS), that offers variety of benefits to population such as health, environmental conservancy and recreational amenities for improved life quality. Regrettably, the economic values of Nairobi Green spaces are unknown, hence imminent neglect and encroachment that has contributed to their diminishing size and quality. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the recreational benefits values and assess key drivers influencing visits to Karura forest, Uhuru Park and all Nairobi parks combined. The objective was achieved by use of data collected from 669 Nairobi households. The demand function for the green spaces visits was generated using travel cost method (TCM) and further estimated using Truncated Poisson model (ZTP) model. The recreation value for All Parks combined, Uhuru Park and Karura was estimated at US$ 70.9M, 42.5M, and 6.4M per annum respectively. The results provide support for informed decision making such as improved budgetary allocations, cost benefit assessment for competing projects, policies aimed at conserving, maintaining and expansion of more urban green spaces.

This study focused on the relationship between the use of mobile money transfer and cash transaction cost. Despite the fact that mobile money transfer systems may not be designed primarily as a means of cost reduction, evidence of the research shows that it actually contributes to the reduction of the same. The study aimed at establishing the extent of mobile money transfer use by NGOs operating in Kisumu Central sub county and the relationship between the use practice and transaction cost reduction. To achieve the objective, a descriptive study was done. The researcher used primary data. The respondents constituted 116 Finance contact persons, 29 administrators and 29 Head of audits in 119 organizations. The study adopted descriptive statistical techniques such as frequency, percentage, and mean distribution. The data was presented using frequency tables. The study concluded that there is significant positive correlation between adoption of mobile money transfer and cash transaction cost reduction in the NGO sector. The study recommends that future researches should narrow down to the individual indicators for more in-depth understanding. The study also recommends that future studies should consider other variables of cash transaction costs as research zeroed only on six of them.

In Somalia, there is scarcity of permanent sources of water supply that is essential for the survival of the human population and livestock. During the middle of the dry season, most of these water points dry up leading to a severe scarcity of water that in extreme cases results in the death of humans as well as livestock. During prolonged droughts, it is typical practice in these types of areas to transport water using trucks. These reservoirs have waters that are contaminated with organic materials, as well as silt and sometimes garbage. Thus, the purpose of the study was to establish the extent to which monitoring and evaluation practices influence performance of water Points for Agro-pastoral project in Somalia. The study’s objectives revolved around determination of effect of M&E planning, M&E training, data management and utilization of M&E results in relation to performance of water Points for Agro-pastoral project in Somalia. The study was anchored on realistic evaluation theory and the theory of change. Mixture of of descriptive survey and correlational research designs was adopted targeting 87 M&E managers, M&E learning officers, data analysts and research assistants from two water Points for Agro-pastoral project in Somalia. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 71 respondents which were determined scientifically through Yamane formula. Primary data was gathered through a questionnaire that had been pilot tested among 7 respondents who were not included in the final study. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire will be ensured before gathering information from participants by self. The gathered information was analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences guided by percentages, means and regression analysis and presented through tables. The study observed that utilization of M&E results (β=0.428) had the greatest effect on project performance then M&E Training (β=0.242), data management (β=0.228) and lastly M&E planning (β=0.223). The study concludes that M&E practices are significant drivers of project performance. The study recommends that project managers in the water Points for Agro-pastoral project in Somalia should take a participatory approach in M&E planning where all concerned stakeholders need to be actively involved in the process. The human resource managers working in water Points for Agro-pastoral project in Somalia should provide regular training to project staff to equip them with relevant skills. Future research should focus on establishing other factors aside from M&E practices that have an effect on performance of water Points for Agro-pastoral project in Somalia