Customers are always rational in choosing items for consumption. Organizations are on the other hand careful to understand the consumers behavior in order for them to achieve a competitive advantage in the market. This study was premised on the four marketing mix elements: price, product, place, and promotion and the influence they have on the consumer behavior. The overall goal was to investigate how marketing mix elements affects the consumer purchasing Behaviour for smart appliances among retail outlets in Kenya. The research was guided by reasoned action theory, planned behavior theory, and asymmetric information theory. The research was descriptive. The study's population consisted of general public consumers of smart home appliances in sixteen leading Kenyan retail outlets of smart home appliances. The study used convenience sampling, with 80 respondents providing data for the study through face-to-face administration at Smart Home appliances outlets across the country. As a precaution against COVID-19, online surveys were also used. Data which was collected was analyzed through inferential as well as descriptive statistics. The study results revealed that smart home appliance purchase decisions are influenced by price, product features, and distribution channels/location. However, the study found that promotion strategies had a minor impact on smart appliance selection. The study found that the marketing mix elements (price, product, promotion strategies, and location) influenced smart home appliances' choice behaviors in Kenya's leading outlets in a significant and positive way. To increase consumer choice of their products, the study recommended that smart home appliances outlets offer discounts and offer smart home appliances at reasonable prices. Consequently, to increase smart home appliances consumption, the study recommended that smart home appliances outlets offer high-quality smart home appliances as well as sell brands that are well-known and appealing to consumers. The study also suggested that businesses promote their products through channels where customers can easily learn about their availability in stores and become familiar with how they are used, resulting in increased product consumption. Because so many people nowadays own a smartphone, the use of social media is one way that has recently gained a lot of attention where the appliance features can be published as well as the different places to find the smart appliances. Finally, the results recommend that smart home appliances’ handlers distribute their products through channels that ensure that smart home appliances are always available in stores and bring them closer to consume

This study examines the literariness of the personal essays of Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong’o. It is the kind of literariness that is imbued with the respective artistic vision of each of essayist. By literariness, I am referring to the strategies of writing that deviate from the standard language, that rearrange the normal usage of language and that impart a degree of freshness in the text. The study is justified on account of the paucity of critical engagement with the literary aspects of this genre and it a response to claims in some quarters of Western literary scholarship that the personal essay in Anglophone Africa lacks personal intensity, is inauthentic, didactic and polemical. The objectives of this inquiry are: to analyse the stylistic choices made by Ngugi and Achebe and how they contribute to the literariness of the essays; to interrogate the similarities and differences in both their ideological positions and artistic visions in relation to the postcolonial condition; and to evaluate the similarities and differences in the literariness of their personal essays. The methodology for conducting this study included the literature review to select the relevant essays; intensive reading and analysis to examine how the essayists respond to key postcolonial thematic issues; intensive reading and analysis to identify the literariness and aesthetic value of the essays; a comparative interrogation of the literariness of their essays; and a comparative evaluation of their artistic visions. I have combined stylistics and selected postcolonial theories to establish not only how essayists orchestrate their stylistic choices to realise aesthetic effects but also how they articulate pertinent issues affecting the postcolonial condition. The study has revealed the divergent standpoints and contrastive tonality of Ngugi and Achebe on the use of imperial languages. While Ngugi advocates for indigenous languages, Achebe calls for the domestication of the foreign languages. The study demonstrates that Ngugi and Achebe have appropriated the genre from the West and refashioned it with traditional African forms, resulting in a marked and deliberate stylistic deviation from the genre’s European antecedent. This deviation imbues the essays with various shades of literariness. The essayists have achieved unique literariness by appropriating the African archive from which they have adapted proverbs, fables, songs, anecdotes, allusions, metaphors, politeness, rhetorical cataloguing and the persuasive rhetorical style. The adaptation of these stylistic devices into a European genre echoes the postcolonial realities of hybridity and cosmopolitanism, pointing towards the artistic vision of the two writers. From the comparative study of the two essayists, this analysis has brought out both the contrast and similarity in the organising principles underpinning their essays, their artistic visions, and some noticeable gaps in their artistic visions. Achebe enacts accommodative resistance against the West, while Ngugi’s resistance is more militant, strident and socialist. Finally, the study suggests that there is need to undertake research on African women essayists, emerging strands of this genre and its expression in new media such as the cyberspace.

The thesis presents a critical study of the situation of the woman in contemporary Ugandan novels by women writers in the country. The study examines Ugandan women writers‘ attempt to construct their identity within repressive patriarchal situations while emphasizing the role women have played and continue to play in the construction of the Ugandan nation. The novels studied for this research are Silent Patience by Jane Kaberuka, The Invisible Weevil by Mary Okurut and Cassandra by Violet Barungi. The study investigates how the novelists write women into Ugandan political and social history. This comes against the backdrop of initially stifled voices of Ugandan female writers or perhaps what Lloyd Brown calls ‗other voices‘ in reference to women‘s writing in Africa – rarely discussed and seldom accorded space. The study is guided by a set of objectives: to examine Ugandan women writers‘ contribution to the development of the Ugandan literary space in Jane Kaberuka‘s Silent Patience; to investigate Uganda women writers‘ narration of the Ugandan nation in Mary Okurut‘s The Invisible Weevil; to interrogate how women writers in the country adapt to the changing social norms and centre women in Uganda‘s history in order to link it to societal challenges in contemporary society and; to compare and situate the Ugandan novel within the corpus of women‘s writing in Africa. Utilizing an eclectic theoretical approach, the study employs the feminist theory, specifically Elaine Showalter‘s arguments on Gynocriticism. Besides, New Historicism is found crucial in examining the perspectives that are critical in contextualizing the study and the historiography that the novels reveal. Narratology as propounded by Gerard Genette is also critical in the analysis of the salient stylistic aspects of the selected texts. Charles Ragin‘s Case Oriented Methodology provides a foundation upon which each novel has been sampled as a case study that represents female writing in Uganda. Finally, the study engages in a comparative reading of the selected novels to evaluate how they collectively contribute to re-writing Uganda‘s political and social history and how they can be compared to other contemporary novels written by female writers on the African continent. In particular, the study establishes that the authors endeavor to centre women as agents of change in nation building and social transformation in the contemporary Ugandan society, thereby correcting the often known common view of linking only the men with this very noble duty. The study further found out that the deployment of the bildungsroman tradition of writing as a narrative technique parallels the growth of the woman and the nation alongside that of the family and also uses the family as an allegory for the nation.

Maternal Health is a significant and central human right and a vital element of sustainable development. Inefficiency in M&E is among the significant management stages have significantly contributed to operations failure in government institutions. Inefficiency in M&E is among the significant management stages have significantly contributed to operations failure in government institutions institutions. The study therefore purposes to the relationship between monitoring and evaluation, contextual and behavioural determinants1 and performance of maternal health programmes (MHP) in Kenyan County Governments. The objectives of the study were to; establish how planning for M&E, stakeholder engagement, capacity building for M&E, contextual determinants and behavioral determinants influence performance of MHP in Kenyan County Governments, examine the moderating influence of contextual determinants and behavioral determinants on link amid practices for monitoring and evaluation and performance of MHP in Kenyan County Governments and assess the combined moderating influence of contextual determinants and behavioral determinants on link of practices for monitoring and evaluation and performance of MHP in Kenyan County Governments. This study was1 anchored on the program theory, contingency theory, stewardship theory principal agent theory and the theory of constraints. Pragmatism served as the study's paradigm. A mixed method research design was used in this study. The study targeted 388 hospitals from nine counties (Appendix IV). The unit of analysis was 1165 people, including employees from level 4 and 5 hospitals. Stratified random sampling was used to obtain 282 respondents. The research instruments for the study included a self-administered structured questionnaire, interview guides and an observation guide. Using descriptive narratives, qualitative data was evaluated within specific topics. Measures of central tendencies and measures of dispersion were used to descriptively assess quantitative1 data. The study hypotheses were tested using regression. Frequency tables were used to present the data. The qualitative data revealed that resources were allocated by gathering information and assessment in order to meet the desired goals, through use of indicators of tracking processes and progress within each public sector departments, and efficiency in delivery and performance is the policy statement. The study discovered a high relationship between county maternal health program success and M&E planning (r=0.859, p=0.000<0.05); stakeholder participation in M&E (r=0.838 and p=0.000<0.05); capacity building for M&E (r=0.796, p=0.000<0.05); data management for M&E(r=0.855, p=0.001<0.05); contextual determinants1 (r=0.877, p=0.002<0.05) and behavioral determinants (r=0.843, p=0.012<0.05). The study discovered that when contextual determinants were introduced into the relationship and the interaction terms in model 3 rised the R square by 0.141. This means that the interaction amid contextual determinants and combined M&E practices describes 14.1% alterations in performance of CMHP. The research found that after introduction of behavioural determinants into the link, and the interaction term in model 3 rose the R square by 0.066. This denotes that the collaboration between behavioral determinants and combined M&E practices describes 6.6% variations in performance of CMHP. The study concluded that planning for M&E had the greatest influence on the performance of MHP, followed by data management for M&E, then stakeholder’s engagement in M&E, while capacity building for M&E had the least influence. For the program's effectiveness, the study suggests that management develop an effective methodology as well as raise awareness of M&E activities.

Kiptoch, Sylvia C

As part of the Access to Government Procurement Opportunity program, Kenya's government passed the Public Procurement Preference and Reservation Law to make it easier for youth, women, and people with disabilities to partake in public procurement (GoK, 2013; Langat et al. 2016). In the act, this segment of the population is here referred to as special group. Organizational considerations, such as budget allocation, supplier development, and procurement structure, might, however, influence the policy's implementation (Singh, 2015). Given their demographic and contribution to the economy, the Procurement Preference and Reservation Law were enacted to ensure that the group receives at least thirty percent (30%) of all government contracts. Despite these initiatives, state parastatals averaged less than the 30% percent allocated to the special group which implies that the law is not fully been followed, thereby necessitating this research. To achieve the objectives, the study examined the proportion of budget allocated towards young people, women, and people with disabilities among Kenyan commercial state parastatals, regulate the influence of supplier development, and procurement structure on the implementation of public procurement preference and reservation Law among Kenyan commercial state parastatals as well as the mediating effect of access to finance on implementation of the Law. The institutional theory, the social economic theory and resource-based theory, as well as some empirical studies, are part of the works of literature that has influenced this project. To test the hypothesis, a descriptive research design was adopted and target population was two respondents from each of the 31 commercial state corporations in Kenya. The data collected through a structured questionnaire were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. with a response rate of 77%. The study concluded that there is a positive and significant relationship between supplier development and implementation of the reservation and preference law among Kenyan commercial state corporations. In addition, the findings also indicated that organizational factors account for up to 21% of the variation in the implementation of the law. All the factors were positive and significant on implementation of the law. Finally, it was concluded that access to finance partially mediate the relationship. Given that access to finance played a role in implementation of the law as demonstrated by challenges in accessing funds, there was a need for the corporations to seek alternatives ways of funding the special groups. The study recommends and improvement in adoption of supplier development practices such as conducting training for the special group since this has been done a moderate extent. Finally, as part of the recommendation, the public procurement should establish an independent body to facilitate capacity development of special group. URI

More than 50 percent of the population in developing countries does not have any form of financial account. Lesotho is not an exemption because about 38 percent of adults have no bank account. This suggests that a significant percentage of the adult population lacks access to financial services in the country. Considering the role of financial inclusion in social-political and economic development, many studies have been conducted in developed nations to establish how it is impacted by financial technology. The few studies done on Lesotho primarily focus on one measure of financial technology, mobile money. This study intends to fill the gap by assessing the effect of other measures; mobile money transfer, online and ATM banking, bank infrastructure on financial technology in Lesotho. The study employed 9-year secondary quarterly series sourced from the World Development Indicators and the Central Bank of Lesotho. Both descriptive and inference analyses were used for analysis purposes. The correlation analysis indicates that mobile money transfer, online banking, ATM banking, banking infrastructure, and interest rates are positively associated with financial inclusion. In contrast, economic growth has a negative relationship with financial inclusion. Findings from the regression analysis show that all measures of financial technology positively impacted financial inclusion except mobile money transfer. Also, the estimated model has an R-Squared of 0.92, which implies that whenever there is variation in financial inclusion, the independent variables are responsible for 92 percent of the changes. The study recommends increasing bank branches, especially in remote areas, enhancing deposits accounts which lead to growth in deposit and withdrawal transactions.

Situation Analysis Practices and Performance of Selected Enterprises in Chinese Tourism Industry

To offer efficient service delivery, public sector organizations have come under immense pressure to improve employee performance by effectively managing change. Various change management practices have been adopted by different public sector agencies, many adopting them from the private sector in their pursuit to enhance employee performance. Kisumu County Public Service Board has been involved in change management practices in their endeavour to improve service delivery through management of its human resources. The objective of this study was to establish the influence of change management practices on employee performance; a case of Kisumu County public service board. The study was anchored on the contingency and institutional theories respectively. The study adopted across-sectional descriptive design. The target population were all employees employed by the County public service board of Kisumu. Since all were administered questionnaire to, a census was conducted. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse data and the resultant findings presented using tables. The study sought to study was to establish the influence of change management practices on employee performance. A case of; Kisumu county public service board, Kenya. According to the descriptive statistics results; the study reported that indicated that the board was highly involved in making people aware on the need for change (Mean 3.79; SD 1.008) but did very little to motivate people to change (Mean 1.91 SD 1.055). The study also reported communication between the board and stakeholders was effectively being undertaken. (Mean 3.29; SD 1.404) but did very little in empowering employees to change (Mean 1.88; SD 1.066). The study also reported that the board had developed strategies to sustain change (Mean 3.91; SD 1.111) but little training was done to support the change. Inferential statistics findings showed change management practices significantly influenced employee performance. The findings indicated that unfreezing which was operationalized by change awareness creation, support to the change process, creating the need for change and managing the change outfall was found to significantly influence employee performance with the value (P<0.001).The results also indicate that moving which was operationalized by communication, dispelling misinformation, empowering action and stakeholders’ involvement was found to be significant in influencing employee performance, (P<0.000). Lastly, anchoring change, sustaining change, and training and celebrating change was significantly found to influence employee performance (P<0.000). The study concluded that Change management practices were significant in influencing employee performance. The study recommends that change management processes should be undertaken in other Counties’ Public Service Boards in Kenya to enhance their performance. The study was limited by scope due to COVID-19 that limited the collection of qualitative data.

Making right and informed choices is important in attaining organizational goals. Organizational supervisors are charged with the duty of formulating different strategies and plans to ensure smooth running and provision of latest and reliable data relating to organizational assets. This study sought to examine the influence of project management information system (PMIS) on the decision-making processes in an environment characterized by multiple projects within the healthcare sector of Kenya. Its purpose was to determine how the quality and quantity of PMIS information, project management, and PMIS information sharing in complex and multi-project environment influence decision-making processes. The study utilized a cross-sectional study design. The study population comprised of stakeholders who are the actual users of the Ministry of Health Project Management Information System DHIS2 (MoH PMIS DHIS2) platform and project leaders, including international development partners, division and departmental heads in the ministry of health, as well as county governments. A structured questionnaire was employed to gather data. The findings unmasked that the quality of information has a substantial and direct effect on the quality of decisions made. Quality information results in quality decisions. It was also found that the quantity of information, project management in complex environments, as well as PMIS information sharing directly and significantly affects the quality of decisions made. The study made the following recommendations: policymakers within the health sector need to encourage information exchange and sharing to help in better decision-making, project managers to secure quality project management information system while managing their projects, and the ministry of health need to ensure that the is sufficient and appropriate information in the PMIS to make better decisions within the industry.