DR.MAGUTU PETERSON OBARA

This book reports mostly on institutional arrangements under policy and legal issues, composting and vermicomposting of solid waste under processing aspects, electrical and electronic waste under industrial waste category, application of GIS and LCA in waste management, and there are also several research papers relating to GHG emission from dumpsites.

Abstract. Outsourcing of services has become a common practice among large manufacturing firms worldwide and this is due to the various benefits that accrue to a firm as a result of outsourcing. Contracting out production of goods and services to a firm with competitive advantages in terms of reliability, quality and cost was found out to be the main driver of outsourcing. However the various studies covered have not extensively delved into logistics outsourcing practices in relation to the performance of large scale manufacturing firms. As a result, this study explored outsourcing practices viz a viz the performance of large manufacturing firms Nairobi, Kenya. The population of the study in this research was all the large scale manufacturing companies that are based in Nairobi. Stratified random sampling method was applied to come up with the sample size, since the population in different large manufacturing firms is considered heterogeneous, implying that a simple random sample would have been unrepresentative. The response rate was 83%. The results established that the firms were outsourcing transportation management, warehouse management and material handling management. The firms opted to outsource their services due to its advantages and its possible influence on organizational performance, as it enables the firms to focus on its core competencies. The outsourcing practices adopted by the large manufacturing firms will in the long run determine their survival as they would seek to reduce operating costs, improved customer satisfaction and timely delivery of services to clients which in turn increase productivity and reduce lead time and improved profits. The study confined itself to large manufacturing firms in Nairobi and the findings may not be applicable in other sectors as a result of uniqueness of the manufacturing firms. It is therefore recommended that the study is replicated in other service sectors to establish the logistics outsourcing services and performance.

E-Procurement is more than just a system for making purchases online. Some companies implement e-procurement and succeed while others fail. This study was carried out on the adoption of e-procurement among large scale manufacturers in Nairobi, Kenya. The study had three objectives: To ascertain the extent to which large scale manufacturers in Nairobi have adopted e-procurement; to determine the critical success factors influencing the success of e-procurement in large manufacturing firms in Nairobi and to establish the challenges that face e-procurement adoption in large scale manufacturing firms in Nairobi. The research involved a cross-sectional survey of the large manufacturing companies operating in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive approach in trying to establish the factors that influence the success of e-procurement projects. A sample size of 46 respondents was selected from a list of 455 large manufacturing companies. Data was collected from the respondents through a questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS and presented in tables. The study revealed that majority of the large scale manufacturers in Nairobi, Kenya has adopted e-procurement with the following e-procurement practices: online advertisement of tenders, receiving online submission of proposals for the tenders, and short listing suppliers online among others. The five critical success factors identified were: employees and management commitment to success of adoption; reliability of information technology and supplier performance; monitoring the performance of e-procurement systems;
user acceptance of e-procurement systems and top management support. The challenges established are: resistance to change from employees, lack of e-procurement approval by company board, existence of old IT equipment among the firms that need overhaul and lack of managerial support. The study recommends that large scale manufacturers in Nairobi need to incorporate all the e-procurement activities into the system; they need to find out ways of encouraging employees to make use of e-procurement systems as well as find ways of addressing the factors that are critical to the success of e-procurement. This will enable them to improve adoption of e-procurement.
Keywords: Critical Success Factors, Challenges, E-Procurement, Adoption, Manufacturing Firms, Kenya

The focus of this study was on linking these variables to the contrasting and competing theories of Corporate Governance such as Agency Theory, Stewardship Theory, and Resource Dependence Theory, among others. The role of the Board as a corporate governance tool is widely acknowledged in much of the literature on Corporate Governance. Scholars and practitioners have sought to understand the relationship between various board composition variables and some measure of performance as a means of establishing what the significant board composition variables are and the likely effect of adding or dropping some of these variables in the process of establishing effective boards. This study investigated significance of the board composition variables of size of the board, proportion of outside directors, proportion of inside directors, and the role of CEO duality on firm performance. This study found that the overall regression models for firm performance for both the Return on Assets and Tobin Q ratio are significant. This means that the board composition variables cited above are important predictors of firm performance. The study also found that the significance of the individual variables in the overall specification models have differing significant variables on the basis of the measure of performance selected for the firm. For example, when firm performance is measured by the Return on Assets, the significant variable in the model is the size of the board. Under the Tobin Q ratio firm performance measure, on the other hand, proportion of outside directors is the significant variable. These results imply that under the ROA, there seems to be a dominance of the Resource Dependence Theory while under the Tobin Q ratio, the Agency Theory dominates. The study also found that most surveyed firms tended to favour outside directorships over inside directorships. The prevalence of outside directorships was twice as much as for inside directorships and is in favour of the Agency Theory. The study also found that surveyed firms tended to favour having different persons occupying the two positions of CEO and that of the Chairman of the Board which is in line with the Agency Theory.
Keywords: Corporate Governance, Firm Performance, Listed Firms, Nairobi Securities Exchange & Kenya

Developing an effective human resource system that is compatible with organizational strategy is critical for the functioning and success of an organization in the competitive business arena. The main objectives of the study were to establish the extent of adoption of strategic human resource management practices among commercial banks in Kenya; and to determine the factors that influence adoption of strategic human resource management practices by commercial banks in Kenya. The research questions were systematically generated from the objectives. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics and factor analysis were used to help draw comparisons and conclusions based on the results. It was assumed in the data analysis that the results obtained were quite representative for the general population considering the sampled size.
The conclusions of the study are based on the research questions leading to the main purpose of the study. First, a number of human resource practices can be used as strategic weapons for organization to remain competitive. The key strategic resources management practices can be broken into two components. The first component is post-entry/ on-the-job strategic human resources management practices, which include the implementation of chosen human resources management strategy. The second component is pre-entry strategic human resources management practices, which include the recognition of the individual roles of employees before they are employed, keen selection and development. Secondly, the factors that have discouraged the adoption of strategic human resource management practices by commercial banks in Kenya can be broken into three components. The first component is poor communication and decision making process, which include failure of union representatives and managers to meet often to discuss concerns and cooperate in finding solutions to human resources issues. The second component is poor planning on HR issues, which include the failure to cover employees by a "non-traditional" incentive pay plan which applies across shifts of workers. The third component is on poor job orientations which includes lack of extensive efforts to set clear expectations about required work behaviors of the new workers.
Keywords: Strategic Human Resource Management Practice, Commercial Banks and Kenyas.

Globalization, collaboration and wireless technologies have led to stiff competition. As a result,
commercial banks have generally adopted the use of e-commerce products and services in their delivery
of services to customers. This study’s main objective was to explore the challenges faced and benefits that
accrue from adoption and usage of e-commerce products and services banking by commercial banks in
Kenya. A survey was carried out to achieve the envisaged aims of the study. A total of 100 questionnaires
were distributed however only 70 banks responded. Overall, research showed that while the majority of
the banks in Kenya have adopted e-commerce products and services, usage levels have remained
relatively low, as not many customers are using this innovation in Kenya.
To establish benefits and challenges in the adoption and usage of e-commerce, 32 variables were used to
measure the level of application among these banks. These variables were analyzed using factor analysis
procedure and in order to achieve a simple and meaningful structure, that is, have a nonzero loading of
the explained variance for each individual factors, varimax rotation was done. As a result, 10 critical
factors were established as the best practices which include: improved customer service, reduced number
of customers in the banking hall, reduced operating costs and increased market share. The challenges
faced in the adoption of e-commerce products and services include compatibility with existing legacy
systems, cost of implementation and security concerns ranked high, ensuring desired levels of security
and privacy. Unreliable telecommunication as well as lack of legislation governing e-commerce
transactions rated highly.
Keywords: e-commerce, e-commerce products and services, benefits and challenges, commercial banks

The identification of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as an essential tool for sustainable development has proved to be worth every investment. As a result of this, Internet usage in Kenya has grown rapidly resulting in the explosion of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Internet access points. The general objective of this study was to model the impact of Cybercrime on security in Kenya, Nairobi as the case study. This was a census study on modeling the effects of Cybercrime on the security in Nairobi. Thirty one (31) out of the 3ifty one (51) responded giving a response rate of 60.78% percent. It was found that the Cybercrime is prevalent in Nairobi although largely unreported. To a great extent, it was discovered that
Internet Service Providers had established basic measures in order to curb the growing cyberspace crimes; as spamming activities remain prevalent in Kenya. Also, to a great extent the Criminal Investigation department (CID) and Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) have recognized that cybercrime is a growing threat to security in Nairobi and have collaborated with ISP’s to implement measures.
Keywords: State Security, Cybercrime, Types, Impact & Mitigations

This paper tests the profitability of momentum strategies in Kenya, an emerging market for the period 1995 to 2007. Both relative strength strategies (RSS) and (weighted relative strength strategies (WRSS) are employed to implement momentum-based trading strategies. Analysis revealed that Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) exhibit medium term return continuation over the entire sample period and the sub-periods. We used RSS results to evaluate the influence of transaction costs, calendar effects, risk factors and other reported momentum characteristics on momentum profitability. We employ WRSS results to discriminate between the two diametrically opposed causes for the profitability of momentum strategies: behavioral factors (time-series continuation in the firm-specific component of returns), and risk factors (cross-sectional variation in expected returns and systematic risks of individual securities). Our results show that, consistent with the evidence elsewhere, momentum is an anomaly; the evidence is consistent with momentum being driven by continuation in the idiosyncratic component of individual-security, rather than by cross-sectional differences in expected return and risks.
Keywords: Profitability, Momentum Strategies Emerging Markets, Nairobi Stock Exchange

Benchmarking has been used as a tool, a methodology and a technique for continuous improvements in sectoral operations to gain and maintain competitive advantage. This was a survey of benchmarking practices in higher education in Kenya, the case of public universities, whose objectives were; to document the benchmarking activities in the public universities; to establish the challenges facing the public universities in benchmarking. Cross sectional survey was used in this study to collect data from the six public universities with their respective campuses/schools in the population of interest. The respondents were senior administrators and the academic staff. Of the 53 informants who were sampled, 31 responded, thus, a response rate was of 58 percent. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze and summarize the data before presenting it in the form of proportions, means, tables and graphs. This was in line with the first and second objectives, which were actually answered in relation to the benchmarking practices in the academic function of public universities in Kenya. The study found out that continuous improvement systems in Kenyan public universities are good, not excellent. The external drivers of change/continuous improvements in public universities are the customers/students as opposed to legislation, while the major internal trigger of change is the actual performance. The public universities effectively and successfully benchmark for continuous improvement.
The Kenyan public universities use action research and performance indicators as the sources of referencing information on benchmarks. The most common type of benchmarking in use is development/improvement benchmarking and planning to make use of international benchmarking. Finally, the three critical factors that have influenced the success of benchmarking practices are: time and resource availability: limited duration, comparability and compatibility, which are reasons why the institutions don’t practice international benchmarking.
Keywords: Benchmarking, Continuous Improvement, Quality, Higher Education

Many organizations are applying Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to improve operational efficiency, enhance information quality, and achieve reductions in processing time of critically important business information. EDI today represents an opportunity to improve business processes and business controls directly even though challenges are expected. It is in light of the opportunities and challenges that this study is done, specifically focusing on the benefits and challenges of implementation and application of EDI in Kenya considering the case of Kilindini Waterfront Project. Data was collected from 45 managers of the firms selected using convenient sampling. The respondents were asked about perceived benefits of EDI application and perceived challenges of EDI implementation and application. The questionnaires were mainly hand delivered to the respondents. The data collected was analyzed with the use of frequency tables, proportion, percentages, cross tabulations and factor analysis using SPSS. Majority of the firms that were studied had less than 1,000 employees which may possibly mean the firms are less labor intensive and therefore relying more on automated processes. This study also show that most of the respondents were experienced with EDI implementation and application and therefore had the necessary knowledge sought for. From the factor analysis carried out on the variables of the benefits of EDI application, the deduction drawn indicates that firms that apply EDI benefited. Some of the benefits include reduced errors, access to information, enhanced competitive capacity and improved trading partner relationship. Despite the benefits of EDI application, it was also found that there are several challenges encountered in the implementation of EDI. From the factor analysis carried out on the variables of the challenges in the EDI implementation, the deduction drawn indicates some of the challenges to be lack of top management support, negative staff attitude, inadequate IT staff training and inadequate non IT staff training. This study also indicated that there were challenges encountered in the application of EDI. From the factor analysis carried out on the variables of the challenges of EDI application, the deductions drawn indicate some of the challenges to be inadequate non IT staff training, lack of trust of other EDI partners, lack of flexibility, lack of maintainability and lack of awareness of benefits of EDI.

be serious

Creation and sustenance of competitive advantage continues to be the central agenda in strategic research and practice# Farms strive to survive and succeed in competition by pursuing strategies that enable them to perform better than their competitors# Therefore, the study seeks to assess knowledge management as source of sustainable competitive advantage and its impact on the performance of Egerton University farms# Performance was analyzed in terms of productivity and profitability# The productivity was assessed as mean yields per acre for crops such as wheat, barley and maize# The Dairy sector assessment looked at average milk productivity per cow per day# Profitability was analyzed using Net Farm Income and Rate of Return on Assets #ROA## The farm business is a function of land, capital, labuor and management particularly that of knowledge# In addition, it is subject to variability of prices, costs, yields and seasons# This study was necessary because the farm businesses are currently operating under a lot of competition, and thus the expected outcomes of effective knowledge management led to improved organizational effectiveness, improved productivity, a way to capture best practices, improved decision making, a more innovative organization, source of competitiveness and improved performance# The objectives were achieved by use of both secondary data obtained from the farm accounts and other productivity records while primary data was collected by the use of structured and semi-structured questionnaire from people who have had experience with or associated with the running of Egerton University
farms. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with assistance of SPSS software. The hypotheses were tested using Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-Square test. The study came out with the following major findings; first the study established that the private farms were more profitable than Egerton University farms. Secondly, the study established that private Farms were more productive in both crops and milk productivity. Third, the study found out that the private farms were more aware why they acquired the information compared to Egerton University farms, a scenario which will make the private farms be more competitive than the university farms which were not clear on their reasons for acquiring information. Fourth, the private farms acquired, stored and shared information for their competitive advantage from various sources compared to Egerton University farms, a situation which made the private farms be more competitive than the university.

The general objective of this study was to model the effects of e-commerce adoption on business process management. This was a census study on modeling the effects of e-commerce adoption on business process management in commercial banks in Kenya. Out of the sixty (60) respondents to whom the questionnaires were administered, only forty-one (41) responded. This gave a response rate of 68.33% percent. It was found that the commercial banks in Kenya have Formalized Policy on E-Commerce and Internal Business Process Management. Also to a great extent the banks have focused their e-business activities on collaborating with business partners using ICT; provision of other on-line and e-services, including e-marketing and advertising; supply chain management using intranet; and on-line buying (internet). Lastly, e-commerce is the complete set of processes that support commercial business activities on a network. The major effects of e-commerce on banks business process management are it has improved the image of the bank; besides profit making the bank have actively engaging themselves for the good of the effective business process management.