The study aims to assess the substance use related literacy among the medical students in government based medical college in the Nairobi, Kenya. The methodology of the study was cross sectional based on survey method. Result states that majority of students reported there is presence of substance abusing youths are existed in their classrooms. Results also shows that there is low level of self-intake substance and increase assertiveness as found among medical students.
Purpose: The objective of the study was to determine the effect of Strategic Human Resource Management Practices (SHRMPs) on performance of public universities. Methodology: This study was essentially guided by the Resource Based Theory, as exemplified by the philosophical inclination of the study was positivist ontology. The research used a descriptive research design, in a census approach. The target population of the study were all public universities in Kenya. Data was collected from 31 public universities in Kenya with the aid of a self-administered questionnaire. Out of the 117 questionnaires that were distributed, 110 were returned and were found to be usable providing a 71% response rate. Descriptive statistics and linear regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Findings: The main finding of the study indicated that there was a statistically significant relationship between the bundle of SHRMPs (rigorous recruitment, staff training, reward management and performance management), and performance of public universities in Kenya. The hypothesis of the study was that SHRMPs do not have an effect on the performance of public universities in Kenya. This finding was determined to be in tandem with the Resource Based Theory (Barney, 2001), which, among other points of emphasis, stresses the centrality of leveraging on people as key resources of an enterprise. The finding also resonated with empirical literature, including Al-Khaled & Chung (2020), who found that that entities which adopted strategic human resource management practices were able to sustainably improve their performance, and Mathushan & Kengatharan (2022), who found that the bundle of strategic human resource management practices, consisting of training, rewarding and performance management practices did positively impact on organizational performance. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The finding of this study, that SHRM practices positively and significantly influence the performance of public universities, are arguably expansionary to the Resource Based Theory (RBT), as proponed by Barney (2001). Although the Resource Based Theory does not directly address strategic human resource management practices as elements of performance, it postulated that business entities needed to focus internally to activate resources, the most important one of which is the people resource. It is the people resource which enables such entities to achieve competitive advantage in their operations, given that it is the human resource which mobilizes, and creates value from the other resources within the enterprise. In this respect, therefore, it follows that every intervention made towards creating and enhancing the human resource capacity, including, as conceptualized in this study; rigorous recruitment, staff training, rewarding them and strategically managing their performance, does count, towards enhancing the contribution of the human resources, as exemplified by the Resource Based Theory, and consequently, activating the essential asset, towards competitive organizational performance. More directly, this empirical finding, regarding the positive influence of strategic human resource management practices on performance of public universities in Kenya has implications with respect to the public universities in Kenya. The main one is that, the public universities ought to take deliberate measures in determining and selecting appropriate SHRMPs. Such practices, according to the Resource Based Theory (Barney, 2001), are expected to be valuable, inimitable, and rare and may not be substitutable, in ensuring that public universities, like any other organizations, are able to sustainably achieve competitive advantage in their markets. This is further corroborated by the findings of Sagwa, K’Obonyo and Ogutu (2014), who averred that investing in human resources was crucial in promoting organizational performance. It is also the considered opinion of this study that, the finding that SHRMPs positively influenced the performance of public universities in Kenya, constituted new knowledge, at least, in extending the Resource Based Theory, as well as adding to the empirical literature with regard to strategic human resource management practices. Furthermore, the implications of the finding made, are more than likely to be relevant beyond the public universities sub-sector, and probably to include the entire public sector and, indeed, all organizations in general. To this end, therefore; human resource managers, HR departments, and units within public universities and other public and private entities, other human resource management practitioners, policy makers in HR-oriented public and private sector, as well as the community of researchers in human resource management and the related other disciplines, are likely to find the finding of this study useful. This is particularly considering the study’s recommendation that organizations have to identify and adopt appropriate bundles of SHRMPs that would reliably enable them to attain and sustain their competitive levels of performance.
The Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (Saccos) in Kenya have made a tremendous contribution to national development which is responsible for about 45% of Gross Domestic Product and 31% of national savings and deposits. Deposit Taking Saccos (DTSs) have enabled cooperative societies to diversify their products and services in a highly competitive market. Those who patronize the services of DTSs have options of accessing similar services from other service providers like commercial banks and non-banking financial institutions that may enjoy economies of scale due to their size. However, some of the DTSs may be small in size which makes it difficult for them to leverage on size for wider coverage of their catchment market. Guided by Human Capital Theory (HCT) and the Resource-Based View (RBV) as the theoretical framework. The purpose of this study was to examine firm size as an important influencing factor on organization performance. The study adopted a descriptive design. The study was a census of the 42 DTSs operating in Nairobi County, Kenya. The target respondents were Chief Executive Officers and Human Resource Managers in the DTSs. Data was collected from 39 respondents using a questionnaire that was tested for reliability and validity. Data was analyzed using descriptive and statistical techniques. Cross-tabulation of the number of employees and organizational performance was done. Chi-square tests were also conducted. The findings of the study indicate that the DTSs with the highest number of employees performed higher than those with fewer employees. These findings suggest that organizations should pay more attention to firm size and leverage on the optimum size for competitiveness in the market.
However, the contrary has been the case as only a handful of students choose Accounting Specialization (Musa & Amadi,2019).This situation has posed serious challenges to most economies as more qualified accountants are needed in all organizations for proper recording, analysis and interpretation of financial statements using appropriate accounting skills (Dibabe, Wubie, & Wondmagegn, 2015). The study grouped the issues into four aspects; the nature of The First Course in Accounting, students' performance, career guidance given on accounting profession and the choice of Accounting Specialization. Research has shown that most students had developed negative perceptions towards The First Course in Accounting (Musa, 2019). They viewed the course content as full of imaginary figures, dull and boring, difficult to pass, not exposing them to practice and that it adhered to procedural rules of double-entry concept of book keeping and accounting principles, thus forcing them to cram and hence rot learning (Muas,2019). This was evidenced by the fact that most students at higher levels of accounting lacked basic skills in accounting which were vital in The First Course in Accounting and accounting career at large (Rababah, 2016). Most Universities across the world had recorded poor performance by students in The First Course in Accounting. This was evidenced by non-completion and comprehension of the whole process of Accounting cycle and principles which are the backbone of The First Course in Accounting and accounting career (Samso,2010). Other factors reported by prior studies on low performance in The First Course in Accounting included; lack of prior knowledge in accounting (Marinaccio,2017); large class sizes of The First Course in Accounting classes in the Universities (Kofi,2014); lack of experience and or proper qualifications from most Instructors of The First Course in Accounting (Rababah, 2016). As a result, Accounting Specialization has been less attractive to students (Dibabe, 2015;Sang & Tang, 2016). Consequently, most students who chose Accounting Specializationended up as 'half-baked' graduates (Demagalhaes & Lisa, 2011). This resulted into most organizations employing persons with lower qualifications to undertake accounting work (World Bank & International Monetary Fund, 2017). This phenominon created a mismatch between skills posed by most accounting graduates and employers requirements on entry into the job market (Borges,
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