Innovation has been accepted as a key stimulus for growth. This is more so with SMEs which are widely acknowledged as being a significant driver in economic growth. In a review of over 90 peer reviewed journal articles and conference papers; this paper brings together different arguments that have been made in explaining the antecedents for innovativeness. This is a critical review of the literature with respect to innovativeness of manufacturing SMEs. Whereas it is acknowledged that the discussions around innovation are continually evolving, existing literature has shown that there are internal and external factors that affect innovativeness in firms. In addition to this, there is a need to have research that applies universally and hence the need to study this phenomenon in manufacturing SMEs in Kenya and the gaps therein. Even though entrepreneurial orientation, technological capability and environmental dynamism have been identified as variables affecting firm innovativeness, there is no common consensus across various approaches. A need to empirically explore this area further effectively contributing to knowledge in this area has been identified.

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Purpose: Drastic and fundamental changes are increasingly occurring in the environment in which organizations operate.  An obvious manifestation of the responses towards this turbulent environment is the introduction of performance contracting as part of the broader public sector reforms aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness in the management of the services. Managers form a major stakeholder group in an enterprise.  However, their productivity and performance is dependent on their degree of motivation.  This can be influenced by how they perceive and interpret various initiatives that may be introduced by the organization; a critical one in this regard being introduction of performance contracting. Performance contracting is a devolved management by outcome rather than management by processes. It provides a range of management instruments used within the public sector to define responsibilities and expectations between parties to achieve mutually agreed result.  This research work sought to investigate the disconnect that may arise between management awareness of performance contracting in state corporations, based on their initial expectations from such a plan. The main objectives investigated during the study were to establish management’s level of awareness of the performance contracts adopted by the state corporations. Methodology: A sample of 160 respondents was used in the study.   The data collected was presented using tables and analyzed using descriptive statistics i.e. frequencies, percentages, mean scores and standard deviations.  Findings: The major findings were:  There is a very high level of awareness of performance contracting in the organizations and that the organization’s capacity to achieve its objectives has greatly improved.  To a moderate extent, the managers felt that there was mutual support and trust at all levels of the organization and empowerment of employees in their jobs. General conclusions drawn are that the organizations were very successful in implementing performance contracting, and that to a moderate extent, the organizations have developed a reasonable sense of direction.  Unique contributions to theory, practice and policy: Recommendations made were that, all employees need to be stakeholders in the future direction of the organization, even if it be in varying degrees.  Their daily performance and activities should be measured along the specific milestones and core values identified by the contract, since what cannot be measured cannot be managed.

JEL Classification:This study attempts to establish the relationship between knowledge management strategy and organizational change in commercial banks in Kenya. Knowledge management strategy can assist a firm to induce individuals to offer their knowledge voluntarily for a firm's use, achieve distinctive advantage through full exploitation of a firm's knowledge base, build institutional memory and protect it from prying competitors. It can influence amongst others a successful organizational change. The study employed a descriptive cross sectional survey. A total of 39 commercial banks in operation (not under statutory management) were surveyed. Primary data was collected from the respondents using a questionnaire. Analysis utilized largely the median and mode as measures of central tendency while the inter-quartile range was used as a measure of dispersion. Percentages and frequencies were also utilised to present part of the findings. Pseudo R square statistics were used as a measure of association between knowledge management strategy (independent variable) and organizational change (dependent variable). The study found that commercial banks in Kenya primarily employ proactive and moderate knowledge management strategies. Both strategies had a strong association with the organizational changes that the commercial banks have undergone. The most popular form of organizational change was found to be a mix of both revolutionary and evolutionary change. The findings of this study are consistent with theory in that knowledge management strategy was found to have given banks dynamic capabilities in pursuit of a firm's goals such as organizational change.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which allows use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.