Today's organizations are operating in a very dynamic and highly competitive environment. To remain relevant in the market, they have to be able to respond quickly to ever changing customer demands. Reward management is one of the ways used by organizations for attracting and retaining suitable employees as well as facilitating them to improve their performance. KPLC is an organization that offers essential energy services that support other sectors of the economy. The management has established rewards in their organization in pursuit of increasing employee performance so as to ensure prompt and quality service. However, the extent to which the rewards adopted at KPLC have influenced employee performance is not established. This study therefore aimed at determining the effect of reward on employee performance at KPLC. Specifically the study sought to determine the effect of cash bonus on employee performance. The research adopted correlation research design. 68 management employees responded. Data was collected using questionnaires. Descriptive statistics (frequency tables, percentages) were used to present data. Inferential statistics (chi-square) was used to analyze the relationship between cash bonuses and employee performance. Data was analyzed with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer programme. The findingsof the study showed that cash bonus have no effect on employee performance (p=0.8). This is because those who received cash bonuses and those who did not all agree that the cash bonus affects their performance the same. The organization should focus on changing the intrinsic nature and content of jobs. This will increase employee motivation as employees will get more autonomy more challenging job assignments and responsibilities. Further research can be done to find out impact of other rewards on performance e.g. owning equity. Research can also be done to identify other factors which may affect performance. Such findings can enhance management of performance.

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So far, the formation of a monetary union in the East African Community (EAC) has remained elusive. The EAC partner states therefore established set targets for macroeconomic convergence, with an aim to eliminate exchange rate variability within the bloc. Where countries are able to eliminate or reduce exchange rate adjustments to maintain external balance, the costs of a monetary union reduces, thus the more suitable it is for such a region to form a monetary union. Major macroeconomic variables need to be harmonized before establishing a monetary union such as real GDP, budget deficit/GDP, national savings, and inflation rate. However, empirical studies undertaken indicate that the rate of convergence of the member states economies to the set targets has been very slow, resulting into high exchange rate variability within the region. It is against this background that this study was carried out to determine the effect of convergence in real GDP growth rate on exchange rate volatility, of five EAC countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda. The bloc was chosen for the study since it has scheduled to establish its common currency earlier than other African economic blocs, and thus its success will be a lesson to them. A panel data analysis was used over the period of 2000 to 2016. Sigma (standard deviation) was used in the study to establish convergence of variables. Levin et al. 2002) test for panel unit root was employed to test for data stationarity and it was found that real exchange rate and real GDP growth rate were stationary. Pedroni residual-based cointegration test was carried out to test for the long-run relationship between variables in the model and it was established that there exist a long-run relationship between exchange rate and explanatory variable. The study results showed that the entire explanatory variable had a significant and a negative effect on exchange rate volatility. This means that convergence in real GDP growth rate among the EAC countries reduces exchange rate variability within the region. Thus, the policy makers should ensure that the EAC countries harmonize their economies, which will help greatly to eliminate exchange rate adjustments within the region, in readiness for a stable and sustainable monetary union.

This study investigated the influence of ownership structure on financial performance of privatized companies in Kenya for the period of 2007 to 2013. The study was informed by the property rights, the agency and the resource based theories. Data was extracted from prospectuses and financial reports of privatized companies, obtained from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). A unit root test was used to examine stationarity of data while a Hausman test determined the appropriate regression model. This study used a Fixed Effects (FE) regression model with a robust standard error option to control for heteroskedasticity and contemporaneous correlation which may lead to spurious results. The study found that ownership structure has a significant relationship with financial performance. Among individual variables, government ownership has a positive influence on Return on Assets (ROA) and the Tobin's Q; but a negative effect on cost efficiency. Institutional shareholders have a positive influence on ROA and technical efficiency. Large individual investors have a positive influence on cost efficiency. Dispersed shareholders have a positive influence on ROA but a negative effect on cost efficiency. This study recommends that the Privatization Commission of Kenya should restructure ownership of privatized companies to reduce government and dispersed ownership further to pass more control and decision making to private investors. However, the government should retain some ownership in privatized firms to enhance shareholders confidence, protection of investments and managerial monitoring. A strategic institutional investor in each company should be identified and be allocated adequate ownership to enable privatized companies attract managerial and technical expertise crucial to improve governance and financial performance.

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