KYC conformity entails the creation of auditable evidence of due diligence activities, in addition to the need for customer identification. There is necessity for financial institutions to validate that their customers are not or have not been involved in illegal activities such as fraud, money laundering or organized crime in order to meet KYC conformity requirements. This study examines factors that determine the level of compliance with KYC requirements by commercial banks in Kenya. Specifically, this study investigates the effect of customer characteristics, staff competency, information communications technology infrastructure and bank size on the level of KYC compliance requirements. The study used descriptive research design. The target population of this study was the top and middle level officers who are directly involved in the day-today operations of the commercial banks. For purposes of this study a descriptive survey design was employed. The target population was 43 commercial banks and 1 mortgage finance firms operating in Kenya. Target respondents comprised of top and middle level involved in the day-to-day institution’s operations. Questionnaire was used as the main data collection instrument. To address the objectives of the study, descriptive and inferential analysis techniques were utilized. Regression analysis was employed to ascertain the relationships between KYC compliance and the four variables of interest in this study. Computations of coefficient of determination indicates that four independent variables that were studied, explain 78.3 percent of the commercial banks compliance level with KYC requirements in Kenya, implying that 21.7 percent could be explained by other factors not examined in this study. Study findings reveal that customer characteristics are a key determinant of KYC compliance, small banks are not capable of meeting KYC compliance cost and that staff attitudes and physical facilities affect customer service and effective KYC procedures compliance. Regression analysis further reveals that there is a significant relationship between the four variables and KYC compliance level. Finally the study recommends that ICT is a useful tool that could be used to enhance compliance with KYC requirements.

Introduction Firm performance is a complex term which may include different shadows of meaning. Afande and Uk (2015) defined firm performance as the capability of a firm to obtain and utilize the limited resources prudently in quest of set vision, goals and mission. In other words, it is the conversion of inputs or resources to desired results. Further, firm performance can refer to outcomes of entire operations executed within a set timeline (Satta, Parolla, Penco & Falco, 2015). According to Chronicle (2015), competitive strategy is a company's competitive behaviour or aptitude of integrating, building, and reconfiguring its local or interior as well as outside resources to manage competition. Basically, there are three competitive strategies as developed by Porter (Yoon, 2016) namely; cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy and focus strategy. Focus strategy is one that targets certain segments of the markets by differentiating customer needs to be able to serve them at their best affordable prices. According to Little child (2018), firms focus on a selected product range, customer group, geographical area or service line. Operating in a niche market, this strategy advocated for a growing market share where markets seem unattractive or are overlooked by larger competitors. Notably, focus strategy enabled a company to maximize its special unique distinctive capability to gain new market share (Kuratko, Hornsby & Hayton, 2015). 2. Statement of the Problem Despite the mobile sections 90 per cent dominance in Africa, there has been low penetration and underperforming despite maximizing different competitive strategies (UNIDO, 2016). Notably, such penetration of telecommunication service varies among nations. For instance, Gabon had highest penetration of mobile telephone of (190%), Botswana (176%), Libya (155%) while Kenya had (93.7%). As a result of increasing challenges, especially, hyper competition Airtel disposed of its holdings in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone to Orange France (UNIDO, 2016). The telecommunication industry in Kenya has greatly contributed to the growth of the country's economy with a contribution of 0.76% to the GDP and revenue of KES 173.6 billion in the year 2015; thus, registering a 6.9 per cent increase (Economic Survey, 2015). Thus, for several years running, the sector has emerged to be the leading source of government revenue especially through tax remittance (Gatobu & Maende, 2019). Focus leadership emerged of importance in the various departments such as marketing, procurement, marketing, research, and development. Regression analyzed results of the primary collected data revealed solid substantial correlation on company infrastructure, marketing, procurement, human resources, as well as company productivity. This study seems to have cast its net wide on all competitive strategies. Besides, infrastructure, marketing, procurement,

The purpose of this study was to examine factors influencing firm competitiveness among the Small and Medium Enterprises in Nairobi, Kenya. Specifically the study set out to examine the influence of strategic leadership, technology, resources and organization culture on competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nairobi. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The study population comprised of SMEs in Nairobi which fall within the top 100 SMEs in Kenya. There are 79 SMEs from Nairobi County in the Top 100 SMEs in Kenya. A sample size of 25 SMEs which represented 30% of the target population was selected through stratified random sampling. The stratification was based on five business sector categories (real estate, supplies, services, distribution and manufacturing). The study utilized primary data which was collected from top management employees through the use of questionnaire. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Correlation analysis was employed to aid in establishing the nature and strength of the relationships between variables of interest. Correlation analysis results indicate that strategic leadership, adoption of relevant technology, resources availability and organization culture has a positive and significant relationship with firm competitiveness. The study concludes that sustainable competitive advantage of the firm stems from effective strategic leadership, adoption of technology, resources availability and effective organization culture. The study recommends that SMEs should embrace various competitive strategies to remain relevant in the market and achieve the required competitiveness. The SMEs managers should embrace strategic leadership practices, benchmark on best practices to ensure constant touch with their customers, embrace adoption of appropriate technology towards realizing higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness, ensure optimal utilization of resources, and cultivate a good balance between the organization culture and the organization processes so as to enhance competitive advantage. This study was confined to factors influencing organizational competitiveness of small and medium enterprises within Nairobi County. Other studies could be pursued in terms of expanding the geographical setting and taking recognition of other variables that could intervene and or moderate the investigated relationship.

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The objective of the study was to investigate influence of emergent strategic management mode on performance (sales) of SMEs in Machakos Town, Machakos County. Descriptive research design was employed to ensure a complete description of the situation of SMEs performance in Machakos town. The target population was 16,399 licensed SMEs in Machakos Town.These SMEs where grouped into eight categories.Using stratified random sampling method,a sample of 390 respondents was selected from the target population.Data was collected using questionnaires design to obtain accurate information from respondents. Collected data was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Due to non-normality and non-homogeneity of the dependent variable,a non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney U test) was prefered instead of a parametric test (t-test).Under this test,the data was categorized into low users of each strategy and high users of each strategy.  The findings were presented using tables, figures, pie charts and graphs.The  results indicated that SMEs which applies emergent strategy practices tend to have higher performance.Thus we conclude that emergent strategy practices positively influence performance of SMEs in Machakos Town. The study findings help SMEs strengthen their operations to ensure that the SMEs have a  competitive edge to match their counterparts across other counties. The  study recommends the need to have owners/managers of the small and medium enterprises undertake basic business and management skills training. Training the senior managers give opportunity to learn strategic management skills which will be valuable in their daily operations.

Background of the StudyHuman resource management practices are key components of performance in almost all organizations. In any organization, the employees must be treated as a valuable asset. The organization mission will be achieved in a better way if the skills of the workers are developed. In the present competitive environment, the success of any organization depends on the caliber of their human resources and their programmes (Rehman, 2011).Academic performance is a threshold assessment used to measure a student's ability to meet performance criteria. Grades are used to measure learning or knowledge and attainment of learning objectives and acquisition of skills and competencies (York2015). Academic performance of a student is regarded as the observable and measurable behavior in a particular situation .Education outcomes are measured through examinations which have been accepted as an important aspect of the educational system. In Kenya, the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination administered by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) measures student performance. It is used as the main basis for judging a student's ability and also as a means of selection for educational advancement and employment (Kieti, 2017). The education system in Kenya places a minimum grade C+ which students must obtain before they are admitted to public and private universities (Kigotho, 2012). Those who fail in the KCSE examination are most likely to join the high number of unemployed youngsters who look for informal jobs in a country that has few of them (Matiangi, 2017).Belinda, Crosnoe and Muller (2010) argue that in the US educational system, student advancement is predicated on graded performance in a series of classes. Failing to achieve passing grades has numerous additional implications during secondary school and beyond the school level. Students' academic failure is a major determinant of status attainment and adult well-being. Low-performing students are less likely to graduate from high school and less likely to go to college. This increases high school dropouts, and substantially lower adulthood wages.Academic performance as measured by the examination results is the aggregate form in a course or GPA is one of the major goals of a school globally (Oredein, 2016). The social and economic development of a county is directly linked with student academic performance (Mushtaq& Khan 2012). Students with quality results become great leaders and manpower for the country thus responsible for country's economic and social development. York (2015) notes that academic failure is not only frustrating to the pupils and the parents; its effects are equally grave on the society in terms of death of manpower in all spheres of the economy and politics.

This study establishes the influence of strategic inventory management practices on the performance of supermarkets in Nairobi County, Kenya. Specifically, the study examined the effect of vendor managed inventory, lean-inventory system, e-inventory management system and activity-based costing system on performance of supermarkets in Nairobi County. The study was grounded on the resource based view theory. A descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was employed and stratified random sampling approach used to ensure representativeness of the study population. From the target population of 158 supermarkets a sample size of 113 supermarkets was picked. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data and was administered to the heads of supply chain management in the respective firms. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression equation were applied to analyse data with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 21.0). The study established a positive significant relationship between strategic inventory management practices and performance of supermarkets. Explicitly, e-inventory management system and activity-based costing system registered the highest influence on performance of supermarkets while lean inventory management systems had no significant influence on performance. The study concludes that strategic inventory management practices significantly improve performance of supermarkets. Consequently, the study recommends that management of supermarkets in the County should implement e-inventory management systems and practice activity-based costing in order to improve their performance through reduction of operation costs and improved inventory control, the management of supermarkets should institutionalize employment of cost accountants as part of supply chain management team for effective application of activity based costing in inventory management. and the government should give tax rebate on IT infrastructure related to e-inventory management systems to encourage up take of the systems by firm as a way of boosting their performance and growth. Further the study suggests that future research should focus on undertaking a comparable study incorporating a wider spatial and population scope as well as give attention to constructs affecting the effectiveness of strategic inventory management practices once they are implemented by supermarkets in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and contribute towards the existing body of knowledge in this area.

Through performance appraisal an organization undertakes to measure the set goals against employee actual performance with respect to the period in question. It is also used to identify an employee’s weaknesses and strengths and provide for appropriate adjustments. This study examined the influence of performance appraisal on organizational performance in Universities within Machakos and Kitui Counties in Kenya. A descriptive research design was adopted and both qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The study targeted staff working in the selected departments of administration, human resource, finance and audit, procurement, deans of schools and directorate of quality assurance. Stratified sampling procedure was used from which 45 out 263 respondents were targeted. Purposive sampling was then employed because the study was interested in heads of departments. The main data collection tool was the questionnaire with both open and closed ended questions. In addition interviews were conducted with some heads of departments to ascertain some of the information in the questionnaires. Both descriptive and inferential statistics analysis was used to aid addressing the objective of the study. The study findings revealed that there was effective performance appraisal procedures and methods in place that were used by the management within the universities studied in assessing the employees performance on the set targets of the universities. The correlation coefficients and regression analysis result indicates that performance appraisal has a positive and statistically significant influence on human resource on performance of universities; P<0.05(P=0.00) with explanatory power of 78.7%. The study recommends that clear job descriptions for each staff should be well spelt out as this in the basis for appraising the employees. This will mitigate against possible situations of confusion and dissatisfaction of employees which arises when they do not understand what is expected of them leading to failure in meeting their set targets. University managements should also ensure that there is participatory target setting, aligning the same to the bigger goals of the university and adequate staff support in the execution of set targets as this has implications on the overall performance of the institution.