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Item Determinants of Carbon Finance Uptake and its role in Deployment of Renewable Energy Projects in Kenya(2018-05) Bernard BaimweraCarbon finance has been advanced as a strong financial mechanism to help the world transition to low carbon development, in the face of ravaging climate change. Projects that sequester greenhouse gases from the atmosphere are eligible to accrue carbon finance, either through sale of carbon credits in the designated carbon markets or through other flexible mechanisms. This thesis analyzed the determinants of carbon finance accrual in renewable energy projects, in the context of a low and middle income country, Kenya. The aim was to explore the role played by carbon finance in promoting the deployment of renewable energy, as envisaged in the international climate agreements, for a country with a reportedly enormous renewable energy potential. While carbon finance use in renewable energy has been extensively analyzed in developed countries, low and middle income countries, especially those in Africa, have received considerably less attention. In an attempt to address this gap, the thesis analyzed the determinants of carbon finance uptake in renewable energy projects registered under the Feed-in-Tariff scheme of the Kenyan government. Renewable energy projects were selected because prior evidence shows that a significant percentage of carbon finance is targeted to these projects, because of their emission reducing abilities. Triangulation of methodology, including the use of questionnaires, interviews and analysis of policy documents, was used to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data from renewable energy projects and other carbon business stakeholders on their understanding, uptake and determinants of carbon finance accrual in renewable energy projects. In addition to analyzing the determinants of carbon finance uptake, the study uncovered the constraints of accessing carbon finance and the challenges renewable energy developers face in the country. The evidence and analyses presented reveal that the size of the renewable energy project, the carbon market affiliation of the project and the level of low carbon technology employed in the project are significant determinants of carbon finance flows into the projects. At the same time, lack of capital to develop renewable projects to completion, primarily the absence of financial instruments from local banks and high transaction costs to meet carbon credits generation were identified as the main constraints in accessing carbon finance by the developers. The analyses also reveal low levels of understanding and awareness of the carbon finance uptake, suggestive of the low levels of uptake that were uncovered by the study. Based on these findings, the research recommends for the creation of a framework to educate and create awareness to local renewable energy developers on the existence and processes of accessing carbon funds from international carbon markets. There is also need to develop financial instruments to cater for risk investments with environmental benefits like those in renewable energy in the Kenyan capital market.Item Influence of organizational restructuring activities on employee commitment in state corporations in Kenya(Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, 2017) Omwenga, EmmahThis study sought to determine how restructuring activities affected employee commitment in State Corporations in Kenya. The increase in global competitiveness, together with advances in technology and ongoing changes in the environment, requires organizations to continuously adapt and be willing to change their structures, methods and practices to remain competitive. In some cases they need to transform themselves from rigid bureaucracies into leaner, more flexible operations also leads to the need to restructure. In quest to improve service delivery restructuring has become increasingly prevalent in Kenya today. Scholars found that restructuring has a significant attribution to employee commitment. The study was guided by the overall objective which was to examine the influence of restructuring activities on employee commitment in State Corporations in Kenya. The study tested the hypothesis that downsizing, reviewed policies and practices, psychosocial support, compensation changes and job redesign influenced employee commitment in state corporations in Kenya. The Unit of analysis was state corporations and individual employees formed the unit of observation because surviving employees are often called upon to assume expanded roles, functions and responsibilities in a post restructuring environment. The study covered 20 state corporations with a workforce compliment of 33,407 employees. The State Corporations were selected using purposive method of sampling. Respondents in the study included 381 employees across all cadres. These corporations are those which had completed restructuring. Descriptive research was used in a representative sample of employees from restructured state corporations. The questionnaire containing both structured and unstructured questions was used as the main data collection instrument. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics by means of SPSS a statistical package. The study established that downsizing, policies and practices, restructuring psychosocial support, compensation changes and job redesign influenced employees’ commitment. The study found downsizing, reviewed policies and practices, psychosocial support, compensation changes and job redesign were significant predictors of employee commitment. Overall the study demonstrated positive relationship between restructuring activities and employee commitment. The study showed that some employees from the organizations under study felt more dedicated to perform their jobs after restructuring however, a minority felt their supervisors did not involve them in decision making. The results further revealed that some supervisors did not listen to their juniors and employee benefits information was not regularly communicated. The study recommended that involvement of staff in decision- making process is vital and could be enhanced by ensuring more comprehensive feedback on staff matters and by providing opportunities for further decisions and debate, even when ideas are not considered feasible by the senior management team. The state corporations gained practical insights into the factors influencing employee commitment thereby enriching their knowledge how to increase employee commitment. Future researchers may study other variables that were not captured in the current study.Item Role of supply chain relationships in the growth of small firms in Kenya(Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, 2011) Mwirigi, Fred MugambiThis study sought to determine and analyze the role of supply chain relationships among small enterprises in Kenya. The target population of this study was small enterprises that are loan clients of FAULU Kenya. To understand the role played by supply chain relationships among respondent firms, the study examined various relationships. It found no relationship between gender and customer or supplier relationships. There was, also, no relationship between the age of the entrepreneurs and the relationship that already existed between the entrepreneur and both suppliers and customers. There was, however, a strong relationship between the entrepreneur’s education and the size of business both in net worth and number of employees. The study revealed that no relationship existed between the levels of education of the entrepreneur and his or her choice of customers. Various other relationships were also identified. On account of the study, supply chain relationships play a critical role in the growth of small enterprises. They contribute to the growth and profitability of these firms in many ways. Findings of this study indicate that a strong sustainable relationship between an enterprise and its customers on one hand, and its suppliers on the other hand have a bearing on the speed of growth in transactions and profitability. The study concluded that there is need for the process of supply chain relationship creation to be approached in a more structured way to enhance its role in the growth of small enterprises. Such a process must also be informed by empirical studies conducted on various contextual variables for such relationships to optimally contribute to business profitability and growth. Particularly, the study concluded that supply chain relationships contribute invaluably to the growth of enterprises when structured competitively but they can also act to minimize the benefits of growth if they are disregarded and therefore not nurtured. However, various things need to be enhanced in order for this benefit to be realized. It was also found that the role of supply chain relationships in the growth of small enterprises is dependent but not entirely limited by the nature of business or the point at which the business is in its lifecycle. As such, all enterprises have significant opportunities to capitalize on their chains in order to grow their business. The study recommended that enterprises need to understand their supply chains well and break them into distinct activities that can be enhanced. This is easier if firms first identify and categorize the key hallmarks of supply chain relationships during the early chain and chain-end levels. Besides, enterprises need to clearly understand their internal system as well as policy challenges and work through them to mitigate the risks of failure.