Research Articles
http://repository.chuka.ac.ke/handle/82818/182
2022-04-14T07:25:20ZEffect of Leverage on Performance of Non-financial Firms Listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange
http://repository.chuka.ac.ke/handle/chuka/15937
Effect of Leverage on Performance of Non-financial Firms Listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange
Mukaria, Henry Kimathi; Mugenda, Nebat Galo; Akenga, Grace Melissa
Managers strive to maximise shareholder wealth by making rational financing decisions regarding optimal capital
structure which would minimise its cost of capital. In attempt to magnify the return to shareholders, managers employ the use
of debt. When excessive debt financing is employed by a firm, it increases the cost of financing and the financial risk of the
firm leading to decreasing the return on equity as a result of financial distress. Do the various debt equity ratio levels lead to
different financial performance when compared for high levered and low levered firm, high growth and low growth firm or
large and small firms? A causal research design was used to establish the cause and effect relationship between financial
leverage and the financial performance of the firms. The target population was 61listed firms on the Nairobi securities
exchange by December 2013.Purposive sampling was used to select 38 non-financial companies. Financial companies were
eliminated because the company’s capital structures have specific characteristics affected by industry regulatory requirements.
Secondary data was obtained from published financial statements of the sampled companies for the six year period from 2008
to 2013.Ordinary Least Square method was used to establish the cause effect relationship among variables; Hypotheses were
tested at 5% significance level using t-statistic. The study found that there was no significant difference in financial
performance between highly levered and lowly levered firms and that there existed a negative relationship between Leverage
and firm’s performance. There were also no significant differences in financial performance between high growth levered firms
and low growth levered firms and that there existed a negative relationship between a firm’s growth opportunity and financial
leverage ratio. There was no significant difference in financial performance between large levered firms and small levered
firms. The findings of this study may act as a policy guideline to finance managers involved in managing firms on the
contribution of financial leverage and its association with return on equity to maximise shareholder wealth.
2015-08-13T00:00:00ZEssential Maternal and Newborn Care Skills Training for Midwives: Their Impact on Reducing Maternal and Neonatal Mortalities in Kenya
http://repository.chuka.ac.ke/handle/chuka/15936
Essential Maternal and Newborn Care Skills Training for Midwives: Their Impact on Reducing Maternal and Neonatal Mortalities in Kenya
Gitonga, Lucy
Continuing professional development (CPD) continues to gain acceptance as a model for health
care professionals to engage in lifelong learning. Little is known about how CPD participants put
the experience and the new knowledge into practice and whether it has impact on patient care
outcomes. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of CPD of Midwives
on Essential Maternal and Newborn care skills on maternal and neonatal mortality in Embu County, Kenya. The study was an interventional non-randomized pretest post test study design of midwives from the participants of the 2010 ministry of health training on essential maternal and
newborn care skills. Sixty (60) midwives working in maternity unit of Embu level five hospitals
were targeted. The study was carried out in two phases. Phase one involved environmental scanning of the factors that support good performance in the workplace using a questionnaire. Phase
two involved evaluation of the impact by testing a hypotheses using data collected by use of questionnaires, evaluation checklist and chart audit. Data were analyzed using qualitative content
analysis and presented using percentages and frequency tables. Chi-square test and correlation
analysis were used to show the association between variables, which are midwives essential maternal and newborn care skills and maternal and neonatal mortality. A chi-square χ2 = 14.143, df =
9 and a coefficient = 0.357. This coefficient is less than p-value at Alpha 0.05 and therefore is not
significant, proving that the essential maternal and neonatal care skills do not contribute to reduction in mortalities as such two variables are almost independent of each other, whether one
exists does not necessitate the existence of another nor does it reduce maternal and neonatal
mortalities in Kenya.
2016-01-27T00:00:00ZFactors Hindering Formal and Informal Nursing Mentorship Programs in Kenyan Public Universities
http://repository.chuka.ac.ke/handle/chuka/15935
Factors Hindering Formal and Informal Nursing Mentorship Programs in Kenyan Public Universities
Oluchina, Sherry; Gitonga, Lucy K.
Introdruction: Mentorship was a one to one reciprocal relationship between a more experienced and
knowledgeable mentor and a less experienced mentee. Objective: The study aim was to evaluate barriers of formal and
informal nursing mentorship programs in Kenya public universities. Methods: The study utilized a cross-sectional study
design. It used both qualitative and quantitative methods in data collection where 305 mentees and mentors participated.
Simple random, purposive and snowball non probability samplings were used to select participants. Exploratory and thematic
content analyses were done. Results: Barriers encountered were work overload, lack of recognition of mentors, roles of
mentors and mentees not clear, lack of support from mentors and institutions, unavailability of mentors, unfit mentor-mentee
ratio, inappropriate mentor-mentee matching, unfit personality traits and inadequate time. Recommendations: The study
therefore recommended that, all the stakeholders should be encouraged to evaluate nursing mentorship programs in
institutions’ of higher learning.
2016-03-31T00:00:00ZModeling and Forecasting Kenyan GDP Using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) Models
http://repository.chuka.ac.ke/handle/chuka/15934
Modeling and Forecasting Kenyan GDP Using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) Models
Musundi, Sammy Wabomba; M’mukiira, Peter Mutwiri; Mungai, Fredrick
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the market value of all goods and services produced within the borders of a
nation in a year. In this paper, Kenya’s annual GDP data obtained from the Kenya National Bureau of statistics for the years 1960
to 2012 was studied. Gretl and SPSS 21 statistical softwares were used to build a class of ARIMA (autoregressive integrated
moving average) models following the Box-Jenkins method to model the GDP. ARIMA (2, 2, 2) time series model was
established as the best for modeling the Kenyan GDP according to the recognition rules and stationary test of time series under
the AIC criterion. The results of an in-sample forecast showed that the relative and predicted values were within the range of 5%,
and the forecasting effect of this model was relatively adequate and efficient in modeling the annual returns of the Kenyan GDP.
Finally, we used the fitted ARIMA model to forecast the GDP of Kenya for the next five years.
2016-04-13T00:00:00Z