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Browsing Postgraduate Theses and Projects by Subject "Accounting and finance"
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Publication Open Access Critical analysis on determinants of the Nairobi stock market performance for Kenyan firms during general elections.(Mount Kenya University, 2015-07) Mbinda, Mutheke NziokaThe relationship between information flow and asset prices behavior is a key topic in finance. This study intended to analyze how inflation, money supply, GDP and interest rate affect the performance of the Nairobi Stock Exchange in the election period. The target population was ythe listed companies in the Nairobi Stock Exchange for the period 1982 to 2008 while the sample was the election years and the index for the twenty best performing companies for the election years. The rationale of this study was the theory of the Political Business Cycle (PBC) that was pioneered by Nordhaus (1975). A purposive sampling design was used to handpick cases that possessed the required characteristics which included both the variables involved in the study. The stock market performance is of significant importance to investors as they expect good returns on their investment. To policymakers and investors, determinants of stock market performance during general elections are very important since they influence the level of economic activity in the NSE at any time. Secondary data on independent variables inflation, money supply, interest rate and GDP and the dependent variable 20 share index was obtained from the NSE reports and other financial documents. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics where scatter graphs were used to show whether there was correlation between the variables while regression statistics were used to show the level of the correlation. From the analysis it can be stated that although these variables contribute some percentage of performance either positively or negatively to the 20 share index the remaining part can be explained by other fundamentals in the economy. This finding enlightens investors interested in investing in NSE on the new opportunities and challenges that are in the market during general elections. This research finding forms the basis for future researchers who will wish to pursue their research in the same field. On the basis of the conclusion and evidences above it is recommended that firms should take into consideration the influence of general elections while investing because it has some impact on the performance of their businesses. It is suggested that if such a study could be done using data inclusive of the other East African stock markets so as to understand what forces really correlate with the stock indices of the different countries in the context of economic integration. Given that the number of firms listed in the Nairobi Stock Market is small, future studies may also involve a larger number of firms within Kenya that are not listed for further confirmatory or contradictory evidence.Publication Open Access Evaluation of business factors affecting the break even abilities of small businesses in Kenya: A survey of registered businesses in Kericho county.(Mount Kenya University, 2015-10) Mutai, JosephSmall businesses in Kenya are operating in an increasingly competitive and challenging business environment than before since the government introduced market liberalization in the 1990s. This competitive and challenging business environment is making the managers/owners of the businesses to reengineer their operations and have consequently resulted to a lot of changes in order to make profit and remain in business. However, internal factors causing poor break even ability of small businesses have not received much attention in research despite their relative importance and the notable research interest in the performance of small businesses. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to evaluate business factors affecting the break even abilities of small businesses in Kericho County, Kenya. This was achieved by specific objectives, which were to assess the effect of business planning practices on break even abilities of small businesses in Kericho County; to determine the effect of cost accounting practices on break even abilities of small businesses in Kericho County; to assess the effect of inventory management practices on break even abilities of small businesses in Kericho County, and; to analyze the effect of premature diversification on break even abilities of small businesses in Kericho County. Descriptive survey research design was adopted targeting registered 82 small businesses operating within Kericho County that were obtained using stratified random sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires and was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that business planning practices had the most significant effect ( β = .344) on the break even abilities of small businesses in Kericho County. Premature diversification ( β = .115) and cost accounting practices ( β = .076) also had a significant associations with the break even abilities of small businesses in the area. However, it was established that there was no significant relationship between inventory management practices on break even abilities of small businesses in Kericho County. Nevertheless, the three variables combined could explain up to 12% of the variability of the break even abilities of small businesses in the area. It is recommended that; the SME operators in the area be trained on the techniques of writing internal concise business plans which they could easily implement; there is also need for improved book keeping through ICT use and the ABC costing approach among the SMEs in the area in order to enable them to track down all costs incurred in the business processes; the SMEs also need to adopt the vendor managed inventory (VMI) approach as a way of managing their stock from the external perspective; and finally it is recommended that the businesses need not to diversify prematurely in order to improve their efficiency in terms of management and resource availability. More research ought to be done on the marketing risk management practices used by SMEs and also on credit risk management practices used by SMEs.