Business Administration

EFFECTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON TIME-COST OVERRUN IN SELECTED ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN KENYA

2026-01-22T07:22:45Z

EFFECTS OF RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON TIME-COST OVERRUN IN SELECTED ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN KENYA GEORGE ONYANGO AGUMBA Road infrastructure plays a crucial contribution to the socio-economic development of any country. This is true in the Kenyan context where road transport is the most widely used mode of transport. However, construction of some of these roads has led to both time and cost overrun due to poor risk management strategies used. Nairobi Expressway Road project (A8), a 27-kilometer four-lane dual carriageway had an initial budget of Ksh.65.2 billion, however, this cost surged by 33% in less than 2 years. Another road construction project is the Isebania-Kisii-Ahero (A1) Road Rehabilitation project. It’s a 172-kilometer road that connects Tanzania in the south and South Sudan in the north. Kenol-Isiolo Road (A2), the 219-kilometer highway is the third road under this study that is being built in two segments: Kenol-Marua (84km) and Marua-Isiolo (135km). There is a need to investigate risk management strategies the road construction firms implemented to mitigate, avoid, reduce, or transfer uncertainties during the execution of these projects. This study therefore was conducted to determine the relationship between risk management strategies and time-cost overrun. The specific objectives of the study were; to determine the effect of risk avoidance strategy; to assess the influence of risk reduction strategy; to examine the relationship between project loss control as a risk mitigation strategy, to determine the influence of insurance risk transference strategy; to assess the moderating role of dynamic capabilities of the construction sector on the relationship between risk management strategies and time-cost overrun in selected road construction projects in Kenya. This study used an explanatory research design. Target population was all employees at the management level of the three selected road projects. Respondents were selected using a purposive sampling technique. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires, while secondary data were obtained from annual corporate reports, KeNHA database. Data analysis was a mixture of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. A moderated hierarchical multiple linear regression model was fitted to assess the moderating role of dynamic capabilities on the relationship between risk management strategies and time-cost using SPSS version 28 software. The results indicate that the predictors explained 28.1% of the variance (R 2= .373, Adj R 2 = .281), F= (4,35) =5.73, p < .005; t=5.64 at 0.01 significance level. It was determined that risk avoidance strategy had a positive significant effect on time-cost overrun at 95% confidence level(β = 0.34,t(34) = 2.47, p = 0.019). This shows that the higher the company engages in risk avoidance, the higher the chances that they would deliver on the road construction project by minimizing the project cost and time overruns. It was also noted that Risk Reduction Strategy had a negative significant effect on time-cost overrun at 95% confidence level(β = −0.35,t(34) = −2.87, p = 0.007). This indicates that, the more a construction company invest in Risk Reduction, the lower the chances that they will deliver on the road construction project by minimizing the time and cost overruns. Project loss control (β = −0.10,t(34) = −0.79, p = 0.433), had negative insignificant effect on time-cost overrun. Insurance risk transference strategy(β = −0.25,t(34) = −2.47, p = 0.019), this indicates a negative but significant effect on time-cost overrun. Finally, Dynamic capabilities (β = −0.03,t(34) = −0.10, p = 0.924),had a moderating effect on risk avoidance, but not on risk reduction, insurance risk transference and project loss control. There is need by the road construction firms’ management to deepen the application and implementation of risk management strategies in the construction sector.

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FIRM VALUE OF FIRMS LISTED AT THE NAIROBI SECURITIES EXCHANGE, KENYA

2026-01-22T06:47:17Z

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FIRM VALUE OF FIRMS LISTED AT THE NAIROBI SECURITIES EXCHANGE, KENYA SEREM WILBERFORCE KIPRUTO The main goal of a firm is to maximize shareholder wealth through enhancing firm value. Despite the critical role of firm value in driving corporate growth, global trends indicate that achieving firm value stability remains a persistent challenge. The relationship between sustainability reporting and firm value has been extensively debated, largely due to the qualitative nature of sustainability-related disclosures. Furthermore, the potential moderating influence of corporate governance on firm value has yet to be thoroughly examined. Against this backdrop, this study seeks to investigate the effect of sustainability reporting on firm value among firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in Kenya. Specifically, the study focuses on three key dimensions of sustainability reporting i.e. social, economic, and environmental, while also assessing the moderating role of corporate governance. The research was guided by agency, legitimacy, value-enhancing and signaling theories and the positivism paradigm. The study target population include all 64 NSE listed companies. The study employed secondary data collected by use of the annual reports sourced from NSE and firms’ websites for eleven (11) years from 2012-2022. Content analysis technique was employed for collection of secondary data using data collection sheets. The research used longitudinal research approach and correlation research design. The findings reveal a nuanced relationship between sustainability reporting and firm value, moderated by corporate governance. Economic sustainability reporting has a significant negative effect on firm value (β = -6.711, p = 0.000), suggesting that such disclosures may signal financial challenges or misalignment with short-term performance goals, thereby eroding investor confidence. In contrast, environmental sustainability reporting has a significant positive effect (β = 4.944, p = 0.000), highlighting its role in enhancing firm value through improved reputation, risk mitigation, and stakeholder trust. Social sustainability reporting, however, has an insignificant negative effect (β = -2.012, p = 0.387), indicating that its impact on firm value may be context-dependent or overshadowed by other factors. Corporate governance significantly moderates the relationships, weakening the effect of social sustainability reporting (β = -0.664, p = 0.006) and strengthening the negative effect of economic sustainability reporting (β = 0.998, p = 0.000). However, governance does not moderate the relationship between environmental sustainability reporting and firm value (β = -0.007, p = 0.975), suggesting that environmental initiatives are valued independently of governance structures. These results underscore the importance of aligning sustainability reporting with governance mechanisms and stakeholder expectations to maximize firm value, while highlighting the distinct and context-specific roles of economic, social, and environmental sustainability reporting. Therefore, the study recommends that managers should focus on enhancing the quality and transparency of economic and environmental sustainability reporting to improve investor confidence and trust. Robust corporate governance practices should be adopted to ensure reliable social and economic disclosures, which can positively influence firm value. Furthermore, managers should be aware of the varying importance of different types of sustainability reporting to investors and stakeholders, and tailor their reporting strategies accordingly.

SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE OF FLORICULTURAL FIRMS IN NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA.

2024-12-04T12:15:02Z

SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE OF FLORICULTURAL FIRMS IN NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA. LEONAH KEMUNTO NYAMETE The industry of floriculture has a myriad of diverse and continuous challenges which must be counteracted, failure to which will lead to great losses, business closure, and recovery challenges. There is no exception in the Kenyan floricultural supply chain environment. It is important that firms adopt relevant strategies to guarantee resilience against unforeseen interferences by enhancing robustness and business continuity. Nevertheless how, whether, and which resilience strategies affect performance in floricultural firms is a topic that is under-explored. Using the theories of Contingency, Complex Adaptive System, Agency, Relational, and Technology Organization Environment Model collectively with the empirical literature, this study illuminates the association between supply chain resilience strategies and firm performance. The goals of the study were to investigate the effects of supply chain agility, collaboration, risk management and flexibility strategies, on the performance of floriculture firms. Moreover, the moderating effect of supply chain technology between these strategies and performance of floricultural firms was investigated. Cross-sectional survey research design was employed. Target population was 101 flower firms in Nakuru County, Kenya. Purposive sampling was used to pick 255 respondents. Primary data were collected using questionnaires. A pilot study was conducted on 5 flower firms in Nakuru and Nairobi County that were not part of the sample. Descriptive correlation and ordinal regression analyses were conducted. Results revealed that supply chain agility, collaboration, and risk management strategies significantly improved the performance of floricultural firms. Results further showed that, risk management, agility, and collaboration significantly contributed to floricultural firms’ performance while flexibility was insignificant. Further it was evident that the interaction between supply chain technology and collaboration significantly reduced the effect on performance, as did the interaction between agility and supply chain technology. Conversely, the interaction between flexibility and supply chain technology significantly increased the effect on performance. However, risk management had no effect on performance upon the introduction of the interaction term. In conclusion, floricultural firms require current information regarding uncertainties in market dynamism to effectively mitigate supply chain risks and forecast demand. Achieving this requires agility, flexibility, and enhanced collaboration across the floricultural supply chain. Collaboration can be enhanced by proactively addressing supply chain issues and sharing information with partners in anticipation of disruptions and demand fluctuations. Flexibility and agility can spearhead and perk up responsiveness to production and transportation challenges. Risk management can be strengthened by transferring risks to third parties like insurance, to reduce their impact and build resilience. Finally, investing in technologies like IoT, Blockchain, and big data analytics can improve collaboration and visibility of market information, thereby boosting performance and resilience. Supply chain cloud technologies further aid decision-making by enabling re-engineering of supply chains to adapt to variations in flower production and transportation challenges. Future research should explore additional supply chain resilience strategies not covered in this study, focusing on cross-sector comparisons and diverse research methodologies to uncover sector-specific challenges and opportunities and refine resilience approaches.

Supplier development and Procurement Performance of Steel Manufacturing Firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya

2024-12-04T12:10:02Z

Supplier development and Procurement Performance of Steel Manufacturing Firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya Kevin Ochieng' Gudda