Journal of Business, Economics and Management Research Studies

Work-Life Balance, Compensation, Leadership and Recognition as Predictors of Public Service Delivery in Turkana County, Kenya

2026-09-28T10:44:24+03:00

Employee engagement is an important consideration in public service delivery because employees are directly involved in implementing government programmes and responding to citizens’ needs. However limited empirical evidence exists on how specific employee engagement practices relate to service delivery within Kenya’s devolved county governments. This study examined the relationship between work-life balance, compensation, supportive leadership, employee recognition and service delivery in the County Government of Turkana, Kenya. A cross-sectional correlational design was used and from a population of 3,696 county government employees, 361 were selected through proportionate stratified and simple random sampling. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and 311 completed questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 86.15%. Analysis involved descriptive statistics where Pearson’s correlation and regression analysis with Principal Component Analysis used to assess the structure of the measurement items where Cronbach’s alpha used to establish internal consistency. Work-life balance (r = 0.813, p < 0.01), compensation (r = 0.805, p < 0.01), supportive leadership (r = 0.817, p < 0.01) and employee recognition (r = 0.794, p < 0.01) were each positively correlated with service delivery. The combined regression model was significant, explaining 35.9% of the variation in service delivery (R² = 0.359, adjusted R² = 0.350; F _{0.05(4, 306)} = 42.782, p < 0.001). In the combined model, compensation was the only variable with a statistically significant independent contribution to service delivery (β = 0.229, p = 0.042). Work-life balance (β = 0.200, p = 0.087), supportive leadership (β = 0.108, p = 0.308) and employee recognition (β = 0.092, p = 0.389) were not statistically significant. The findings show that employee engagement practices are related to service delivery but their individual contributions differ when considered together. Compensation appears to have the clearest independent relationship with service delivery suggesting that fair and reliable remuneration should remain an important consideration in the management of county employees. Attention to compensation should however, be accompanied by appropriate working conditions, supportive supervision and recognition of employee contributions.

The Moderating Effect of Location on the Relationship Between Product Diversification and Performance of Star-Rated Hotels in Kisumu City, Kenya

2026-09-25T13:47:10+03:00

The hospitality industry is highly competitive, and although product diversification is widely promoted as a strategy for improving hotel performance, its effectiveness may depend on contextual factors such as location. This study examined the effect of product diversification on the performance of star-rated hotels in Kisumu City, Kenya, and tested whether location moderates this relationship. Grounded in the resource-based view and central place theory, the study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. A census of 88 hotel managers in 11 registered star-rated hotels was undertaken, and 75 usable questionnaires were returned, yielding an 85.23% response rate. Data were collected using a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire whose reliability was confirmed (Cronbach's α = .757 for the product diversification scale). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and hierarchical moderated regression. Product diversification was positively and significantly associated with hotel performance (r = .590, p < .01) and positively and significantly predicted performance (β = .215, p = .002). Location significantly moderated the relationship beween product diversification and hotel performance (β = .059, p = .048; final model β = .066, p = .024), with the interaction explaining an additional 1.5% of variance in performance. The findings demonstrate that the performance benefits of product diversification are contingent on a hotel's location. Hotel managers should therefore align diversification decisions with location-specific market characteristics, while policymakers should invest in accessibility and surrounding amenities that strengthen hotels' locational advantages.

Effect of Fee-Based Investment Strategy on the Financial Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya

2026-09-25T15:12:48+03:00

This study examined the effect of fee-based investment strategy on the financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The persistence of interest-rate volatility, the 2016–2019 statutory interest rate cap and the accelerated digitisation of financial services have progressively weakened the reliability of interest income, yet the empirical evidence on whether fee-based income translates into superior shareholder returns remains fragmented and inconclusive. Anchored in the Resource-Based View, Portfolio Theory and Agency Theory, the study adopted an explanatory longitudinal research design implemented through a panel data methodology. The target population comprised all 43 commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya over the period 2015 to 2024. Applying inclusion and exclusion criteria relating to continuity of licensed operations, completeness of audited disclosures and availability of board composition data yielded 38 qualifying banks and an unbalanced panel of 368 bank-year observations. Secondary data were extracted through a structured data collection checklist from audited annual financial statements, Central Bank of Kenya Bank Supervision Annual Reports and Nairobi Securities Exchange investor disclosures. Fee-based investment strategy was operationalised as income from fees and commissions expressed as a proportion of total operating income, while financial performance was proxied by Return on Equity. Employee Share Ownership Plan, officer directors, non-officer directors and affiliated directors were incorporated as governance control variables. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, pairwise correlation and hierarchical panel regression in Stata. Diagnostic testing confirmed normality of residuals (χ²(2) = 4.60, p = .125; Jarque-Bera = 4.213, p = .121), absence of first-order serial correlation (Wooldridge F(1, 38) = 1.535, p = .203) and absence of multicollinearity (all VIF < 3). The Breusch-Pagan test detected heteroscedasticity, which was remedied through bank-clustered robust standard errors, and the Fisher-type Phillips-Perron test confirmed stationarity of all series at level. The Hausman test supported the fixed-effects specification, which explained 51.18 per cent of the within-bank variation in Return on Equity (F(4, 326) = 85.45, p < .001). Fee-based investment strategy was positively and significantly correlated with Return on Equity at the bivariate level (r = .394), but the association did not survive multivariate estimation: the coefficient was positive yet insignificant in the hierarchical specification (β = 0.590, p = .117) and negative and insignificant in the full specification (β = −0.087, p = .447), so H₁ was not supported. The governance variables, by contrast, exerted strong and significant effects non-officer directors (β = .546, p < .001), officer directors (β = .247, p < .001) and Employee Share Ownership Plan (β = .233, p < .001) while affiliated directors were insignificant (β = −0.058, p = .404). The study concludes that the apparent profitability of fee-based strategies in Kenyan banking is attributable principally to the institutional capabilities and governance structures of the banks that pursue them rather than to fee income as such, and that board independence is the more consequential determinant of shareholder returns. It recommends that banks treat investment in scalable service-delivery capability, rather than the expansion of charges in itself, as the operative lever; that they strengthen non-executive board representation; and that regulators weigh consumer-protection oversight of bank charges against the sector's need for sustainable non-interest revenue.