Job redesign is the restructuring of the elements of work in order to make it more encouraging and inspiring for the employees. Even though redesign has been recommended as a means of improving performance in organizations, its effect on the performance of employees in the banking sector in Kenya, has not been empirically investigated, yet all banks have embraced it as a core strategy. This study sought to determine the effect of job redesign on the performance of employees in commercial banks in Kisumu City. The study adopted a cross sectional survey research design. A sample of 297 randomly selected staff of commercial banks was picked. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect primary data. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The study established that task identity, task variety and task significance affects the performance of employees of commercial banks in Kisumu, but that task autonomy does not affect the performance of employees of commercial banks in Kisumu. The study concludes that job redesign affects the performance of employees and recommends that commercial banks create a high degree of task identity for their employees.

This paper examines the moderating effect of firm characteristics on the relationship between strategic change and performance of firms in the alcohol industry in Kenya. The alcohol industry makes a substantial contribution to the country's GDP. For instance, the East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL), Kenya was feted by KRA as the second top tax payer to the government for the 2011/2012 financial year. However, clear picture of the moderating influence of firm characteristics on the relationship between strategic change occasioned Alcoholic Drinks Control Act (ADCA), 2010 and performance has not emerged from previous studies. Specifically, the study investigated the effect of managerial capabilities, product dimensions and brand portfolio on performance of alcohol industry in Kenya. Previous studies dwelt on effect of limited aspects of strategic change such as marketing leaving out critical aspects like scope of strategies, resource deployment patterns and competitive advantages and the moderating effect of firm characteristics. The study was underpinned by the Resource-Based Theory (RBT). The study adopted a mixed method survey research design using qualitative and quantitative methods. The population was 25 local firms registered by Kenya Revenue Authority by 2012 and approved by National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse, (NACADA) by 2015. A saturated sample consisted of 100 respondents to get primary data. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses that firm characteristics moderate the relationship between strategic change and performance. The R² after incorporating interaction effect was .682 (p=.004) and ΔR²=.033(p=004) implying firm characteristics significantly moderate the relationship.

Purpose: The general objective of the study was to examine the effect of human capital management on employee performance at Co-operative Bank of Kenya.  The study was guided by three specific objectives namely; to analyze the effect of employee skills, employee perception and employee engagement on employee performance at Co-operative Bank of Kenya.  The study was anchored on theories of human capital and resource based view.Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive research design. This enabled the use of multiple methods for data collection and data analysis and purposive stratified random sampling technique was used with a target population of 198 employees and a sample size of 132. Primary data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics and presented using frequencies, percentages, tables and charts.Results: The study found out that human capital management has a strong influence on employee performance. The study therefore rejected the three null hypotheses and adopted the alternate hypothesis to indicate that there is statistical significance effect between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The findings revealed that employee skills have a statistical significant effect on employee performance. This was evident because the study found out that the bank develops its employees to take up more responsibilities and to improve on their performance.  The study also found out that the bank identifies the training needs of employees using a formal performance appraisal mechanism. The study also found out that employee perception also influence employee performance positively.  The study indicated that employees perceive that human capital management has a positive impact on skill development. The employees also perceive that they are recognized by the organization which has increased their self confidence ad as a result increased their performance. Employee engagement has also been proven to have a positive significant on employee performance. The employees feels that been engaged has increased their commitment. Engaging employees has helped the organization to achieve its objectives and goals. Contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that the organization should involve all the employees fully in decision making on decisions concerning development and conduct development on a yearly basis based on performance appraisal.

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This paper examined the effect of competitive advantage on the relationship between strategic change and firm characteristics on performance of firms in the alcohol industry in Kenya. Previous studies dwelt on effect of limited aspects of strategic change such as marketing leaving out critical aspects like scope of strategies, resource deployment patterns and competitive advantages. The study was underpinned by the Resource-Based Theory (RBT). The study adopted a mixed method survey research design using qualitative and quantitative methods. The population was 25 local firms registered by Kenya Revenue Authority by 2012 and approved by National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse, (NACADA) by 2015. A saturated sample consisted of 100 respondents to get primary data. Correlation and regression analysis were used to determine the relationship between competitive advantage and organizational performance. Pearson correlation was used to describe how the variables were related and the strengths of the relationship between competitive advantage and organizational performance. Findings revealed that there was a fairly strong significant positive correlation between competitive advantage and organizational performance.