The study sought to investigate the efficacy of capital adequacy ratios as predictors of financial distress in Kenyan commercial banks. The study was based on a positivism research paradigm using a descriptive research design. The population of the study was drawn from 43 commercial banks operating in Kenya over the period 2009-2015. Data were collected using data collection sheets from annual reports of commercial banks. Collected data were analyzed using stepwise logistic regression. Hypothesis testing was done at 0.05 significance levels. The study found that capital adequacy ratios were significant predictors of financial distress in commercial banks in Kenya. Core capital to total deposits: coefficient = 0.249 and P Value = 0.026, core capital to total risk weighted assets: coefficient = −0.419, P Value = 0.007 and total capital to total risk weighted assets: coefficient = 0.320, P Value = 0.017 were all significant predictors of financial distress in commercial banks. The null hypothesis: capital adequacy ratios were significant predictors of financial distress was accepted. The study concluded that capital adequacy ratios were significant predictors of financial distress in commercial banks. Consequently, the study recommended that, there be introduced a continuous industry driven regulatory and reporting structure on capital adequacy for commercial banks.

Purpose: The general objective of this study was to investigate the influence of strategic leadership on the implementation of strategy in the commercial banks in Kenya. The seven critical components of strategic leadership studied were strategic direction, core competencies, human capital,  social capital, corporate culture, ethical practices and strategic controls. More specifically, the study investigated the influence of these components on the implementation of strategy in the commercial banks in Kenya.Methodology: The study adopted a quantitative research design whose target population was the top management team in the commercial banks in Kenya. The instrument of data collection was tested for reliability using the Cronbach alpha test and for validity using the KMO and Bartlett’s test. Statistical analysis was then carried out on the data collected.Findings: The study finds that there is a positive statistically significant relationship between effective implementation of strategy with only two of the strategic leadership actions which are ‘determining strategic direction’ and ‘establishing balanced organization controls’. The study recommends that the leadership and in particular the CEO to focus his energies on providing the strategic direction of the organization if it is to achieve its strategic objectives of remaining competitive in the market. Similarly establishing a balance between strategic and financial controls has a direct influence on the implementation of strategy. A strategic leader creates wealth by striking a balance between the constraining influence of financial controls and the long term focus of the strategic controls.

Global developments have seen the rapid growth of international marketing due to trade liberalization and a reduction in barriers to global trade. This has resulted in opening up of new markets and availability of foreign products in domestic markets. China has taken a leading role in global trade due to its low levels of production costs and technological advancements. Chinese electronic products can now be found most parts of the world. This study attempted at determining the attitudes of consumers towards made in China products. It was guided by the concepts of consumer ethnocentrism and consumer animosity and how these influenced the willingness to buy Chinese electronic products. A sample size of 385 was chosen with 319 participating. Data was collected through a questionnaire adopted and modified from a study by Quang, DinhChien and Long (2017) in Vietnam. Factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques were used in the analysis. From the findings, it was evident that amongst the Kenyans, consumer ethnocentrism influences the level of consumer animosity. In instances where consumer animosity existed, it did not have an impact on product judgments. Though the respondents had expressed some level of animosity towards China, the same did not have a negative impact on product judgments. In terms of consumer ethnocentrism, the respondents indicated that it had a negative impact on product judgments, an indication that a high level of ethnocentrism will lead to unfavourable attitudes towards a product from a foreign country.

Universities play a crucial role in the development of any nation. The success of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is the bedrock of the growth in human capacity required to support the growth of an economy. However, HEIs have been criticized for not playing their rightful role in national development. This has been partly attributed to not being able to manage their performance in view of the dynamic and turbulent environment they are operating in. Most HEIs have been caught up in the “business as usual” situation preferring doing things in the traditional ways as opposed to changing with the times. As a result their survival has been at risk especially from those HEIs who have adopted the “business un-usual” mentality. It is as a result of the challenges facing Kenyan HEIs that this paper proposes an adoption of the Balanced Scorecard as a management tool in HEIs. This paper provides a review of literature on the HEI environment globally and in Kenya, highlighting the challenges faced by Kenyan HEIs and proposes the use of the BSC to address the same. The BSC is a tool that helps mainstream the vision and mission of HEIs in their activities thus making the HEIs become strategy focused organizations. The BSC is a strategic planning and management system used to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization and to monitor organization performance against strategic goals. Finally, a sample BSC for HEIs in Kenya is proposed. It is felt that if HEIs focused on the issues proposed and measured their performance on the issues identified, their performance will be improved tremendously.

Branding and brand personality have become major areas of interest for marketing strategists and academicians. This has, in turn, led to an interest in determining ways to judge brands' own personality and the implications for these in the market. In 1997, Jennifer Aaker developed a brand personality scale which identified five key brand dimensions. Her study was conducted in the U.S., and since then researchers have assessed the reliability, validity, and dimensionality of her scale in different parts of the world. There has however been a paucity of studies in Africa, including Kenya, that focus on validating Aaker's brand personality scale. This study was centered on assessing the reliability, validity, and dimensionality of the brand personality scale in Kenya, a developing country. In doing so, data was gathered from customers of Safaricom, a mobile phone service provider. The sample for this study was drawn from both undergraduate and graduate students at the United States International University-Africa. The data collection instrument was an adaptation of Aaker's brand personality scale, with 42 items. Altogether, 211 completed questionnaires were used in the final analysis. Cronbach's Alpha values of each construct confirmed that good reliability exists with the data. Principle component analysis was employed to determine the important factors of brand personality. As opposed to the 42 items in the Aaker scale, only 22 were found to satisfy requirements, and 20 items were therefore discarded. Seven dimensions were identified through the CFA, as opposed to the five by Aaker. A structural equation model was developed showing the relationships between the seven dimensions and brand personality, and all the seven were significant. Safaricom brand personality was identified as excitement by consumers after the regression path coefficient.