ENTREPRENEURIAL DETERMINANTS AFFECTING THE GROWTH OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN THE MOTOR VEHICLE INDUSTRY IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Purpose: The current study sought to establish the entrepreneurial determinants affecting the growth of small and medium enterprises in the motor vehicle industry in Nairobi county, Kenya. The study specifically aimed at assessing how entrepreneurial innovativeness, Service Quality, Entrepreneurial Competency and business operational policies determines the growth of SMEs in motor vehicle industry in Nairobi County, Kenya. Methodology: The study was anchored on Schumpeter’s Innovation Theory, Commitment Trust Theory, Competency Theory and Policy Theory. A descriptive research design was adopted and the target population comprised of SMEs operating within Central Business District in Nairobi County. A total of 245SMEs were targeted and the unit of observation comprised of owners, managers and supervisors of the enterprises. A census approach was adopted where all the targeted enterprises were involved in the study. Questionnaires were used for collecting data both qualitative and quantitative data. The study conducted a pilot on 12 small enterprises in Kiambu County before collecting data for the main study to assess the reliability and validity of the questionnaires. Data was analyzed using both Microsoft excel and SPSS tools. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The study findings were presented in form of tables and figures for easier interpretation. Findings: The study concludes that the entrepreneurial innovativeness level has a positive and significant influence on the growth of SMEs in motor vehicle industry in Nairobi County, Kenya. In addition, the study concludes that the service quality has a positive and significant influence on the growth of SMEs in motor vehicle industry in Nairobi County, Kenya. Further, the study concludes that the entrepreneurial competency has a positive and significant influence on the growth of SMEs in motor vehicle industry in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study also concludes that the business operational policies have a positive and significant influence on the growth of SMEs in motor vehicle industry in Nairobi County, Kenya. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: From the results, the study recommends that the management of SMEs in the motor vehicle industry should enhance their ability to introduce new product, new services and ability to capture market niche of products and services. In addition, that the management of SMEs in the motor vehicle industry should be more focused on ensuring quality services are provided to their customers.

An empirical analysis of SMES’ triple bottom line practices

Purpose This study aims to examine the determinants of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sustainability practices in New Zealand from the triple bottom line (3BL) perspective. Unlike large companies and government agencies whose sustainability practices are driven by regulations and attempts to legitimise business operations, little is known about the drivers of SMEs’ sustainability practices. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey approach was adopted for the data collection. The analysis was mainly descriptive, while the covariates’ effects were measured based on partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings This paper identified that SMEs’ 3BL practices are significantly influenced by local bylaws, voluntary adoption of 3BL operational policies and company size. This paper finds that the SMEs’ industry type is not statistically significant as a determinant of their 3BL practices. This implies that regulation and operational policies increase sustainability practices in the SME sector. Practical implications These findings provide insights to SMEs’ managers on the importance of sustainability policies adoption and bylaws. Government departments and local government councils could adopt the findings in developing regulatory policies that support SMEs’ 3BL. Social implications This study provides support for economically, environmentally and socially sustainable business practices amongst SMEs. Originality/value A dearth of studies on SMEs sustainability practices exists in the extant literature, particularly in New Zealand. The study focusses on SMEs sustainability in the viewpoint of 3BL practices based on an empirical analysis.

Canadian university research libraries during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper documents the services and changes that library staff at a group of 15 Canadian university research libraries highlighted on their main pandemic pages and social media accounts during the early days of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Findings suggest that libraries in the samples adopted the following services and changes: closing the physical libraries; suspending all physical collection services and in-person events; continuing to provide virtual reference services; promoting access and usage of electronic collections; suspending late fees and renewing checked-out items with a new due date; and advising users to wait before returning borrowed items. Notably, all libraries in this study are operating as full full-scale as digital libraries. This study will provide lessons learned to other libraries around the world to help in reviewing their own operational policies for coping with the current COVID-19 pandemic and for future global public health crises.

Integrated Simulation-Based Optimization of Operational Decisions at Container Terminals

At container terminals, many cargo handling processes are interconnected and occur in parallel. Within short time windows, many operational decisions need to be made and should consider both time efficiency and equipment utilization. During operation, many sources of disturbance and, thus, uncertainty exist. For these reasons, perfectly coordinated processes can potentially unravel. This study analyzes simulation-based optimization, an approach that considers uncertainty by means of simulation while optimizing a given objective. The developed procedure simultaneously scales the amount of utilized equipment and adjusts the selection and tuning of operational policies. Thus, the benefits of a simulation study and an integrated optimization framework are combined in a new way. Four meta-heuristics—Tree-structured Parzen Estimator, Bayesian Optimization, Simulated Annealing, and Random Search—guide the simulation-based optimization process. Thus, this study aims to determine a favorable configuration of equipment quantity and operational policies for container terminals using a small number of experiments and, simultaneously, to empirically compare the chosen meta-heuristics including the reproducibility of the optimization runs. The results show that simulation-based optimization is suitable for identifying the amount of required equipment and well-performing policies. Among the presented scenarios, no clear ranking between meta-heuristics regarding the solution quality exists. The approximated optima suggest that pooling yard trucks and a yard block assignment that is close to the quay crane are preferable.

Teachers’ Knowledge of Special Educational Needs and Disability Students and Their Classroom Management Approaches

Parents and many other stakeholders usually complain about equity and inclusivity of students with special educational needs (SEN) in the mainstream schools. The purpose of the study was to find out the level of teachers’ knowledge of special educational needs and disability students and their classroom management procedures and strategies. The study adopted qualitative paradigm and a descriptive approach to gather data and were thematically analysed. The findings showed that teachers’ knowledge of special educational needs and disability students was very limited. It revealed teachers’ lack of in-depth knowledge of inclusivity, enacted and operational policies and their application, and the classroom management procedures and management of students with special educational needs. It is recommended that teachers be examined appropriately and certified before allowing them to teach in schools. Teachers who are already teaching should be updated with the current trend of educational issues including inclusivity, equity and gender sensitivity.