Browsing by Author "Kariuki, Samuel"

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    Characterization of antibiotic resistance in environmental enteric pathogens from Kibera slum in Nairobi-Kenya
    (2012-08) Budambula, Nancy; Christabel, Muhonja; Kiiru, John; Kariuki, Samuel
    Kibera slum is characterized by poor sanitation hence the frequent outbreaks of diarrheal diseases. Emergence of antibiotic resistance by diarrhoea-causing bacteria is an inevitable challenge in the area. Diarrhea-causing bacteria were isolated from water, soil, vegetables, meat and dry foods samples and their antibiotic susceptibility was characterized. 237 samples were aseptically collected and analyzed. Morphological and biochemical characterization was done using Bergey’s manual of determinative bacteriology as a reference. 174 Escherichia coli, 8 Salmonella and 6 Shigella isolates were identified. Drug susceptibility of the isolates was done using disk diffusion method where 9 antibiotics from 5 classes of antibiotics were used. The frequencies of resistant isolates to antibiotics were as follows: ampicillin (56.79%), trimethoprim+ sulphamethoxazole (29.63%), augmentin (27.16%), tetracycline (18.52%), streptomycin (13.57%), chloramphenicol (7.41%), nalidixic acid (4.94%), gentamycin (2.47%) and ciprofloxacin (0%). Polymerase chain reaction was done to amplify the antibiotic determinants tet-A, sul 1 and dfrb1. Gel electrophoresis revealed presence of tet-A gene and sul 1 genes but absence of dfrb1 in 15 isolates that were resistant to tetracycline and SXT. Plasmid extraction and profiling was done and plasmid sizes compared to plasmids of E. coli V517 and 39R861. Large and small plasmids were present in the isolates with tet-A and sul 1 genes. Plasmid of 63 bp was present in all isolates. Conjugation experiments confirmed 100% transfer of 63 bp plasmid and 90% complete phenotype in all cases. This study showed presence of contamination of the area by antibiotic resistant diarrhea-causing pathogens, hence proper hygiene procedures and adherence to correct drug prescriptions need to be reinforced.
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    Characterization of antibiotic resistance in environmental enteric pathogens from Kibera slum in Nairobi-Kenya
    (Academic Journals, 2012-10) Muhonja, Christabel; Budambula, Nancy; Kiiru, John; Kariuki, Samuel
    Kibera slum is characterized by poor sanitation hence the frequent outbreaks of diarrheal diseases. Emergence of antibiotic resistance by diarrhoea-causing bacteria is an inevitable challenge in the area. Diarrhea-causing bacteria were isolated from water, soil, vegetables, meat and dry foods samples and their antibiotic susceptibility was characterized. 237 samples were aseptically collected and analyzed. Morphological and biochemical characterization was done using Bergey’s manual of determinative bacteriology as a reference. 174 Escherichia coli, 8 Salmonella and 6 Shigella isolates were identified. Drug susceptibility of the isolates was done using disk diffusion method where 9 antibiotics from 5 classes of antibiotics were used. The frequencies of resistant isolates to antibiotics were as follows: ampicillin (56.79%), trimethoprim+ sulphamethoxazole (29.63%), augmentin (27.16%), tetracycline (18.52%), streptomycin (13.57%), chloramphenicol (7.41%), nalidixic acid (4.94%), gentamycin (2.47%) and ciprofloxacin (0%). Polymerase chain reaction was done to amplify the antibiotic determinants tet-A, sul 1 and dfrb1. Gel electrophoresis revealed presence of tet-A gene and sul 1 genes but absence of dfrb1 in 15 isolates that were resistant to tetracycline and SXT. Plasmid extraction and profiling was done and plasmid sizes compared to plasmids of E. coli V517 and 39R861. Large and small plasmids were present in the isolates with tet-A and sul 1 genes. Plasmid of 63 bp was present in all isolates. Conjugation experiments confirmed 100% transfer of 63 bp plasmid and 90% complete phenotype in all cases. This study showed presence of contamination of the area by antibiotic resistant diarrhea-causing pathogens, hence proper hygiene procedures and adherence to correct drug prescriptions need to be reinforced.
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    Organizational Assets and Strategic Positioning in Telecommunication Industry in Kenya
    (Academic Research Publishing Group, 2020) M'Kuma, Ezekiah; Kinyua, Jesse; Kariuki, Samuel
    The rapid development in the telecommunication industry has raised a question about the organizational assets and strategic positioning in a rapidly changing environment. The telecommunication industry is continuing to change and mounting a lot of pressure towards the fitness of organizational assets and strategic positioning. The demand for efficiency in the telecommunication industry has enabled exploration of organizational assets that guarantee desired strategic positioning. The fast changing environment has led the industry to focus on developing organizational assets which guarantee them future success in meeting the fast changing expectations and that which position them well in the dynamic market. The study was carried out in the four mobile and network operators licensed by Communication Authority of Kenya. These were Safaricom limited, Airtel Kenya, Orange Kenya and Equitel Kenya. Descriptive statistics such as mean scores, standard deviation, frequency distributions and percentages were used in this study. The study used Pearson Correlation to measure strength of linear relationship between variables. The research adopted multiple regression analysis in testing of variables. A Census method was used on strategic planning managers and C.E.O’s from 188 customer care centers from the four mobile and network operators. Primary data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and secondary data were corrected using interview schedule. The questionnaires were administered to all Strategic planning Managers at customer care centers or C.E.O’s at headquarter offices for four companies in 47 counties. The findings on this objective revealed that organizational assets positively influence the strategic positioning of telecommunication industry in Kenya. The study concluded that assets components were all statistically significant to enhancing strategic positioning in the telecommunication industry. It is recommended that the strategic managers of the telecommunication industries should ensure the right use of assets. CAK and Ministry of ICT should make it a requirement that telecommunication industries should be submitting reports regularly of the assets they have.
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    Organizational Learning and Strategic Positioning in Telecommunication Industry in Kenya
    (Academic Research Publishing Group, 2020) M'Kuma, Ezekiah; Kinyua, Jesse; Kariuki, Samuel
    The telecommunication industry is continuing to change and mounting a lot of pressure towards efficiency in the business world enabling exploration of new opportunities in the rapidly widening digital environment. The fast changing environment has led the industry to focus on developing organization learning which guarantees future success in meeting the fast changing telecommunication market. The study focused on organizational learning on strategic positioning in telecommunication industry. This study adopted a descriptive design. The target population for this study comprised of 188 strategic planning managers at customer care centers and Chief Executive Officers at the head offices of the four mobile and fixed network operators in Kenya namely; Safaricom Limited, Airtel Kenya, Telkom Kenya and Equitel Kenya. The study used Census to collect the data from the four mobile operators. Primary and Secondary data was used in this study. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire administered to respondents through drop and pick method. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics was used in this study. The study established that continuous learning had influence on strategic positioning of telecommunications industries in Kenya. The results confirmed that telecommunications industries that practiced continuous learning based on innovation had strategic positioning advantage than those organizations that do not. This means that improvement on continuous learning led to strategic positioning in telecommunication industry in Kenya. This study concludes that organizational learning was statistically significant. The study recommends that the communication authority should lobby for application of the most recent technology by its members for use by the research and development department in conjunction with the ICT ministry.
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    Organizational Processes and Strategic Positioning in Telecommunication Industry in Kenya
    (Research Gate, 2019) Kinyua, Jesse; M'Kuma, Ezekiah; Kariuki, Samuel
    The steady growth on mobile and internet connectivity has increased growth in telecommunication industry. The changed environment has necessitated a new business model in the telecommunication industry structure aiming at building resource capabilities and strategic positioning in the fast changing business environment. The study established how organization processes led to strategic positioning in telecommunication industry. The study was carried out from the entire mobile and network operators licensed by Communication Authority of Kenya. These were Safaricom limited, Airtel Kenya, Orange Kenya and Equitel Kenya. Descriptive statistics as mean scores, standard de viation were used in this study. The study used Pearson Correlation to measure strength of linear relationship between variables. The research adopted multiple regression analysis in testing of variables. A Census method was used on strategic planning mana gers and C.E.O’s from 188 customer care centers from the four mobile and network operators. Primary data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered to all Strategic planning Managers at customer care centers at headquarter offices for four companies in 47 counties. The study found that organization processes in telecommunication industry significantly affected strategic positioning. The study established that there was a strong statistically significant. The study recommends that telecommunication industry should invest in improvement of organization processes through innovation in order to position itself strategically in a vast changing environment.
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    Working Capital Management Practices and Financial Performance of tea Processing Firm in kenya
    (2017-05-11) Kiptoo, Isaac K.; Kariuki, Samuel; Kimani, Maina E.
    The tea sector is the most important agricultural sub-sector in Kenya contributing about 26 percent of the total foreign exchange earnings. The sector has been listed by the government as one of the pillars of achieving Vision 2030. Despite the great contribution, the performance of the tea processing firms has not been satisfactory to the farmers due to wide variation of bonus payment from one firm to another. KTDA attributes this variation to working capital management. Management of working capital aims at maintaining an ideal balance between each of the components of working capital which include management of inventory and payables. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of working capital management practices on the financial performance of the tea processing firms in Kenya. The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive research design. The target population was 54 tea processing firms in Kenya managed by KTDA. A sample of 48 tea processing firms was used in the study. Stratified random sampling method was used to select the sample. Primary data was collected by use of a questionnaire whereas the secondary data was collected by use of a record survey sheet. Pretesting was done to determine the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study found that tea processing firms have established an inventory and payment management policies to guide the firms in managing their inventory. The Pearson correlation and ANOVA results showed that inventory management has a negative significant relationship with the financial performance of tea processing firms. The study therefore recommends tea processing firms to ensure the total numbers of days taken before inventories are sold is minimized in order to boost the returns of the firms. The longer the period taken to settle account payables therefore increased profitability of a firm. The firms should also prepare inventory budgets and review the budgets in order to maintain adequate inventory for smooth operations of the firm. In addition, the inventory level should be reviewed regularly to ensure optimal stock is maintained at all times. Firms should also set the level of economic order quantity to ensure sufficient inventory is ordered at minimal costs and establish an inventory control system to assists in efficient management of inventory. Firms should regularly review payables management policies to ensure optimal credit is maintained at all times