Positive Research Research Articles

THE INFLUENCE OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROJECT AT URBAN WEST REGION ZANZIBAR

The study sought to examine the influence of community participation on the performance of local government authority's development projects in Zanzibar. A positivist research philosophy was used. A quantitative approach was employed and an explanatory design was also used in this study. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 273 sample that were drawn using stratified sampling from 858 populations from the Urban West Region in Zanzibar. Descriptive statistics, correlation and linear regression were used to analysis data. The study found that the independent variable community participation was positive, statistically and significantly related to development project performance in Urban West Region. Based on the findings the study recommends that Local government authorities should develop and implement policies that encourage and support community participation in all stages of development projects

Mediation Effect of Employee Engagement on Talent Management Practices and Perceived Sustainable Competitive Advantage Nexus of Kenya’s Commercial Banks in Nairobi County

The inability of commercial banks to attain sustainable competitive advantage that can be defended over time and that which competitors are unable to imitate have exposed banks to survival challenges in their operating environment. The main aim of the study was to investigate the mediating effect of employee engagement in the relationship between talent management practices and perceived sustainable competitive advantage of commercial banks in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study was buttressed by both resource based view and equity theory, positivist research philosophy and explanatory research design. A total of 3,098 employees from 329 branches of 42 commercial banks were targeted but only 354 were sampled given Yamane Formula. Questionnaires led to collection of primary data that was subjected to correlation, Pearson correlation and mediation analysis. There was a positive and significant effect of talent management practices on perceived sustainable competitive advantage as indicated by β=.447 and p=.000 respectively. Moreover, the effect of talent management practices on employee engagement was positive and significant relationship (β=.541,p=.000). Likewise, the effect of employee engagement on perceived sustainable competitive advantage was positive and significant (β=.218,p=.000). Finally, the findings(t-statistic 4.069>1.96) showed that there was significant partial mediation effect of employee engagement on the relationship between talent management practices and the perceived sustainable competitive advantage. To sum up, commercial banks via employee engagement have a direct effect of talent management practice on perceived sustainable competitive advantage. The study recommends to the management of commercial banks to attract and retain talented employees other than promoting a conducive working environment for employees to be satisfied and emotionally connected. Future study to be conducted in other sectors with the use of structural equation modeling givena number of dimensions of talent management and employee engagement.

EFFECT OF MANAGER’S WORK ETHICS ON PROJECT PERFORMANCE; A CASE STUDY OF ZANZIBAR URBAN SERVICES PROJECT

The study sought to examine the effect of manager’s work ethics on project performance specifically focusing at Zanzibar urban services project. The study used positivist research philosophy and quantitative approach. Explanatory research design was employed. Stratified sampling was employed to draw 118 participants from a population of 167 people. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from participants. Descriptive statistics, correlation and linear multiple regression were used as data analysis tools. The study found that manager’s work ethics was positive, statistically and significantly related to project performance; a case study of Zanzibar urban services project (b =. 761, p< 0.001). Therefore, from those findings the study recommends that organizations should prioritize the promotion of ethical leadership at all levels.

The Mediated-Moderation Effect of Employee Motivation And Regulatory Framework on The Relationship Between Leadership Practices And Performance of Chartered Universities in Kenya

Purpose of the study: This study aimed at establishing the mediated-moderation effect of employee motivation and regulatory framework on the relationship between leadership practices and the performance of chartered universities in Kenya. Statement of the problem: Effective leadership practices are essential cornerstone to ensure university performance while sustaining the university’s competitive advantage in the unpredictable aggressive marketplace. However, studies show that many universities in Kenya have faced challenges which include lowering the enrollment rate of college students, low salary, lack of promotion opportunities, unsatisfactory leader behavior, student discipline problems, uncooperative colleagues and unconducive working environment, lack of effective and efficient quality service delivery to clients, inadequate quality manpower, inadequate research, staff turnover, followed by student anxiety and increased faculty strikes. Such challenges have been attributed to weak leadership practices of university leaders who have neglected regulatory framework as one of the key mechanisms by which strategic leaders lead their organizations to sustainability and which consequently has led to the underperforming of most of universities for many years. Research methodology: The study adopted a positivist research philosophy and a cross- sectional design. The target population was 49 chartered universities operating in Kenya. Data was collected from academic registrars, persons in charge of human resources, finance, quality assurance and student chairpersons. Primary data was collected using a survey questionnaire combining closed-ended and open-ended questions distributed to 4 employees from the university management and 1 student chair as respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive and regression analysis. Results of the study: The correlation results indicated a positive and significant association between leadership practices and performance (r=.664; sig=.000), between employee motivation and performance (r=.752; sig=.000), between regulatory framework and performance (r=.599, p=000). The null hypotheses were rejected while the alternative hypotheses were accepted. Hence, a strong and statistically significant relationship between leadership practices, employee motivation, regulatory framework and performance of chartered universities in Kenya exists. Conclusion: The findings are useful to the leadership of Kenyan universities in the formulation of strategies and policies for improving performance. The results of this study may serve as a basis for university leaders to assess their leadership strengths and weaknesses and would use the findings to become more effective university leaders. Recommendations: The study recommends that chartered universities in Kenya should take into account all the various dimensions of leadership practices, employee motivation, regulatory framework and performance for a better and continual performance.

Green Human Resource Management Practices and Performance: Testing the Moderating Role of Firm Size Using Evidence from Firms Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya.

The study aimed to establish the moderating effect of firm size on the relationship between green human resource management (HRM) practices and the performance of firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). It employed a positivist research philosophy and a cross-sectional research design and was guided by universalistic and contingency theories. A pilot study was conducted in 12 firms not listed on the NSE. Reliability was examined using Cronbach’s coefficient yielding a value of 0.95. Validity was ascertained through peer review by HR experts. A census of the 62 firms listed on the NSE was taken. Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using both descriptive statistics and regression. The results revealed that firm size has a positive and statistically significant moderating effect on the relationship (regression coefficient, 0.386,p-value 0.000<0.05). Therefore, the null hypothesis that firm size has no statistically significant relationship with the performance of the NSE-listed firms, was rejected concluding, that firm size positively moderates this relationship. The results further validate the contingency theory revealing its applicability to green HRM studies. The study recommends further studies to; explore the effect of firm size on the implementation of green HRM and assess the moderating role of firm size on cross-listed firms. The study contributes to green HRM theory and practice and offers insights to HR practitioners and policymakers as they institute green HRM practices.

El suicidio (1897) de Émile Durkheim. Una obra vanguardista para seguir comprendiendo la salud mental en el siglo XXI

Émile Durkheim is a key figure in the institutionalization of Sociology as an academic and scientific discipline in the 19th century. Through the positivist research methodology that he exposes in his work The Rules of the Sociological Method, he later explains in El Suicidio that autolysis is related to social causes explained through the so-called “social facts.” The main claim of this document is a critical and reflective review of the work El Suicidio, especially its second book with the support of current bibliography. The four types of suicide according to Durkheim are described. Today, economic and/or social factors must be addressed to understand and address the growth in the suicide rate in the current post-pandemic context; economic or social factors must not be left aside to continue addressing the problem suicide and mental health in general.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: THE ROLE OF PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT

The study focuses on corporate social responsibility as need of the hour. In current turbulent business environment, better employees’ performance, high performance organization and productivity are the key points of discussion in every business company. Therefore, the study aims at organizational performance, as it is one of the major issues of business-oriented originations all over the world. Here we studied the role of corporate social responsibility and what contribution can be made by organizational support within the setup. The study is quantitative in nature, where a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to collect data from selected respondents. A sample of 350 was selected, while only a total of 250 respondents sent back the feedback. After data screening, it was found that some questionnaires were not properly filled, so 23 questionnaires were discarded, and only 227 usable data sets were inserted. SPSS version 22 was employed to analyze the data. Findings show that there is a positive influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on organizational performance. Similarly, perceived organizational support also positively influences the association of both variables. Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, Organizational Performance, Perceived Organizational Support, positivistic research

Does Perceived Organizational Politics Enhance Political Skills?

The researcher carried out this study to examine the predictive power of perceived organizational politics (POP) on their political skills regarding networking ability, interpersonal skills, social astuteness, and apparent sincerity. To investigate the given hypotheses, this study used a survey methodology, deductive reasoning technique, and positivist research philosophy. Data were collected from the seven hundred and twenty-five employees working in the Nepali Banking industry. Cross-sectional and perceptual data (Likert scale measure) were screened and analyzed employing SPSS. Regression analysis was carried out, keeping the demographic variables' effect constant. Regression analysis revealed that employees' POP enhanced the employees' political skills (i.e., networking ability, interpersonal skills, social astuteness, and apparent sincerity). Though POP significantly boosted all the factors of political skills (i.e., networking ability, interpersonal skills, social astuteness, and apparent sincerity), the predicting capacity differed among the elements. The number of theoretical and particular implications are suggested based on the result of the study.

The use of Software as a Service to improve the Dynamic Capabilities of South African Small and Medium Enterprises

Business aspects such as sales, human resources management (HRM), marketing, accounting, and customer relationship management (CRM) are important for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, it is anticipated that SMEs will get to benefit from using innovative technologies (IT) such as Software as a Service (SaaS). SaaS is a Cloud Computing model where applications, resources, and services are provided by the service provider (SP) to SMEs and accessed via the internet. SaaS may transform SMEs. One of the major benefits of SaaS is its dynamic capabilities. Despite the benefits of SaaS, the utilization of this technology in SMEs, particularly in developing countries is still limited. This research study aims to develop a conceptual model for the use of SaaS to improve the dynamic capabilities of South African SMEs. In this study, the theory of Technology-Task-Fit (TTF) will be adopted and used to underpin the study. A positivist research paradigm will be adopted. The study will use a quantitative research approach and data will be collected from 344 SME managers in South Africa using a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) will be applied in this study to analyze the data.

Strategic Options and Performance of National Non-Governmental Organizations in the Health Sector in Kenya

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the health sector help achieve national health objectives by delivering local health services. However, diminishing organization performance impacts their work and overall social impact. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of strategic options on the performance of health NGOs in Kenya. The study was grounded on contingency theory and it utilized positivistic research philosophy and cross-sectional research design. The target population of the study was 564 chief executive officers (CEOs) and program directors of 282 national NGOs registered with the NGO coordination board. A sample size of 234 was selected using a random stratified sampling technique that involved 8 regions as strata. Data collection was through a structured questionnaire, while inferential (confirmatory factor analysis – CFA, and structural equation modelling – SEM) and descriptive statistical techniques (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations) were used for data analysis. SPSS Version 26 and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 26 software were used for the analysis. The study findings established that strategic options have a significant positive influence on organization performance among national health NGOs in Kenya (r squared = 0.57, beta = 0.756, CR = 7.446, p < 0.05). The study concludes that selecting the strategic option that aligns with the organization’s context is essential for the organization performance of national health NGOs in Kenya. The study recommends that senior management of national health NGOs should critically consider the three generic strategies of cost leadership, focus and differentiation and select the one that aligns with their contexts to attain their organization performance objectives.

Is the validity of positivistic management accounting research exposed to questionable research practices?

A recent paper in Management Accounting Research (MAR) claimed that the validity of positivistic management accounting research (PMAR) has increased significantly during the last four decades.
 We argue that this is a misrepresentation of reality as the current crisis of irreproducible statistical findings is not addressed. The reliability and validity of statistical findings are under an increasing pressure due to the phenomenon of Questionable Research Practices (QRPs). It is a phenomenon argued to increase the ratio of false-positives through a distortion of the hypothetico-deductive method in favour of a researcher’s own hypothesis. This phenomenon is known to be widespread in the social sciences. We therefore conduct a meta-analysis on susceptibility of QRPs on the publication practices of PMAR, and our findings give rise to reasons for concern as there are indications of a publication practice that (unintentionally) incentivises the use of QRPs. It is therefore rational to assume that the ratio of false-positives is well-above the conventional five-per cent ratio. To break the bad equilibrium of QRPs, we suggest three different solutions and discuss their practical viability.

Psychobiography: A Phenomenological-hermeneutic Analysis of Personality

Psychobiography uses phenomenological and hermeneutic methods to deal with the narrative data of individual life, and proposes and solves psychological problems by reconstructing and explaining the life course of characters. It is a phenomenological hermeneutic analysis method of personality research. This method emphasizes the phenomenological value of individual and special things, which highlights the significance of case study, it emphasizes that the researcher's consciousness experience has a direct understanding of the whole nature and significance of the research object, so as to take care of the complete personality and people's inner world. Fundamentally speaking, psychobiography belongs to the humanities research program of psychology. As a case study, psychobiography is committed to putting forward the theory of the causes and mechanisms of personality formation. It is an effective supplement to the mainstream positivist research program by extending one specific aspect to another to obtain a general conclusion. As a research model of humanities, psychobiography follows the rules and standards of humanities research. In addition to synchronic comparison and triangle mutual verification, the scientific of psychobiography lies in whether it truly describes the research object, whether it fully understands the meaning of the object, and whether it can bring broad resonance.

Let us get contextual: critical realist case studies in supply chain management

Purpose This study aims to explain the value of using critical realist case research in supply chain management (SCM). While positivist case research focuses on generalizable law-like rules, and interpretivist research explores social meaning, critical realist case research seeks to make objective explanations that are bound by the case context. This study demonstrates how a critical realist synthesis of causal reasoning and contextual complexity allows for stronger theorizing in SCM. Design/methodology/approach This study highlights the possibilities of conducting critical realist case research in SCM by investigating philosophical perspectives in existing literature. Findings Based on existing literature, this study identifies which parts of contemporary SCM research will benefit from the critical realist perspective. This study also contends that supply chain scholars can use critical realist case research to develop new types of contextualized middle-range theories. Research limitations/implications This study proposes to complement the qualitative SCM toolbox with critical realist case research to further refine the development of novel theories. This will benefit not only researchers but also managers, as it opens the doors to new and inspiring research. Originality/value This study takes an important step toward establishing critical realist case studies as a key methodology in SCM. While other scholars have introduced critical realism as a paradigmatic approach in SCM, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first article that develops a qualitative critical realist case research approach.

Expert Systems for Emulating the Decision Making Ability of a Human Expert

Expert systems are a type of technology that supports an organization to identify the challenges of a project and help the organization to take effective steps to resolve the challenges. The research study is based on the utilization of expert systems on the decision-making ability of human experts. The research study has adopted a positivist research philosophy, exploratory research design, and deductive research approach to mitigate the research objectives. On the other hand, the research study has been done through the implication of a secondary quantitative data collection method. Based on the secondary quantitative research study, the study has shown the potential impact of an expert system on the decision-making ability of human experts. This research study has explained the way expert systems are creating a positive influence on the operational efficiency of an organization and the utilization of expert systems has also enhanced the decision-making ability of human exports up to 42%. Moreover, the implication of expert systems is beneficial for providing growth in business. Keyword : Human experts, project, Artificial intelligence, technology, expert systems.

Investigating the relationship between selected organisational factors and women’s skills development aspirations and career progression: A South African case study

Orientation: There has been increased research in the past century on women within the workplace; however, women still face myriad gender-related challenges in their careers.Research purpose: This research investigates how selected factors in and out of organisations affect women’s skills development and career progression.Motivation for the study: There is a pervasive perception that the rate at which women progress across hierarchy of work levels in organizations varies appreciably from the experience of their male counterparts.Research approach/design and method: A positivist research approach was used, employing a questionnaire survey which was administered via an online platform to a sample of 412 women working within the service sector in the Gauteng province of South Africa, using a convenient non-probability sampling method. The relationship between the dependent and independent variables was analysed using the structural equation modelling approach.Main findings: Results reveal that workplace support strategies and personal attributes influence women’s skills development. Workplace support strategies, family responsibilities, personal attributes and skills development also play vital roles in women’s career progression.Practical/managerial implications: To promote gender equity and stimulate a career path for women, organisational support and deliberate women’s skills development initiatives must be engendered.Contribution/value-add: The empirical evidence demonstrates the positive effect that organisational support and personal responsibility have on women’s skills development and their career progression, confirming that skills development is a predictor of women’s career progression.

Positionality in Information Studies Research of Visuality: Ethical and Epistemological Considerations

AbstractThis panel, co‐sponsored by ASIS&T SIG‐VIS (Visualization, Images, & Sound) and SIG‐DL (Digital Libraries), has two purposes. First, it briefly discusses panelists' recent research projects on visual forms of knowledge production and documentation. Their approaches involve collecting visual forms of data or studying contexts in which information practices involve visual information formats or regimes of graphical information creation. Second, this panel draws attention to the importance of dialogic engagement and acknowledgment of the role of the embodied researcher as a critical methodological agent in generating research data related to visual practices. This central role of the researcher in visual research foregrounds ethical and epistemological aspects of their positionality. In particular, panelists will discuss the ethical challenges of information studies research that involves Indigenous knowledge communities. This panel will engage the audience in a discussion on the role played by a researcher's positionality in shaping qualitative information research methodologies and will discuss how the generation of visual forms of data and the study of visual information practices pose particular challenges for information studies research.

Effect of Social Stressors on Work-Family Conflict Experienced by Female Faculty Members at Public Sector Schools in District Lahore, Pakistan

The goal of this study is to find out how work-family conflict (WFC) affects the quality of service that female school faculty provide. A healthy balance between work and personal life includes both work and personal activities. Because their workloads are getting bigger, it's getting harder for women faculty members to balance work and family life. The gender gap puts more stress on the female faculty, which makes it harder for them to give good care. This study uses a positivist research paradigm to get information from female teachers in Pakistan's Lahore District public schools. The focus of this study is on female teachers from a variety of public schools in District Lahore, Pakistan. For this study, a representative sample of female teachers from 203 public schools in the Lahore District of Pakistan was chosen. Cronbach's Alpha (Sarstedt et al., 2019) ranges from 0.681 to 0.931 and a composite range of 0.826 to 0.954, which shows that the results of this study can be trusted. The Fornell-Larcker criterion (Henseler, 2015), cross-loadings, and heteronormativity are used to figure out whether the results are similar or different. Structured equation modelling (SEQ) is used to look at the data (Cheung & Wang, 2017). This study found that role ambiguity and role conflict at work, as well as interactions between parents and spouses at home, have a negative effect on WFC. People are affected by work pressures, which can lead to job stress and, in the long run, depression. When women in the academic workforce experience WFC, it makes their depression worse. Respondent views of ISQ were average when it came to dependability, empathy, responsiveness, and concreteness (Reynoso et a., 1995). WFC hurts the ISQ of female faculty members because it makes them more likely to get depressed. This study also shows that more research needs to be done using different methods, like qualitative analysis and triangulation. This means that in Pakistan, WFC in female faculty can be studied in both public and private schools. Lastly, the study makes some suggestions for future research on WFC and gives management some tips on how to help the female faculty members raise the ISQ.

Multi-level change strategies for health: learning from people-centered advocacy in Uganda

BackgroundThe paper analyzes how the Accountability Can Transform Health (ACT Health) program activated bottom-up citizen action to secure government responses and more accountable health services in Uganda. The ACT Health program had two phases—Phase 1 focused on a community-level intervention studied with a randomized control trial, and Phase 2 supported citizen-led advocacy targeting government officials across multiple levels. The focus of this paper is an analysis of Phase 2, when the “people-centered advocacy” approach supported almost 400 community advocates representing 98 health facilities to organize, identify joint advocacy priorities, directly monitor health services, and collaborate on health advocacy campaigns in 18 districts. Most district campaigns focused on the complex, power-laden issue of health worker absenteeism. With a few notable exceptions, iterative cycles of engagement between citizens and the state across multiple levels are infrequently discussed in the formal literature on health accountability.MethodsThis paper is based on a comparative, inductive, practitioner-led analysis of program monitoring data from 18 multi-level health advocacy campaigns. The findings emerge from analysis of a “Heat Map,” capturing grounded accounts of government responses to community-led advocacy.ResultsOfficials in eight out of 18 districts fulfilled or surpassed commitments made to community advocates. Government responses included: increased monitoring, more downward accountability, countering backlash against advocates, applying sanctions for absent health workers, and increased budget allocations. Advocates’ bottom-up advocacy worked in part through triggering top-down responses and activating governmental checks and balances.ConclusionsMethodologically, this article demonstrates the value of analyzing process monitoring and program data to understand outcomes from direct engagement between citizens and the state to improve health services. Survey-based research methods and quantitative analysis may fail to capture signs of government responsiveness and relational outcomes (such as subtle signs of shifting power dynamics) many hope to see from citizen-led accountability efforts. Practitioners’ perspectives on how accountability for health emerges in practice are important correctives to much positivist research on accountability, which has a tendency to ignore the complex dynamics and processes of building citizen power.

Урбанизированная социальность: культура контроля в режиме медиатизации

Introduction. The article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of the culture of control in conditions of mediatization – an integral part of the modern social world of the city. The specificity of the view on the problem lies in the departure from the functional technicality of positivist research into the field of ontological and social reflection, expanding the analytical range of revealing the meaning. In the multimedia environment of the city, rapid orientation without special selective criteria resulting from expectation, search for certain objects, or intent to act requires a broad rather than a focus strategy of forms and methods of control. Theoretical analysis. A horizon of understanding control as a not completely reduced to the coercive and punitive functions formal process, but a culturally mediated phenomenon is proposed. The procedure for considering attention as an intentional act, or event, as a resource of culture and a source of spiritual work for constituting the meanings of human reality is singled out. In the spiritual and anthropological context, it is shown that attention is not only an orienting reflex, but an internal basis that is not associated with observation strategies in the form of mechanical external perception. The value of attention is determined by its maximally dense expedient concentration, which makes it possible to overcome states of lack of control and absent-mindedness. Conclusion. It has been established that the culture of control is a specific mental device that has the ability to capture the associative adjacency and mutual connection of things which are even distant from each other. Being an effective “screed” of intuitively grasped and reflected forms of meaning, it provides the basis for understanding everything that was personally perceived in its essence and completeness.

Size Effect Anomalies and Firms Financial Distress; Evidence from Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya

The universal objective of this study is to establish the relationship between size effect anomalies and financial distress of listed firms in Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Kenya. Due to the size effect anomalies, firms experience financial distress. The study adopts descriptive research design and positivist research. It considered all listed firms in NSE which had been licensed by Capital Market Authority (CMA) as at 1st January 2017, totaling to 67 which constitutes the target population. The study considers secondary data which were extracted from the audited financial statements from individual firms from 2007 to 2017. This study will apply panel data model and in data analysis and presentation, the statistical software to be used is EView while the p-value will be applicable in hypothesis testing. The Z-Score, a multivariate approach was applied as the financial prediction model. The results were presented using tables. Size effect anomalies was established to have weak negative correlations with the financial distress. The size effect anomaly was statistically significant at five percent level of significance meaning that the null hypothesis failed to be accepted. The study’s recommendations will assist the management, investors, researchers, policy makers and regulators.