Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences (FEMS)

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Open Access
Gorilla Tourism in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda: An Actor-Network Perspective
(Society & Natural Resources An International Journal, 2014) René, van der Duim; Christine, Ampumuza
his article performs actor-network theory (ANT) to examine the development of gorilla tourism at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. We depict a number of translations in which gorillas were designated and enrolled as coexisting with local livelihood practices, as ‘‘trophies’’ in the hunting network, ‘‘man’s closest neighbor’’ in the scientific network, ‘‘endangered species’’ in the conservation network, and finally, through habituation processes, became part of the tourism network. These five versions of the ‘‘gorilla’’ network show how gorillas are shaped in and by the relations in which they reside. By examining Bwindi in terms of ANT’s notions of ordering, materiality, and multiplicity, we not only show how gorilla tourism has gained permanence and popularity, but also draw attention to new ways of thinking about actors and agency in tourism, conservation, and development
Open Access
Procurement Practices and Public Service Delivery in a Developing Local Government
(Amity School of Business, 2018) Moses, Agaba; Kalu O., Emenike
Procurement practices have been identified as the bedrock to achieving value for money within both private and public sector organisations. This study investigates the effect of procurement practices on public service delivery, by analysing the perspectives of respondents collected using questionnaires. The response rate of sampled respondents was 96%. From the analysis of demographic characteristics of the respondents, majority has the following the attributes: (i) tertiary level of education, (ii) are males, (iii) aged between 30 to 39 years, and (iv) have experience ranging from 1 to 5 years. There is absence of multicollinearity in the variables. The estimates from the multiple regression analysis suggest that procurement policy; procurement planning and sustainable procurement have positive and significant effect on public service delivery at the 5% percent significance level. The researchers therefore conclude that procurement practices have positive and significant influence on public service delivery. A major managerial implication of these findings therefore is that procurement practices is a key driver of service delivery in public institutions.
Open Access
Product Innovation, Price Level And Competitive Advantage: A Perception Assessment Of Beer Products
(Universitas Merdeka Melang, 2018) Emenike O., Kalu; Olutayo, Osunsan; Moses, Agaba
This study evaluates the effect of product innovation and prices on competitive advantage of beer products in Kabale Uganda, by analyzing responses obtained through questionnaires using multiple regression analysis. From analysis of respondents, the percentage of targeted respondents that actually responded to the questionnaire was 96%. From the preliminary analysis conducted in this study, majority of respondents have the following attributes,1 ) diploma level education, 2) are males, 3) aged between 36-45 years, and 4) prefer Nile lager beer. The data approximates normal distribution, with absence of multicollinearity. The results of the multiple regression analysis indicate that product innovation and prices have significant effect on competitive advantage among beer products and producers in Kabale Uganda. We therefore conclude that innovation and prices have positive and significant predictive effect on competitive advantage. Hence, the firms could enhance competitive advantage by paying attention to innovation and prices variables. We therefore recommend, amongst others, that that brand managers should prioritize innovation and prices as strategies to attract and sustain competitive advantage.
Open Access
Village Savings and Loan Associations and Socio-Economic Empowerment of Vulnerable People in Kamuganguzi Sub-County Kabale, District, Uganda
(International Journal of Development Research, 2019) Mwijukye, Deus; Moses, Agaba
The study carried out was entitled “Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) and socio economic empowerment of vulnerable people in Kamuganguzi Sub County, Kabale District. According to UBOS 2018, Kamuganguzi Sub County which was the study area was among the poorest sub counties of Ndorwa County, Kabale District where a total of 3,516 people were food insecure, 769 people had no access to safe water, 691 children (6-17years) were out of school, 1,142 children were involved in child labour and 110 children were currently married. Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) was promoted in Kamuganguzi Sub County by LADA Uganda to empower vulnerable households economically however, information as to whether their socio-economic status was improved was still sketchy and lacking. It was therefore necessary to carry out a study to fill the gap. The research design was cross-sectional in conjunction with qualitative and quantitative approaches. The tools for data collection were both the interviews and questionnaires. The study objectives included; determining the effect of savings on the socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people, examining the relationship between credit access and socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people, and examining the effect of social fund on socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people in Kamuganguzi Sub County Kabale District. The study population was 255 which included LADA Uganda staff and VSLA group members. The key findings were; improving the health status of women in families; credit access and socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people were synonymous with community replacing the damaged property. The conclusion was that village savings and loan associations and socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people were found to be significantly related. The recommendations were; need to improving the health status of women in families as well as children since they are regarded vulnerable in order to let them live happily; there should be improved nutrition and food supply to all families to let children and other members grow healthy and live a happy life; increased household income should be the ultimate goal fostered by credit accessibility in the area which must be done with ease through the start of small and medium enterprises especially women; it is recommended that the vulnerable groups of people have the replacement of the damaged property in case of any loss aiming at keeping standards of living at household level; achieving flexibility to immense development of social capital required the development of the saving culture that promotes regular income to help the community solve their personal problems; the social fund should be a unifying factor that enhances development through increased social networking to allow information flow since information is power
Open Access
Brand equity and competitive advantage in alcoholic beverage products
(Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, 2019) Emenike O., Kalu; Moses, Agaba
In the face of growing competition in modern business environment as a result of globalisation and development in information and communication technology, firms are required to gain and sustain competitive advantage. This study therefore investigated the effect of brand awareness, brand association, brand loyalty, perceived quality, and other proprietary brand assets on competitive advantage in alcoholic beverage products and producers in Kabale District Uganda. The study employed descriptive and multiple regression analyses. The estimates from the multiple regression model indicated that brand equity has significant effect on competitive advantage among alcoholic beverages products and producers. This is evident in the statistical significance of the brand awareness, brand loyalty, and perceived quality variables at the 5% significant. We conclude therefore that brand equity has positive and significant predictive effect on competitive advantage. Hence, firms could enhance competitive advantage by paying attention to brand equity variables.
Open Access
Brand Awareness and Competitive Advantage among Beer Products in Kabale District, South Western Uganda
(International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Educational Research, 2019) Moses, Agaba; Eliab Mpora, Byamukama; Eton, Marus
In the current business environment firms are required to be more competitive and hostile. Brand Awareness is regarded as a very important concept in business because business organizations can use it to gain competitive advantage. Competitive advantage has been approached by looking at the external environment of the firm that is how the economic power of firms can be used to create competitive position in an industry. This study focuses on Resource Based View a model that provides a framework for identifying unique set of resources and this perspective shifts the approach of assessing competitive advantage from the external to the internal environment that is the resource power. This study, therefore, set out to determine the effect of brand awarenes on competitive advantage in beer products in Kabale district. The specific objective of the study was to (i) To determine the effect of brand awareness on competitive advantage in alcoholic beer products in Kabale district. The study used a descriptive survey research design. The target population was 1783 including wholesalers, retailers, customers and brand and marketing managers of Nile Special Lager, Eagle Lager, Senator Extra Lager, club and Bell beer products in the District of Kabale, South Western Uganda. Multistage sampling techniques were used in this study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select alcoholic beverages products and producers. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to sample shopping center to collect consumer information. Shopping centers were selected based on a marketing investigation. Primary data were used and collected using questionnaires. The descriptive analysis involving computing the mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of the brand equity and competitive advantage variables, the inferential analysis was conducted using multiple regression analysis and the t-statistic and the p-value were adopted to test the hypotheses of the study. The study used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) as a tool to process and analyse data. The findings show that there is significant effect of brand awareness on competitive advantage. This research concludes that it is only when brand awareness is high it has a greater effect on competitive advantage in alcoholic beer products in Kabale district south. The study recommends that beer producers and brand managers should prioritize brand awareness constructs as their strategy to attract potential customers because it does show significant effect on competitive advantage. The study further recommends that beer producers should enhance their efforts to build brand awareness in order to achieve competitive advantage.The findings of this research provide knowledge on building and sustaining firm’s competitive advantange by deploying brand awareness as an intagible critical resource from customer point of view with specific implications for developing cost cutting marketing strategies to maintain firm’ competitive position in Kabale district, South Western Uganda
Open Access
Village Savings and loan associations and socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people in Kamuganguzi Sub-County Kabale, District, Uganda.
(International Journal of Development Research, 2019) Deus, Mwijukye; Moses, Agaba
The study carried out was entitled “Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) and socioeconomic empowerment of vulnerable people in Kamuganguzi Sub County, Kabale District. According to UBOS 2018, Kamuganguzi Sub County which was the study area was among the poorest sub counties of Ndorwa County, Kabale District where a total of 3,516 people were food insecure, 769 people had no access to safe water, 691 children (6-17years) were out of school, 1,142 children were involved in child labour and 110 children were currently married. Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) was promoted in Kamuganguzi Sub County by LADA Uganda to empower vulnerable households economically however, information as to whether their socio-economic status was improved was still sketchy and lacking. It was therefore necessary to carry out a study to fill the gap. The research design was cross-sectional in conjunction with qualitative and quantitative approaches. The tools for data collection were both the interviews and questionnaires. The study objectives included; determining the effect of savings on the socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people, examining the relationship between credit access and socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people, and examining the effect of social fund on socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people in Kamuganguzi Sub County Kabale District. The study population was 255 which included LADA Uganda staff and VSLA group members. The key findings were; improving the health status of women in families; credit access and socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people were synonymous with community replacing the damaged property. The conclusion was that village savings and loan associations and socio-economic empowerment of vulnerable people were found to be significantly related. The recommendations were; need to improving the health status of women in families as well as children since they are regarded vulnerable in order to let them live happily; there should be improved nutrition and food supply to all families to let children and other members grow healthy and live a happy life; increased household income should be the ultimate goal fostered by credit accessibility in the area which must be done with ease through the start of small and medium enterprises especially women; it is recommended that the vulnerable groups of people have the replacement of the damaged property in case of any loss aiming at keeping standards of living at household level; achieving flexibility to immense development of social capital required the development of the saving culture that promotes regular income to help the community solve their personal problems; the social fund should be a unifying factor that enhances development through increased social networking to allow information flow since information is power.
Open Access
Information and Communication Technology Adoption and the Growth of Small Medium Enterprises in Uganda: Empirical Evidence from Kampala City Council Authority
(Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, 2019) Eton, Marus; Constant, Okello Obura; Fabian, Mwosi; Benard, Patrick Ogwel; Mary, Ejang; Francis, Ongia
The study used cross sectional study design and data were collected from business owners operating within the divisions of Kampala Capital City Authority. The study found out that the level of ICT adoption in Kampala Capital City Authority was moderate. ICT adoption was mostly marked with establishment of separate IT department, use of bulk SMS, printers, scanners and photocopiers. Specialized ICT skills, regular updates and outsourcing of ICT functions appeared to be a key challenge businesses face in ICT adoption. The findings however, indicated that growth of SMEs is a conglomeration, of which adoption of ICT is a microcosm. The study recommends that Government of Uganda through Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation and Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development should consider promoting ICT business growth by sponsoring business software development, and distributing the same at subsidized costs. Training institutions should strengthen the ICT training programs by aligning them to the required job demands as dictated in the field of business. Government should also promote the application and adoption of ICT e-business by slashing the exorbitant taxes charged on the use of these products. Government should stimulate entrepreneurship development training to curb the shortfalls in staff competence, individual job creation and profitability skills.
Open Access
Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth in Uganda A case study of selected districts in Western Uganda
(International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering, 2019) Eton, Marus; Gilbert, Uwonda; Fabian, Mwosi; Godfrey, Barigye; Benard, Patrick Ogwel
The study was conducted to examine the role of financial inclusion in economic growth basing on selected districts from western Uganda. The researchers adopted a cross-sectional survey design and both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in data collection and analysis. The study used simple random and purposive sampling techniques to select a total of 194 respondents. The findings revealed that financial inclusion is significant in supporting economic growth; it upholds equitable distribution of growth benefits, transforms peoples’ way of living, enhances capital creation and empowers people to go for financial services that are germane to their needs. The study indicated that Uganda’s population living below the poverty line is falling, which sounds precise in the context of national income but very unseemly in the context of household income. While there are indicators of reduced constraints to accessing to working capital, reduced constraints to accessing financial services, effective use of economic resources to produce goods and services, those in business do not see the efficacy by government agendas geared to supporting international trade or investment. The study, therefore, recommends that there is a need for the government to review and redesign her policies on international trade business and support for homegrown investments. There is a need for quantitative metrics to ascertain the extent to which household income is proportional to national income. Several papers have recommended government interventions in financial accessibility.
Open Access
Perceived Quality and Competitive Advantage in Beer Products In Kabale District, South Western Uganda
(International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Educational Research, 2019) Moses, Agaba; Alex, Kanyesiime
Perceived quality is customer perception to the overall quality or superiority of a product or service with the intent to expect respect. Perceived Quality ensures the organisation defines and delivers the requisite levels of satisfaction desired by their various target customer segments. Competitive advantage has been approached by looking at the external environment of the firm that is how the economic power of firms can be used to create competitive position in an industry. This study focuses on Resource Based View a model that provides a framework for identifying unique set of resources and this perspective shifts the approach of assessing competitive advantage from the external to the internal environment that is the resource power. This study, therefore, set out to determine the effect of perceived quality on competitive advantage in beer products in Kabale district. The specific objective of the study was to (i) To determine the effect of perceived quality on competitive advantage in alcoholic beer products in Kabale district. The study used a descriptive survey research design. The target population was 1783 including wholesalers, retailers, customers and brand and marketing managers of Nile Special Lager, Eagle Lager, Senator Extra Lager, club and Bell beer products in the District of Kabale, South Western Uganda. Multistage sampling techniques were used in this study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select alcoholic beer products and producers. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to sample shopping center to collect consumer information. Shopping centers were selected based on a marketing investigation. Primary data were used and collected using questionnaires. The descriptive analysis involving computing the mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of percieved quality and competitive advantage variables was conducted. The inferential analysis was conducted using multiple regression analysis and the t-statistic and the p-value were adopted to test the hypotheses of the study. The study used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) as a tool to process and analyse data. The study found out that perceived quality has positive effect on competitive advantage in alcoholic beer products in Kabale district, South Western Uganda, at the 5% percent significance level. The study concludes that producers of high quality beer brands have a competitive edge over those that produce poor quality beer products. The researcher recommends that beer brand Managers of EABL and UBL must position their beer brands in Kabale district to target customers through: attributes such as high quality, high prestige; functional and emotional benefits.
Open Access
Brand Loyalty and Competitive advantage a case of beer products in Kabale District, Uganda.
(International Journal of Recent Advances in Multidisciplinary Research, 2019) Moses, Agaba; Edward, Ahabwe
Brand Loyalty is regarded as a very important concept in business because business organizations can use it to gain competitive advantage. Competitive advantage has been approached by looking at the external environment of the firm that is how the economic power of firms can be used to create competitive position in an industry. This study focuses on Resource Based View a model that provides a framework for identifying unique set of resources and this perspective shifts the approach of assessing competitive advantage from the external to the internal environment that is the resource power. This study, therefore, set out to determine the effect o f brand loyalty on competitive advantage in beer products in Kabale district. The specific objective of the study was to (i) To determine the effect of brand loyalty on competitive advantage in alcoholic beer products in Kabale district. The study used a descriptive survey research design. The target population was 1783 including wholesalers, retailers, customers and brand and marketing managers of Nile Special Lager, Eagle Lager, Senator Extra Lager, club and Bell beer products in the District of Kabale, South Western Uganda. Multistage sampling techniques were used in this study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select alcoholic beer products and producers. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to sample shopping center to collect consumer information. Shopping centers were selected based on a marketing investigation. Primary data were used and collected using questionnaires. The descriptive analysis involving computing the mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of the brand Loyalty and competitive advantage variables was conducted. The inferential analysis was conducted using multiple regression analysis and the t-statistic and the p-value were adopted to test the hypotheses of the study. The study used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) as a tool to process and analyse data. The findings indicate that brand loyalty has significant positive effect on competitive advantage among alcoholic beer products and producers in Kabale district, South Western Uganda at the 5% percent significance level.The results of the regression model on the effect of brand loyalty on competitive advantage among alcoholic beer products and producers in Kabale district, South Western Uganda indicate that brand loyalty has significant positive effect on competitive. The study concludes that brand loyalty significantly affects the level of competitive advantage in beer brands in Kabale district. The study recommends that beer producers and marketers should put in more commitment in the area of brand loyalty in order that consumers are loyal to its beer products and thus increase their competitive advantage.
Open Access
Brand Association and Competitive advantange in alcoholic beer products in Kabale District, Uganda.
(International Journal of Recent Academic Research, 2019) Moses, Agaba
Brand Awareness is regarded as a very important concept in business because business organizations can use it to gain competitive advantage. Competitive advantage has been approached by looking at the external environment of the firm that is how the economic power of firms can be used to create competitive position in an industry. This study focuses on Resource Based View a model that provides a framework for identifying unique set of resources and this perspective shifts the approach of assessing competitive advantage from the external to the internal environment that is the resource power. This study, therefore, set out to determine the effect of brand Association on competitive advantage in beer products in Kabale district. The specific objective of the study was to (i) To determine the effect of brand Association on competitive advantage in alcoholic beer products in Kabale district. The study used a descriptive survey research design. The target population was 1783 including wholesalers, retailers, customers and brand and marketing managers of Nile Special Lager, Eagle Lager, Senator Extra Lager, club and Bell beer products in the District of Kabale, South Western Uganda. Multistage sampling techniques were used in this study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select alcoholic beer products and producers. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to sample shopping center to collect consumer information. Shopping centers were selected based on a marketing investigation. Primary data were used and collected using questionnaires. The descriptive analysis involving computing the mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of the brand Association and competitive advantage variables was conducted. The inferential analysis was conducted using multiple regression analysis and the t-statistic and the p-value were adopted to test the hypotheses of the study. The study used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) as a tool to process and analyse data. The study found out that brand Association does not significantly affect competitive advantage in alcoholic beer products and producers in Kabale district, south western Uganda. The study concludes that consumers of beer products in Kabale district do not attach much association with the beer brands and hence the levels of associations both positive and negative are very low in Kabale district among beer brands. The study recommends that brand managers should focus their marketing communications on the experiential benefits of their product such as fun, excitement, and enjoyment in order to create positive associations in the minds of beer consumers.
Open Access
Brand Awareness and Competitive Advantage among Beer Products in Kabale District, South Western Uganda
(International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Educational Research, 2019) Moses, Agaba; Eliab Mpora, Byamukama; Eton, Marus
In the current business environment firms are required to be more competitive and hostile. Brand Awareness is regarded as a very important concept in business because business organizations can use it to gain competitive advantage. Competitive advantage has been approached by looking at the external environment of the firm that is how the economic power of firms can be used to create competitive position in an industry. This study focuses on Resource Based View a model that provides a framework for identifying unique set of resources and this perspective shifts the approach of assessing competitive advantage from the external to the internal environment that is the resource power. This study, therefore, set out to determine the effect of brand awarenes on competitive advantage in beer products in Kabale district. The specific objective of the study was to (i) To determine the effect of brand awareness on competitive advantage in alcoholic beer products in Kabale district. The study used a descriptive survey research design. The target population was 1783 including wholesalers, retailers, customers and brand and marketing managers of Nile Special Lager, Eagle Lager, Senator Extra Lager, club and Bell beer products in the District of Kabale, South Western Uganda. Multistage sampling techniques were used in this study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select alcoholic beverages products and producers. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to sample shopping center to collect consumer information. Shopping centers were selected based on a marketing investigation. Primary data were used and collected using questionnaires. The descriptive analysis involving computing the mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of the brand equity and competitive advantage variables, the inferential analysis was conducted using multiple regression analysis and the t-statistic and the p-value were adopted to test the hypotheses of the study. The study used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) as a tool to process and analyse data. The findings show that there is significant effect of brand awareness on competitive advantage. This research concludes that it is only when brand awareness is high it has a greater effect on competitive advantage in alcoholic beer products in Kabale district south. The study recommends that beer producers and brand managers should prioritize brand awareness constructs as their strategy to attract potential customers because it does show significant effect on competitive advantage. The study further recommends that beer producers should enhance their efforts to build brand awareness in order to achieve competitive advantage.The findings of this research provide knowledge on building and sustaining firm’s competitive advantange by deploying brand awareness as an intagible critical resource from customer point of view with specific implications for developing cost cutting marketing strategies to maintain firm’ competitive position in Kabale district, South Western Uganda.
Open Access
An assessment of economic and environmental impacts of refugees in Nakivale, Uganda
(Routledge Taylor and Francis group, 2020) Alex Ronald, Mwangu
Uganda is one of the leading host countries for refugees in the East and Horn of Africa. Uganda’s location among instable neighbouring countries and its open door policy to refugees has seen a big number of refugees flowing into the country from Southern Sudan, Rwanda, Somalia, Burundi, Eritrea, Kenya, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of Congo. Some of the refugees are hosted in Nakivale one of the biggest refugee camps in the country located in South Western Uganda. This paper documents the economic and environmental impacts of refugees in Nakivale refugee camp. Data were generated through Focus Group Discussion and interviewing camp leaders, government officials, local leaders, the refugees and community members. This paper contends that the establishment and dense occupancy of Nakivale refugee camp have exerted pressure on the environment as the refugees’ endeavor to revitalize their livelihoods. The increasing numbers of refugees and their active involvement in the production systems has had an impact on the economy. The government should harmonize the interpretation of the 2006 Refugee Act on the right of refugees to employment so that they can increasingly be engaged in production systems, sizes of land allocations should be increased to facilitate expansion in economic activities; and scale up the environment management aspects that has been rolled out in new Uganda Development Response to Displacement Project
Open Access
Financial Inclusion and Access to Higher Education An Empirical Study of Selected Districts in Eastern Uganda
(European Journal of Business and Management, 2020) Eton, Marus; Sammy, Godfrey Poro; Denis, Sekiwu; Fabian, Mwosi; Francis Akena, Adyanga
Access to higher education has continuously been a challenge in Uganda. The research brought out the relationship between financial inclusion and access to higher education. Descriptive survey research design was adopted and the findings established that digital financing eases making deposits in banks, transacting via mobile money and switching from one bank to the other. Students find it easy to deposit tuition in the bank just as they find it easy to access money via mobile money. While financial inclusion makes financial services available in the economy, students, especially those from low-income families find difficulty accessing a wider range of these products, which hinders their access to higher education. The study also establishes that a good number of students fail to meet admission requirements. Since students from low-income families attend high schools of low quality, they have insufficient understanding of some subjects, and thus unable to join higher education. Online registration and payment, students’ decision not to join, peer influence, and rigidity of university programs; are deeply flawed to limit accessing higher education. However, financial services remain accessible to rich individuals who demonstrate ability to pay. The study recommends that the government of Uganda through the concerned ministry should review the implementation of their policies on Students loan scheme and district quota systems. The government should always publish the lists of students admitted to higher education institutions in popular media and newspapers to create awareness to those being admitted to particular institutions.
Open Access
Support Vector Regression and Beta Distribution for the Modeling of Incumbent Party vote for Presidential Elections
(Applied Mathematics & Information Sciences, 2020) R., Kikawa; M, N. Ngungu; D., Ntirampeba; A., Ssematimba
The aim of our study is to model and predict, rather than explain presidential election results, using selected quarterly macroeconomic indicators, say, gross national product, consumer price index, unemployment rate and gross national product from 1994-2017.Particularly, we seek to provide predictions of presidential winner prior to the elections based on the beta distribution and the support vector regression (SVR) as prediction models.Two models are primarily built based on beta distribution and SVR. Due to the forecasting aspect, model performance is focused on mainly one goodness-of-fit measure, that is, the prediction error rather than the squared correlation coefficient R2 as it makes little sense in a practical regression perspective. The best model is the one with the least mean square error (MSE). In this effect it turns out that, the SVR with kernel type encapsulated postscript eps radial has a mean square error of 0.006 on the test set is a better model as compared to the beta distribution model with a mean square error of 1.216. An accurate solution to prediction of presidential vote elections via SVR analysis is therefore proposed.
Open Access
Analysis of Monetary Policy Objectives as Applied to Uganda’s Economy: The Dream to Achieve the Middle-Income Status in 2020 is Gone
(International Journal of Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences, 2020) George Stanley, Kinyata; Nafiu, Lukman Abiodun
This article analyses the effects of monetary policies in terms of monetary objectives, and instruments which are used by most monetary authorities to manage the requirements of the country’s economy and how they influence economic activities of the country. The study is centered on four policy objectives which Bank of Uganda has been using namely; full employment, price stability which includes controlling inflation and economic fluctuations, economic growth and maintenance of balance of payment equilibrium. The instruments which are bank rates, open market operations, change in reserve ratios and selective credit controls used by the central bank are dealt with in this study. Though the economic growth figures of Uganda’s economy have been in the range of 3.0 % to 6.1 % for many years, this has not demonstrated the general growth of income of Ugandans during the same period. According to the World Bank in 2019, Uganda with its population of over 42 million people has a gross domestic product of US $ 33.6 million and is placed number 3 after Kenya and Tanzania. However, in economic growth, it is number 4, after Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya respectively. This questions the ability of the country to achieve the middle-income status by 2020 as had been predicted. The weaknesses in implementation of the monetary objectives which caused the government failure to achieve Uganda’s goal and finally the important strategies and areas which Uganda should use to generate high rates of economic growth to transfer in the economy and maintain macroeconomic stability are recommended in this aricle.
Open Access
Other proprietary brand assets and competitive advantage in beer products in Kabale District, South Western Uganda
(Special Journal of Politics and Economic Sustainability, 2020) Moses, Agaba; Sunday, Arthur
Background In the current business environment, firms are required to be more competitive and hostile. Other proprietary brand asset is used by business organizations to gain competitive advantage. This study adopted the resource based business model that provides a framework for identifying unique set of resources and shifts the approach of assessing competitive advantage from the external to the internal environment that is the resource power. Objectives This study, therefore, set out to determine the effect of Other Proprietary Brand Assets on competitive advantage in beer products in Kabale District. Materials and Methods This is a descriptive questionnaires-based survey of 1,783 wholesalers, retailers, customers, brand and marketing managers of Nile Special Lager, Eagle Lager, Senator Extra Lager, Club and Bell beer products sold in Kabale District of Uganda. Simple random sampling was used to select alcoholic beverages products and producers while purposive sampling was adopted to select shopping centers where consumer information was collected after pilot marketing investigation. Primary data were used and collected using questionnaires. Data generated were analyzed using multiple regression analysis and the t-statistic with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. Results The findings show that there was no significant effect of Other Proprietary Brand Assets on competitive advantage in beer products in Kabale District of Uganda Conclusion & Recommendation Other proprietary brand assets therefore had no significant effect on competitive advantage in beer products marketed in Kabale District of Uganda. Construction of meaningful brand names, colors, and logos are recommended.
Open Access
Understanding Feminism Perspective on Informal Women Entrepreneurs in Kyengera Town Council
(International Journal of Research in Sociology and Anthropology, 2020) Henry Stanley, Mbowa; Siraje, Kaaya
The process of marginalization and exclusion from intersectional and multilevel perspectives has much focus on intersectional of ethnic, gender and class background, which all vested in the feminism perspective of informal women entrepreneurs. The purpose of the paper is to examine the philosophical perspectives on informal women entrepreneurs in Uganda with a focus on how epistemological experiences and perspectives influence informal businesses and what the socio-cultural experiences of women entrepreneurs in Kyengera town council are. The paper is guided by a documentary-based review design using mixed methods, and data collected through on desk review from scholarly articles. The paper indicates various philosophical descriptions, epistemological experiences and perspectives and socio-cultural experiences of informal women entrepreneurs in Kyengera Town Council. The paper concludes that, feminist researchers need to focus on mixed methods research as means to address the knowledge, power and gender-gap among informal women entrepreneurs. This should include knowledge and science to constitute inclusion of women to eliminate male-biased ideologies.
Open Access
Supportive Leadership Style and Staff Motivation in Private Universities in Uganda: Case of Kampala International University
(Global Journals, 2020) Chrisostom, Oketch; Ruth Komunda, Tumwijukye
This study examined the effect of supportive leadership style on staff motivation in private universities in Uganda taking a case of Kampala International University. The study was guided by two specific objectives: (i) to examine the effect of supportive leadership style on energy to work among staff in Kampala International University, and (ii) to examine the effect of supportive leadership style on sustenance of behavior among staff in Kampala International University. The study hypothesized that (i) “supportive leadership style has no significant effect on energy to work among staff in private universities in Uganda” and (ii) “supportive leadership style has no significant effect on sustenance of behavior among staff in private universities in Uganda”. The study adopted a descriptive correlational design to collect data from a sample of 111 respondents with the aid of self –administered questionnaire.