Graduate School of Business

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    Causes of employees’ job dissatisfaction among health workers in selected public hospitals in Zambia.
    (The University of Zambia, 2024) Zulu, Annalena
    The main aim of this study was to investigate causes of employee job dissatisfaction among health workers in public hospitals in Zambia. The specific objectives were: To determine the levels of job dissatisfaction and the extent of employee job dissatisfaction among health workers in selected public hospitals in Zambia; To establish the factors contributing to job dissatisfaction among health workers in selected public hospitals in Zambia; To develop a framework for minimisation of job dissatisfaction among health workers in selected public hospitals in Zambia. The study adopted a descriptive research design with a cross-sectional and institutional-based approach. The study population included all the 205 health workers at Chongwe District Hospital and Mpanshya Mission Hospital in Rufunsa District. The study utilised stratified random sampling and a total of 84 respondents were included in the sample, giving a 41% response rate. The collection of qualitative and quantitative data was done through both open-ended questions through an interview guide and focus group discussions and close-ended questions via a survey. Qualitative data was analysed through thematic analysis while quantitative data was analysed through descriptive statistics using percentages. The study found that 61.9% of respondents reported a high level of job dissatisfaction among Health workers at Chongwe District Hospital, indicating a significant issue affecting morale and productivity at the institution. Various factors were identified through quantitative data as contributing to job dissatisfaction among health workers, including poor working conditions, lack of promotion opportunities, ineffective management practices, unclear organizational policies, and low salaries. These issues were prevalent at both Chongwe District Hospital and Mpanshya Mission Hospital, highlighting systemic challenges impacting employee satisfaction in the healthcare sector. Recommendations to minimize job dissatisfaction included creating a conducive working environment, improving remuneration and benefits, enhancing communication and involvement in decision-making processes, providing sufficient staffing and resources, and implementing stress management strategies. Additionally, the study suggested promoting fairness and transparency in promotion procedures and establishing career advancement pathways to address concerns related to job dissatisfaction.
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    Contract management of high-value road works in Zambia: a case of road development agency.
    (The University of Zambia, 2021) Mutale, Chisala Terry
    The Government of the Republic of Zambia spends millions of kwachas every year for the development of road infrastructure. This was evidenced in the 2020 Budget were over ZMW10.5 billion was allocated for various road projects. With such sums of funds spent on road infrastructure, it is fundamentally important that road works are procured and managed efficiently and effectively to obtain value for money. The Road Development Agency (RDA) being the largest beneficiary of funds allocated for road infrastructure, a research was conducted at RDA on the contract management of high-value road works in Zambia. The research was triggered by the findings of the Office of the Auditor General on the poor management of contracts for road works in Zambia. The aim of the research was to develop a framework that addresses shortfalls in contract management of high-value contracts for road works at RDA in Zambia. Concurrent mixed methods research was the key methodological choice adopted for the study with the incorporation of philosophies such as critical realism, interpretivism and pragmatism; and approaches to theory development such as deduction, induction and abduction. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews which were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Out of twenty-four (24) respondents, twenty-three (23) participated in the research which translated into a response rate of 95.8%. The results of the research showed that the top twenty-five (25) factors of poor contract management of high-value contracts for road works at RDA included delays in processing payments, awarding contracts without mobilising adequate funds, implementing contracts with improperly prepared design documents/statements of work, etc. In addition, it was discovered that the management of construction contracts at RDA comprised four (4) key stages namely; planning & design, development & award, mobilisation and implementation. Finally, based on the research results a contract management framework was developed which addresses limitations in the contract management of high-value contracts for road works at RDA.
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    A study exploring human resource best practices in higher learning institutions: a case study of the university of Zambia.
    (The University of Zambia, 2021) Chama, Tolomeo
    This study aimed at investigating the extent to which the Human Resource Management best practice model by EmpXtrack is applied by the University of Zambia in order to understand the human resource management challenges at the institution. It was a case study of the University of Zambia. Primary data was obtained from 163 employees and 7 management employees using self-administered questionnaires and interviews, respectively. The quantitative data was analyzed using the relative important index (RII), while the qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings show that on average the collective response from the respondents is ‘neutral’ (0.519). A few practices like knowledge sharing, fair evaluation of employees, had the response ‘agree’ with an index of 0.627. The majority of the seven (7) remaining management practices had the response ‘neutral’ (0.474) and only one (1) of the mechanisms; delighting employees with the unexpected recorded the response ‘disagree’ with an index of 0.347. This implies that the human resource department at UNZA was only successful with 3 human resource management practices out of the best 10 suggested by EmpXtrack. This entails that the inadequacy in implementing these management practices could be the cause of the human resource management challenges UNZA is facing.
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    A study of the factors preventing SMEs participation in alternative stock market in Zambia.
    (The University of Zambia, 2020) Lungu, George
    The lack of SME financing has prompted the need to provide an alternative way to raise funds from the sale of shares through the Alternative Security Markets (ASM). Thus SMEs need to be allowed to register on the stock exchange market. This paper was inspired by the lack of research on this trend in Zambia as it tried to examine factors that could encourage SMEs to register on the ASM. To achieve this goal, the research adopted a quantitative method, while the research strategy used a survey. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The design was considered appropriate in determining factors that prevents SMEs businesses from raising finance on the ASM. The study used a Stratified sampling technique where random sampled quotas were chosen. The size of the sample was determined using Yamen’s formula that derived 65 companies. Questionnaires were used to obtain primary data in this study. Data were obtained from a sample size of sixty five (65) respondents drawn from the population of 4,058 SMEs. Four factors were considered that prevents SMEs from listing on ASM and these are 1) (information accessibility), factor 2) (regulatory requirements), factor 3) (corporate governance) and factor 4) (Transaction cost). Research findings indicated that information access, regulatory requirements, corporate governance, and transaction cost for SMEs are critical in deciding SMEs participation on the ASM. The study concluded that information accessibility, regulatory requirements, corporate governance, as well as transaction cost are important in determining SMEs listing on the ASM. The research findings confirm the previous studies carried out in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and London that availability of information, regulatory requirements, corporate governance, and cost of the transaction were key factors in the listing of SMEs. The study recommended that if Lusaka stock exchange is to establish an effective ASM for SMEs they should factor in information accessibility, regulatory requirements, corporate governance, and transaction cost. Keywords: SMEs, alternative, stock, market.
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    The effect of supply chain approaches on profitability in pharmaceutical supply chain of healthcare providers.
    (The University of Zambia, 2020) Chelwa, Chibuye Angel
    Healthcare supply chain is plagued by misalignment, high costs for healthcare providers and heavy dependence on third parties, distributors and manufacturers. In contrast to traditional supply chain models, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) can be used to gain a competitive advantage through effective supply chain. A VMI approach can improve supply chain performance by decreasing inventory-related costs and increasing customer service. This study aimed at understanding the effects of traditional and VMI strategies on profitability in private health care facilities. Using a mixed methods approach, the study compared financial statements of two healthcare facilities who used only traditional supply chain and of two additional facilities both for when they used traditional supply chain methods and when they used a VMI model. The analysis reviewed changes in gross profit margin and cashflow margin from 2016 to 2017. In-depth interviews were conducted to provide insights of the health care providers who work in VMI facilities a total of 8 staff members were interviewed. Data collected from financial statements and in-depth interviews was analysed using SPSS and Excel. Facilities that used VMI saw a combined growth in revenue from drug sales of 37% in contrast to 12.3 for those that used traditional models. A strong positive linear relationship was found to exist between VMI adoption and Gross profit margin with correlation values at 0.978 and 0.88 for VMI facilities. While no significant correlation was found between cash flow margins and VMI adoption, 87.5% of staff members interviewed said they would recommend VMI suppliers to their peers. Findings showed that both the facilities that implemented VMI in 2017 experienced significant revenue growth as compared to the hospitals that maintained a traditional model. In addition to this VMI hospitals had higher growth profit margins in 2017 than the traditional supply chain ones. However, the cases have been conducted over a short period of time, which may affect the generalization of the findings. Wider empirical evidence from more facilities over a longer period of time will be beneficial.