Effect of Corporate Governance Practices on Organizational Performance of State Corporations in the Health Sector, Kenya

Sound corporate governance practices are a major contributor to effective and efficient management of State Corporations in the health sector in Kenya. Since independence, the level of accountability in management of State Corporations has continued to decline despite the availability of various monitoring structures like legal frameworks, ethics and integrity, policies and the code of conduct and ethics intended to provide a clear road map to successful performance of the State Corporations. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of corporate governance practices on the performance of the State Corporations in the health sector in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design with a population comprising of the health State Corporations. Primary data was collected the using questionnaires. Data was analyzed using SPSS software. The results indicated that accountability and organizational performance of health State Corporations is positively and significantly related. The results further indicated that transparency and organizational performance of health State Corporations is positively and significantly related Board Responsibility and organizational performance of health State Corporations is positively and significantly related. Moral Integrity and organizational performance of health State Corporations is positively and significantly related The study concluded that corporate governance practices have a positive and significant effect on organizational performance of State Corporations in the health sector in Kenya. The study recommended that the management of the State corporations should establish certain control mechanisms that ensure accountability. The study recommended that there should continuous internal check and audit on the part of management and low level of management to ensure adequate accountability systems in the State Corporations. Keywords: Corporate Governance, Organizational Performance & State Corporations

국방관리회계제도에 관한 연구

The essence of Defense Resources Management is to maximize the combat capabilities through rational allocation and economization of the limited resources. Since the termination of U.S. military assistance early in the 1970's, we have put a lot of efforts to actualize our Self-Defense Will by setting up our own management system which is proper to our situation, but we have experienced numerous trial and errors and waste of resources because of the partial and superficial immitation of the advanced countries' systems. In order to solve the basic problems of our Defense Management, we have initiated an improvement project of Defense Management System, "Budget Reform Project," and adopted the PPBEES(Planning-Programming-Budgeting-Execution-EvaluatioSny system) which is based on "Defense Management Accounting System(DMAS)". We believe that the DMAS is one of the best management systems we have ever had in the world, since managerial accounting practices based on advanced theory and double entry book-keeping principle are reasonably mechanized enabling the internal check and balance. DMAS, integrated accounting system for the total management, can make it possible to decide the standard cost factor and to measure unit operation performance by analyzing the actual resource consumption data, and further to provide decision makers with cost information rationale in the process of programming and budget formulation. Moreover, with the application of computerized DMAS from local unit to the Ministry of National Defense Headquarters, we can facilitate office automation and unified repoting system, and also we can contribute to the modernization of military information system for approaching into the highly developed information society.

A Quasi-Universal Internuclear Potential Energy Function for the Diatomic Halides

Taking into account the universal correlation of the force constants of halide bonds with their respective dissociation energies (excluding the fluorides), an internuclear potential energy function of the type V(r) = De (1-e-α(r-re))2 + β (1-δF,X) (r - re)2e-γ(r-re) has been proposed for the diatomic halides. α und β, in the latter are constants for a specific series, γ is determined from the rotational-vibrational constant αe, and the function reduces to the ordinary Morse potential function in the case of the fluorides. It, moreover, performs as well as the Hulburt-Hirschfelder 5-parameter function, and, unlike the latter, utilizes the anharmoni-city constant ωeXe as an internal check.

Evaluation Of A High Performance Liquid Chromolography (Hplc) Mehtod For Amino Acid Analysis In Feed With Precolumn Derivatization And Fluorescence Detection

An experiment was conducted to determine the amino acids content in wheat sample which is often used as internal check in animal feed analysis by pre-column derivatization method using ortho-phthaldialdehyde (OPA) and betamercaptoethanol followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Fluorescence detection was used for the assay of OPA derivatives of amino acids with the detection wavelength set at Ex 340 nm and Em 455 nm. Ortho-phthaldialdehyde reagent itself does not fluorescence and hence produces no peak on the chromatogram and also produces a very low level of background noise. From standard amino acid mixture fourteen amino acids (Asp, Glu, Ser, Gly, Thr, Arg, Ala, Tyr, Met, Val, Phe, Ile, Leu, and Lys) were separated in 55 min with fine resolution. Good reproducibility and accuracy of the method were demonstrated by the determination of amino acids in wheat sample. The precision for the retention time of amino acids (n = 10 injections over 3 days) between the days showed average standard deviation (SD) of 0.43 and coefficient of variation (CV) of 3.32%. The average SD and CV of peak area repeatability over n = 10 injections were 0.72 and 14.93% also indicated the higher sensitivity of the method. The results of the amino acids in wheat samples suggested that the method can be potentially applied for the determination of amino acids in wheat as well as other cereal feeds used in animal diets. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjas.v37i2.9883 BJAS 2008; 37(2): 66-73