SERVICE QUALITY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN ENTERPRISE FUND IN KISUMU COUNTY, KENYA SWAGI KHAUYA PAULINE D53/OL/KKA/26073/2015 A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT) DEGREE, KENYATTA UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER, 2020 i ii DEDICATION I dedicate this research project to my son Alvan Murimi, my sister Martha Swagi and as well as my friends and work colleagues for their encouragement and support throughout the entire period. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Elishiba Murigi whose advice, immense support, constructive criticisms and guidance has enabled me to reach this stage. I am grateful to Nelson Ondiek and the staff of Women Enterprise Fund Kisumu who provided great insights into this work. I also wish to acknowledge and express my deepest appreciation to those who have assisted and guided me in the completion of this research project but are not mentioned here. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. ix OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS ..................................................................... x ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ............................................................................ xii ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of the Study ................................................................................................... 1 1.1.2. Performance Women Enterprise Fund ........................................................................... 5 1.1.2. Service Quality.............................................................................................................. 7 1.2. Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................. 8 1.3. Objectives of the Study ................................................................................................. 9 1.3.1. General Objectives of the study .................................................................................... 9 1.3.2. Specific Objectives of the study ................................................................................... 9 1.4. Research Hypotheses .................................................................................................. 10 1.5. Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 10 1.6. Scope of the Study ...................................................................................................... 11 1.7. Limitations of the Study.............................................................................................. 11 1.8. Organization of the Study ........................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 12 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 12 2.2. Theoretical Review. .................................................................................................... 12 2.2.1. Expectation confirmation Theory ............................................................................... 12 2.2.2. Models of Service Quality and Performance .............................................................. 13 2.3. Empirical Review........................................................................................................ 16 2.3.1. Performance of Women Enterprise Fund ................................................................... 16 2.4. Summary of empirical literature ................................................................................. 20 2.5. Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................... 22 v CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................. 23 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 23 3.2. Research Design.......................................................................................................... 23 3.2.1. Empirical Model ......................................................................................................... 23 3.2.2. Target Population ........................................................................................................ 24 3.3. Sampling Design ......................................................................................................... 25 3.3.3. Sampling Frame .......................................................................................................... 25 3.4. Data Collection Instruments ....................................................................................... 26 3.4.1. Pilot Testing. ............................................................................................................... 27 3.4.2. Validity. ...................................................................................................................... 27 3.4.3. Reliability .................................................................................................................... 27 3.4. Data Collection Procedure .......................................................................................... 28 3.5. Data Analysis and Presentation .................................................................................. 28 3.6. Hypothesis testing ....................................................................................................... 29 3.6.1. Decision Criteria ......................................................................................................... 30 3.6.2. The test static .............................................................................................................. 30 3.6.3. Decision making ......................................................................................................... 31 3.7. Ethical Considerations ................................................................................................ 31 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................. 32 4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 32 4.1.1. Reliability Test ............................................................................................................ 32 4.2. Demographic Information ........................................................................................... 33 4.2.1. Gender and age. .......................................................................................................... 33 4.2.2. Position in the Group by Gender ................................................................................ 34 4.2.3. Level of Education ...................................................................................................... 34 4.2.4. Amount of Most Recent Loan Serviced or In Service ................................................ 35 4.3. Perceptions of Service Quality: SERVPERF .............................................................. 36 4.4. Regression Model ....................................................................................................... 40 4.5. Correlation Matrix ...................................................................................................... 41 4.6. Regression test ............................................................................................................ 41 4.7. Test of Significance .................................................................................................... 44 4.8. Test of hypothesis ....................................................................................................... 45 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ................ 47 vi 5.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 47 5.2. Summary of the Findings ............................................................................................ 47 5.3. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 49 5.4. Recommendations ......................................................................................................