dc.contributor.author | Bett, Timothy K | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2013-05-15T12:03:18Z | |
dc.date.available | 2013-05-15T12:03:18Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2009 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Masters Of Business Administration (MBA) Degree, University of Nairobi | en |
dc.identifier.uri | http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/23196 | |
dc.description | A management research project submitted in partial
fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Of
Master of Business Administration (MBA), Faculty of
Commerce, University of Nairobi | en |
dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study is to evaluate the policies in the two national referral hospitals
in Kenya in view of the normal day to day practices carried out in the management of
working capital. These hospitals are Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and
Referral Hospital. Numerous studies have been conducted in the field of working capital
management in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. A review of this literature
is presented in this study with the aim of highlighting areas that require further research.
All these studies illustrate the importance of efficiently managing working capital and
more so in the public health sector domains where public hospitals are facing
progressively less funding from the treasury as well as other donors. It emerges that many
public hospitals globally are facing liquidity problems and hence, these problems are not
peculiar to anyone state or continent. In studying the working capital management
practices at KNH and MTRH, personal interviews targeting key finance staff were
carried out. The results of this exercise were then analyzed using statistical and
spreadsheet software. The findings show that government and hospital policies often
impact negatively on the hospitals' revenue bases particularly considering the extent of
poverty levels amongst communities served by these institutions. Whereas treasury
regulations require that any surplus funds of these institutions be invested in treasury bills
and bonds (Treasury Circular No. 10 of 1992), any year end surpluses must be remitted
back to the government, meaning that the institutions may not be able to plough back the
surpluses generated to fund their operations. It is also evident that although the two
institutions have financial regulation policies to guide financial management practices,
these policies are often too general and superficial. In other words, they do not set
comprehensive benchmarks or minimum requirements that cover all possible areas of
working capital management. This has made the implementation of these policies to be
ad hoc and uncoordinated. Numerous other challenges facing the management of working
capital have been identified in the two institutions. These challenges have adversely
affected operational efficiency and thereby created liquidity problems. Addressing these
challenges can improve the efficiency of working capital management and in
consequence, improve the operating cash flows of these institutions. | en |
dc.language.iso | en | en |
dc.publisher | University of Nairobi | en |
dc.title | An evaluation of the working capital management practices in Kenyan National Referral Hospitals | en |
dc.type | Thesis | en |
local.publisher | School of Business | en |