Browsing by Author "Ntale, Peter Dithan"
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Item Customer relationship management technologies, service quality and customer loyalty in the hotel industry in Uganda(Journal of Management & Administration, 2020) Ngoma, Muhammed; Ruqqaiya, Naluwooza; Bukoma Moya, Musa; Ntale, Peter DithanThis paper seeks to evaluate the relationship between Customer Relationship Management, service quality and customer loyalty among Uganda's hotels. This was a cross-sectional study design and largely quantitative. A convenience sample of 460 customers was drawn from registered hotels in the Central region of Uganda. With a response rate of 91%, we established significant positive relationships between CRM and service quality; CRM and customer loyalty; service quality and customerloyalty. CRM and service quality predicted 28% of the variance in customer loyalty, with CRM being the most significant predictor. The factors affecting hotel industry may differ from other sectors. Therefore, the findings in this paper may not be generalized in other sectors. Similar studies with relatively larger samples should be carried out in other sectors. From a Ugandan perspective and the East African region at large, there are inadequate studies that emphasize the role of CRM and Service Quality in creating loyal customers in the hospitality industry. This research empirically provides an improved model of how profitable loyal customers can be created.Item Designing Organizations for Collaborative Relationships: the Amenability of Social Capital to Inter-Agency Collaboration in the Graduate Employment Context in Uganda(Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2022) Ntale, Peter Dithan; Ssempebwa, JudeThis paper discusses organizational social capital with the view that its amenability to collaboration creates trust, mutuality and reciprocal relational values upon which organizations may synchronize their efforts to create graduate employment opportunities. We adopted a cross-sectional survey design with both quantitative and qualitative approaches. We conveniently collected data from staff and leaders of four organizations which were purposely selected to represent a cross-section of government, private and civil society organizations whose mandate touches on the employability of university graduates in the country in very direct ways. From a sample of 175 respondents, we received 105 filled questionnaires, representing a response rate of 62%. We observed that the extent to which the social capital components of trust, mutuality and reciprocal relations were amenable to interagency collaboration were low to sufficiently permit collaborative relationships upon which synergy between agencies would enhance the creation of graduate employment opportunities. The implication of this study is that we have been trained to foster self-sufficiency, individual competence, individual brilliance and independence through the pursuance of individual goals and actions. This greatly affects the trust, mutuality and reciprocal relationships that people/organizations develop with one another, consequently denying societies or organizations the opportunity to tap into the synergistic capital that would help people or organizations tackle the challenges that are beyond their individual capabilities.Item Gaps in the structuring of organizations in the graduate employment context in Uganda(Journal of Organization Design, 2020) Ntale, Peter Dithan; Ssempebwa, Jude; Musisi, Badiru; Gyaviira Musoke, Genza; Joseph, Kimoga; Mugimu, C. B.; Muhammed, Ngoma; Ntayi, JosephThe complexity of global challenges requires that organizations collaborate with one another. To do this, stakeholders need flexible structures that are designed in a way that allows organizations to collaborate. However, it is not known whether Uganda’s organizations are structured in a way that allows them to collaborate with one another, casting doubt as to whether they can manage the complexity of global challenges such as graduate unemployment. Informed by Hage and Aiken (1967), we studied the structures of selected organizations in Uganda and found out that their major components, i.e., centralization and formalization, are designed in a way that may not allow collaboration to occur. We found out that the organizational structures were exclusive in decision-making, had high power distance (HPD), jobs were strictly codified, and organizations enforced stringent rule observation. These gaps make it difficult for people interaction and involvement and deny them of their freedom to relate with one another, making it difficult for a collaboration between different agencies to occur. To enhance organizational collaboration, it is recommended that organizations should be restructured to become more inclusive, interactive, and democratic since organizations structured in this way have shown collaboration success and greater achievement of society needs.Item Inter-agency Collaboration for Graduate Employment Opportunities in Uganda: a Case for Investigating the Structure, Social Capital, and Agency of Organizations(Journal of African American Studies, 2019) Ntale, Peter DithanAfrica’s population has grown from 477 million in 1980 to 1.25 billion people by 2017. Whereas this is expected to double to 2.4 billion people by 2050, there is uncertainty over the continent’s preparedness to provide opportunities for its youthful population (Hilson and McQuilken, The Extractive Industries and Society 1:104–118, 2014). Efforts by different stakeholders to create employment opportunities have been largely unsuccessful. Rae (Journal of GeneralManagement, 40:79–95, 2014) attributes this failure to the autonomous and individualistic actions of different agencies in executing their mandates. In doing this, they compete and conflict against each other which discourages efforts towards job creation. Taking cognizance of this anomaly, this paper urges research into the structure, social capital, and agency of organizations with the view to suggest ways of promoting the kind and level of collaboration that is desired among the organizations. The paper starts with an introduction, the context of graduate unemployment in Uganda, discusses the efforts of different agencies, a bit of literature review, the theoretical underpinnings, knowledge gap, a case study and what Uganda’s organizations learn from the Urban Partnership Program, and finally the conclusion.Item Is COVID-19 threatening electoral democracy in Uganda? Readiness to accept “scientific voting” (electronic voting) amidst the COVID-19 pandemic(Regulation and Governance, 2021) Ntale, Peter Dithan; Ngoma, MuhammedThe purpose of this paper is to assess the readiness of Ugandans to accept electronic voting under the restrictive conditions of theCOVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach – A semi-structured questionnaire, built on a five-point-Likert scale with responses ranging from 1 – strongly disagree to 5 – strongly agree was used to get quantifiable data from four main electoral stakeholders i.e. the policymakers, urban and semi-urban youth, rural voters and government officials. These stakeholders were purposively and conveniently selected because of the influential roles they play in promoting electoral democracy in Uganda. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the authors adopted correlational and quantitative research designs to collect and analyse data. Data was collected from a maximum sample size of 384 as recommended by Krejcie and Morgan (1970) from which 252 useful responses (65.6% response rate) were obtained. Using a statistical package for social scientists version 21.0, the authors performed a Pearson correlation coefficient to determine the relationships between study variables and linear regression analysis to predict the readiness of the stakeholders to accept e-voting more especially under the constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings – There was a positive significant relationship between perceived usefulness (PU) and attitude towards adoption, perceived ease of use and attitude towards adoption, attitude and readiness and finally trust propensity and readiness. The regression results show that 65% of the variations in readiness to adopt e-voting can be explained by perceived ease of use, PU, trust propensity and attitude towards adoption. Attitude towards adopting e-voting accounts for the highest variations in the model followed by trust propensity and finally PU. However, perceived ease of use was found to be insignificant. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to only PU, perceived ease of use, trust propensity, attitudes towards using/adoption and readiness to accept e-voting amidst the COVID-19 strict conditions. In Africa, electoral democracy can be influenced by a number of factors such as finances, education levels, sectarianism, voter rigging, perceived risk, political and economic environment. These were not taken into consideration yet they would affect the stakeholders’ attitudes and perceptions which would directly or indirectly affect the adoption of electronic voting. Practical implications – Given the low levels of technology infrastructure in the country, there is a general low uptake of technology-oriented systems. The internet reach is low and quality is poor whilst the radio and televisions network is limited to a few urban settings, poor quality technology systems such as the recently acquired voter biometric systems and the constant government actions to switch off the internet and social media whenever there are contentious political issues. These inadequacies together with the restrictive COVID-19 conditions have compromised the participation of stakeholders which dents the stakeholders’ readiness to accept e-voting which consequently compromises electoral democracy in the country. Therefore, government, electoral observers, the international community and civil society organizations need to accelerate the technology infrastructure development in the country, training and development of technical skills and competences, as well asmassmobilization on the use of technologyoriented platforms aimed at promoting electoral democracy. The country should come up with ICT policies and regulations that encourage the use of ICT in areas that promote democracy. These mayinclude; the use of an easy e-voting system such as emails and voting via the post office. Also, Lawmakers, civil society organizations and the international community should make it punitive for anyone who disenfranchises people through internet disconnection, denial of access to broadcast, print and online media. These interventions will restore peoples’ attitudes and perceptions towards electronic voting, consequently increasing their levels of participation in the electioneering process. Originality/value – The Ministry of Health, the Uganda Police Force and other security agencies have come out strongly to enforce the COVID-19 standard operating procedures which among others include the banning of political gatherings, processions and meetings of any kind. As a remedy, the Electoral Commission is encouraging political parties, electoral candidates, voters and other stakeholders to use technology-oriented systems such as mobile phones, broadcast and print media, the internet and others to reach out to the electorate. With the government in full control of all these electronic, print and broadcast media, having previously switched them off during the 2011 and 2016 polls consequently disenfranchising many people from their democratic rights, it remains unknown the extent to which the electorate is ready to accept and appreciate scientific voting more so during this time when restrictions against COVID-19 are not making it any better for the voters and other key participants to carry out their political and civil activities.Item Percieved Brand Quality in Uganda’s Pharmaceutical Industry: The Role of Country of Origin, Marketing Orientation and Brand Affordability(Advances in Management and Applied Economics, 2015) Ngoma, Muhammed; Ntale, Peter DithanThe study set out to determine the role played by country of origin, marketing orientation and brand affordability in influencing the perceived brand quality of pharmaceuticals in Uganda. In a sample of 352 doctors selected through a stratified random sampling, statistical analysis revealed significant positive relationships between the variables, that is; Country of Origin, pharmaceutical marketing orientation, brand affordability and perceived brand quality. Regression results confirmed that country of origin image, brand affordability and marketing orientation were strong predictors of perceived brand quality. Overall, the independent variables explained 32.4 % of the variance in perceived brand quality. It is therefore suggested that the pharmaceutical companies should analyze the country of origin image in detail and recognize the capacity of the country within different product categories. However, given the continuous globalization of markets, it is possible to neutralize the effect of country-of-origin on the evaluation of product quality and the influence on purchasing decisions. Evidence from the literature revealed that if other forms of product quality attributes were highlighted during the product’s promotion and marketing campaigns, country-of-origin would have low effect on consumers’ perception of product quality in the pharmaceuticals.Item Psychological capital, career identity and graduate employability in Uganda: the mediating role of social capital(International Journal of Training and Development, 2016) Ngoma, Muhammad; Ntale, Peter DithanThis paper seeks to evaluate the relationship between psychological capital, career identity, social capital and graduate employability. We also seek to evaluate the mediating role of social capital on the relationships between psychological capital, career identity and graduate employability in Uganda. A population of 480 unemployed young people undertaking a skills development and training program by Compassion International was surveyed providing a sample of 215 respondents. Statistics revealed a significant positive relationship between career identity and graduate employability, social capital and graduate employability and psychological capital and graduate employability. The hierarchical regression result showed that about 15 per cent of the variation in graduate employability is explained by psychological capital, social capital and career identity. Mediation results confirmed that social capital fully mediates the relationship between career identity, psychological capital and graduate employability. Therefore, the psychological capital, social capital and career identity of graduates will help in counteracting the employability challenges in Uganda.Item Social-Economic Factors, Student Factors, Student Academic Goals and Performance of Students in Institutions of Higher Learning in Uganda(Africa Education Review, 2017) Ngoma, Muhammed; Ntale, Peter Dithan; Abaho, EarnestThis article evaluates the relationship between social-economic factors, students’ factors, student academic goals and performance of students. The study adopts a cross-sectional survey, with largely quantitative approaches. A sample of 950 students was randomly and proportionately drawn from undergraduates in four institutions of higher learning. A response rate of 61% was recorded. We observed significant positive relationships between student factors (except competence in quantitative subjects and grades earned in high school) and student performance, as well as student learning goals and student academic performance. We did not observe a significant relationship between socio-economic factors and student performance at higher institutions. The model was significant, and explained 47% of the variation in student performance. The study recommends that higher institutions should place considerable emphasis on inculcating a reading/preparation culture among students, enforce attendance at lectures and encourage students to set learning goals, if they are to improve the performance of their students.Item Word of mouth communication: A mediator of relationship marketing and customer loyalty(Cogent Business & Management, 2019) Ngoma, Muhammed; Ntale, Peter DithanA cross-sectional and quantitative study design, with the aim of explaining the relationship between relationship marketing and customer loyalty, and the mediating role of word of mouth in this relationship was undertaken. A sample of 384 was determined from a population of the mobile telecommunication users based on Krejcie & Morgan sampling framework. The study utilized 384 questionnaires. The authors conducted confirmatory factor, correlation, regression, mediation and SEM for analysis, interpretation and results. While trust, relationship satisfaction and reciprocity components of relationship marketing have been found to be significant predictors of customer loyalty in other studies, our study findings reveal contrasting results. This is a unique finding in our study. However, in line with earlier studies, our findings indicate a positive significant relationship between relationship marketing components of communication, commitment and customer loyalty. The study also finds a significant positive relationship between the relationship marketing components of communication and commitment and word of mouth and a significant positive relationship between word of mouth and customer loyalty. Telecommunication companies should pay attention to relationship encounters that build commitment, should develop targeted communication channels which build positive word of mouth communication.This will ultimately create loyal customers for mobile telecommunication companies.