| dc.description.abstract | Increasing degradation of the natural environment i
s one of the main threats to human survival in the
long term.
Business enterprises’ environmental commitment has,
therefore, become an important variable in most of
today’s competitive business environment. Activitie
s of most enterprises are the main causes of enviro
nmental
degradation which in turn impact on their performan
ce. This study therefore looks at the specific busi
ness
environmental initiatives and how they impact on th
eir performance. The overall objective of the study
was to
establish the impact of environmental initiatives o
n business performance sustainability around Lake N
aivasha.
In order to achieve this objective, the research wa
s guided by various specific objectives which inclu
ded
examining forms of environmental degradation, exami
ning environmental initiatives put in place to miti
gate on
degradation, and examining effects of environmental
initiatives of various business operations on soci
al capital.
Both primary and secondary data were collected for
the purposes of the study. Primary data was collect
ed
through various instruments including questionnaire
s administered to individual respondents, focus gro
up
discussions, in depth interviews and observation sc
hedules. Secondary data was obtained from previous
study
reports, articles, professional journals, various b
usinesses’ monitoring records, annual sales reports
and any other
relevant literature that the researcher came across
in the course of the study. The collected data was
interpreted
and analysed using discriminant analysis. The Scien
tific Package for Social Studies (SPSS) was used fo
r the
analysis. The study design was descriptive survey i
n order to pick behaviours which needed to be mitig
ated for
purposes of enterprise performance sustainability.
Purposive random sampling was used from the target
population which comprised of farming, hospitality
and fishing sectors. For purposes of establishing t
he views of
the stakeholders, the officials of various organisa
tions that have interests on the Lake Naivasha ecos
ystem were
incorporated into a focus group and their views wer
e sought through group discussions. The key finding
s of the
study were that; the main forms of environmental de
gradation are nutrients discharge to the lake, wate
r
abstraction, cutting of trees, overgrazing and gree
n house gases effects. The implication of the findi
ngs is that
unless businesses concerned address environmental i
ssues their performance sustainability may not be a
ssured
going forward. The study recommends that an evaluat
ive criteria defining the impacts that are acceptab
le to the
society be determined, policy bundles that are curr
ently in place be reviewed to achieve diverse socie
tal
objectives, strategic decisions made by organisatio
ns operating in the area be assessed in light of th
e actors
involved and investment in better information monit
oring and enforcement of rules and regulations be
undertaken. Lastly, since specific organisational s
ustainability outcomes seem to consistently fail to
meet broad
societal expectation, the articulation of stakehold
er interests need to be considered by involving all
actors in the
environmental governance process.
Keywords:
Environmental initiative on Business Performance Su
stainability, Lake Naivasha, Kenya | en_US |
