| dc.description.abstract | Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) have been accepted worldwide as instruments of economic growth and development. Kenya is among the African countries facing unemployment problem especially among the youth due to the rapid growth in working-age population and low absorptive capacity of the labour market. To provide a means of survival, many of the unemployed have turned to the informal sector to create Micro and Small enterprises. Increase in performance in this sector should be maintained so that the country's needs for economic, social and technological development is achieved. Despite Kenya'•s emphasis on the establishment of MSEs as the path towards industrialization, generally only a few manage to grow in terms of sales, profits and assets as well as the number of people employed. Motivation is the first pre¬requisite of successful enterprise start-up hence it plays a significant role throughout the world in the establishment of MSEs. Well- motivated people are therefore those with clearly defined goals who take action which they expect will achieve those goals. Motivation is varied hence the purpose of the study was to find out the influence of motivation on the performance of micro and small enterprises in Kisurnu city. To achieve the purpose of the study specific objectives were: to determine how monetary rewards, abilities, skills, innovation, Government policies and legislative processes influence performance of MSEs in Kisumu City, Kenya. A conceptual framework was used to show the relationship of variables and performance in MS Es. Descriptive survey research design was used to get information for the study. The target population in this study was 2000 micro and small entrepreneurs. Stratified random sampling was used to sample -00 respondents to guarantee that variable categories with small proportions of cases in the population were adequately represented in the sample. The questionnaires were pretested before the actual data collection among 5 entrepreneurs with similar characteristics to the proposed trata used in the study. The primary data was collected through administration of questionnaires and interview schedule. Secondary data were captured through review of existing literatures form the Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development, published reports, journals and updated information from the internet. The instruments were tested for reliability and validity using test-retest and peer consultation. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as means, frequency counts and percentages. Qualitative data was coded and analyzed in emergent themes. Analysis of variance was done using Non-Parametric Kruskal- Wallis Statistics to test the significance of the relationship between two variables. The findings of the study revealed that monetary rewards factors had mean ratings ranging from 4.44-4.11, innovation 4.47-3.91, abilities and skills 4.20-2.41 and Government policies and legislative processes 3.44-2.44. Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that there was no significant difference in the factors monetary rewards p= 0.236 (>a=0.05) and innovation p= 0.217 (>a=0.55). There was significant difference in the factors of abilities and skills p= (<0.002) and Government policies p= (< 0.0001). The researcher therefore concluded that monetary rewards, innovation, abilities and skills positively influenced the performance of MSEs as they allow acquisition of new ideas and technologies while Government policies and legislative processes have low influence on performance due to the bureaucratic processes in lending terms, business registration and high tax rates. Based on the findings of this study, the researcher recommends the following; promotion of projects that have components aimed at empowering community, organization of seminars for potential and actual entrepreneurs, a given percentage of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and other devolved funds be allocated to entrepreneurs, Government to continue to work towards fair and comprehensive tax reform, Stakeholders in entrepreneurship, education and training institutions, the Government and other policy makers may find the findings of this study useful in improving the performance of MSEs in Kisumu city. | en_US |