Explore publications.

This research explores the nexus of oral communication, masculinity, and gender-based violence (GBV) in Congolese households the City of Bukavu. It was conducted between October and December 2023. It used a qualitative approach with 30 in-depth interviews with Congolese married men the researchers chose randomly, and whose ages ranged between 35 and 67. The research applied thematic analysis to identify major themes. Results indicate that Congolese men in Bukavu appreciate when family members value their masculinity. Monopolizing the speech gives them the feeling they are listened to, which mirrors power and respect. Interrupting a man’s oral communication conveys disdain of his masculine power, which can push him to resort to GBV. This attitude originates from gender roles and beliefs that patriarchy has preset for men, obliging women to remain silent and submissive. Gender differences in spoken communication led to either competition or connection, and affiliation or action. The study applied the theories of family violence and masculinity. Family violence entails how communication styles can influence each partner’s behaviours. The man’s abusive communication in the household can manipulate his wife's feelings to prompt emotional abuse. Masculinity encompasses hegemonic masculinity that dominates all other masculinities. Masculinity sets a boundary of what it means to be a man by giving him power and control over women and other men. This elucidates how men have full speech while women are passive. Once gender dissimilarities and masculinity couple with voiced negative communication, they fuel male GBV in Congolese households. To overcome this issue, constructive masculinity can promote healthy communication by encouraging men to value women and communicate freely by respecting freedom of expression in large or reduced locales.

The research assesses the challenges deterring the progress of women’s small-scale businesses in Rwanda. It was guided by the following specific objectives: identify challenges faced by women’s small-scale businesses in Rwanda and assess how those challenges affect women’s small-scale businesses' progress. Findings were collected from 109 respondents who have been running small-scale businesses over a period ranging from one to three years. Results were collected through a questionnaire and desk review and quantitatively analyzed. The findings shed light on the challenges which small-scale women entrepreneurs face namely family expenses (53.2%), drunkenness (67%), family conflicts (93.6%), financial illiteracy (100%), and poverty (100%). The above-mentioned challenges affect small-scale businesses in that women entrepreneurs find themselves mixing up businesses and family expenses. Family conflicts were also highlighted to be another cause of business failure in that women who conflict with their husbands cannot easily prosper in their businesses. In addition, financial illiteracy makes them unable to assess their profit and find their businesses stagnant or closing. Thus, there is a need to provide support to small-scale businesswomen about how to assess business progress, and calculate their interest rate so that they may come up with financial skills. This would enable them to align their daily family expenses with their business interest. Once properly implemented, it would decrease the business failure rate.

The chance of survival of businesses in Rwanda is underprivileged and 82% of them close at an early stage, which negatively affects manufacturing companies, particularly Family-Owned Manufacturing Companies (FOMCs). Although there are other reasons why many FOMCs do not succeed in the next generation, a lack of pro-activeness has surfaced as a critical factor. Thus, the study aimed to assess the effect of pro-activeness on the survival of family-owned manufacturing companies in Kigali City, Rwanda. The study was conducted in Kigali City, from 2017 to 2023; Cochran’s formula was employed to determine a sample size of 384 senior employees picked at random from 77 FOMCs. This study employed Self-administered questionnaires and a quantitative approach. Multiple linear regression analysis was utilized to find out the relationship among variables. IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) SPSS (Software Package for Social Sciences) was employed to analyze data. The findings of this study indicated that pro-activeness had a substantial influence on the survival of family-owned manufacturing companies. The study offers a cogent explanation of the relationship between the longevity of family-owned manufacturing companies and pro-activeness. The study also offers important insights into the smooth and effective execution of pro-activeness for the survival and continuity of family-owned manufacturing enterprises. Moreover, the study findings indicated that combining pro-activeness and training the successors boost the productivity of family-owned companies and make them more competitive in the market, which leads to the long-term survival of FOMFs. The FOMFs that use pro-activeness in their operations survive longer than the ones without it.  

The study investigates the relationship between masculinities, narcissism, and gender-based violence (GBV) among Congolese male refugees in Durban, South Africa. The research uses a qualitative approach and 25 in-depth interviews to identify major themes. Results show that Congolese male refugees reinforce their masculinities through narcissistic behaviors, which contribute to GBV. Societal stakeholders in Durban should be involved in addressing GBV prevention initiatives to hinder men's narcissistic attitudes and beliefs. Recognizing a partner's depth can help reduce GBV by recognizing the positive attention they expect from them.

In an attempt to understand the complexity of teen parents and associated consequences, the present study was conducted. It examines the connection between teen parents and family well-being in five selected Districts of Rwanda. Data were collected from 226 respondents randomly selected. Respondents included 176 teen mothers, 30 parents of teen mothers and 20 local leaders. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. Quantitative data were presented in percentages while content analysis was used for qualitative data. The results revealed that teen mothers are exposed to various social and economic problems. Rejected and depressed, 61.4% of pregnant teens thought about abortion and were restricted by lack of financial means while 9% thought about suicide which affects the physical and mental health of both teens and their children. Furthermore, 80.4% of teen mothers were not given the opportunity to resume their studies after delivering which amplifies their poverty exposure and their children as well. Parents/guardians need to be supportive through good communication so as to know what their children are going through and advise them accordingly. Moreover, they should bear with them in case a pregnancy occurs so that they may not feel depressed and think of abortion or suicide. They should not chase them from home since it increases their exposure to repeated pregnancies. There is a need of sensitizing the community about strategies that can reduce teen mothers’ rates as well as appropriate action in case teens get impregnated.

Teenagers’ pregnancies constitute a major challenge which has raised the attention of writers and educational stakeholders. The phenomenon is being amplified by different push factors which make teens impregnated. The purpose of the study was to assess factors which contribute to teen pregnancies and identify mechanisms which can be used to address it.  Respondents were sampled from five Districts by considering 40 in each and 200 respondents were randomly selected. Poverty, carelessness, rape, lack of information about reproductive health, attempt to love, peer influence and lack of parental attachment in all its angles were highlighted to be the main causes of early pregnancies. There is a need of raising parents’ awareness of the importance of having quality time with their children, being closer to them in order to be able to make regular follow up on challenges they face related to their physiological changes especially at teenage age. This would help them understand what is happening in their bodies and guide them towards appropriate behavior. This would reduce the number of teens who are manipulated by adults based of teens’ ignorance.

To stay competitive and viable in today's rapidly evolving and highly hostile market climate, companies need to concentrate more on innovation. In this regard, the specific quality of transformational leadership has been strongly linked to organizational innovativeness. However, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between transformational leadership and the innovation behavior of employees. The literature review developed in the current study is fundamentally centered on how transformational leaders value innovation by facilitating organizational learning to foster innovative behavior among employees. Corporate social responsibilities as an organizational level factor that can drive employee attitudes were also examined as a moderating effect in this relationship. The rationale of the relationship of the variables is supported by both transformational leadership theory (TFL) and social exchange theory (SET). Data were collected from corporate social responsibility engaged SMEs operating in Rwanda. Using Cranach’s alpha reliability and validity were tested while structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in analyzing data. The findings of this study intend to fill some gaps in the current literature such as the introduction of CSR in the relationship between top managerial level leadership, organizational learning, and innovation behavior of employees, also introducing SET to explain such important relationship

This study examines the extent to which family environment influences children’s behavior and how an evening of parents serves as a platform for rehabilitating the family environment, preventing and decreasing street children's number. This descriptive study intends to create awareness of the prevention and reintegration of street children. Researchers purposively selected 58 respondents: 40 street children, 12 parents, and 6 local leaders. Data were collected through interviews, storytelling, and focus group discussions and qualitatively analyzed using content analysis. Results revealed domestic violence, identity crisis, born from sex workers, children abuse, poor parenting, and poverty to be factors contributing to street children as emphasized by 100% of children, 87% of local leaders, and 67% of parents. Street children can only be controlled if major stressors that push them to develop self-reliance are socially and economically addressed. It was revealed that the Evening of Parents is a platform of family transformation to successfully prevent and rehabilitate street children focusing on parents’ responsibilities towards children’s wellbeing and better future.