DOI: 10.36347/sjebm.2016.v03i11.006

Pages: 622-627

Alcoholism is a state in which its indulgence becomes harmful to an individual‟s physical and mental health, affects interpersonal relationships and distorts a person‟s social and economic functioning of the mind. The researchers adopted a survey design and carried out a study in Kenya Service Area, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The paper argues that despite the various studies on alcoholism, the same still negatively affects business ventures. The authors thus posit that there must be factors that contribute to this sad state of affairs and the only way to mitigate them is by seeking to understand them first. By focusing on a target population of 40 respondents, the authors collected data using questionnaires, interview schedule and observation checklists. The data was then qualitatively and quantitively analysed. The paper observes that the major causes of alcoholism are easy and cheap availability of alcohol, cultural acceptance of alcoholism as a norm, peer pressure and addiction. In addition, the authors demonstrate that alcoholism has adverse effects on business enterprises as the habit leads to decreased output, increased wastage and costs, customer dissatisfaction and social strife among family members. The paper recommends attending seminars, self-discipline, counselling, and participating in communal activities as ways through which the vagaries of alcoholism on business enterprises can be mitigated. This paper contributes to the understanding of the stakeholders on the effects of alcohol consumption on the family and family businesses. Consequently, it is expected that policy makers and business owners will use this information to generate policies and guidelines with an aim to mitigate these effects.