scholarly journals Corporate Growth Strategies, External Operating Environment and Firm Performance: An Empirical Survey of Large Manufacturing Firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Alexander Irungu Wanjiru ◽  
Stephen Makau Muathe ◽  
Jane W. Kinyua-Njuguna
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Operating Environment ◽  
Corporate Growth ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

Theoretical literature in strategic management describes performance as outcome of firm’s strategic objectives, which are developed and executed at the corporate level of management. Conceptual propositions also suggest that the external operating environment of a firm influences the relationship between its corporate strategies and performance. This paper examines the direct effect of corporate growth strategies on performance of large manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The strategies under study are market development, product development and diversification. The paper also examines the moderating effect of external operating environment on the relationship between corporate growth strategies and performance of the large manufacturing firms. The authors adopted indicators of competitive position, consumer behaviour and credit accessibility to measure external operating environment.Multistage probability sampling technique was used to select study sample of 189 firms. One hundred forty eight firms responded where primary data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study findings indicate that corporate growth strategies have a positive and significant impact on a firm’s performance. It also found out that external operating environment has a moderating effect on the relationship between corporate growth strategies and firm performance. The study has important implications for managers and policy makers of the manufacturing firms.

scholarly journals Moderating Effect of Environmental Uncertainties on the Relationship between Risk Hedging Supply Chain Strategy and Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-49
Author(s):  
Karani Anthony Muriithi ◽  
Odari Sammy ◽  
Noor Shalle
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Supply Chain Strategy ◽  
Risk Hedging ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

The manufacturing sector in Kenya is faced by the challenges of performance and unstructured supply chain strategy. Further, the manufacturing sector growth in 2014 was 3.4% compared to a 5.6% growth in 2013 (Waiguru, 2015). This slow growth in manufacturing sector performance can be attributed to several environmental uncertainties such as the general election, high production costs, supply disruptions, political stability, unavailability of raw materials or demand fluctuations, technological changes, employees’ strikes, financial risk, terrorism and competition from imported goods (KNBS, 2018).The purpose of the study was to determine the moderating effect of environmental uncertainties on the relationship between risk hedging supply chain strategy and performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya. The study utilized descriptive research design. The target population was 829 managers from manufacturing firms around the country. A sample of 270 managers was selected using stratified random sampling. Results indicated that risk hedging supply chain strategy explained 63.8% of the total variations in performance of manufacturing firms. In addition, risk hedging supply chain strategy had a positive and significant effect on firm performance (β=0.675, P < .000). With introduction of moderating variable (environmental uncertainties); risk hedging supply chain strategy explained 34% of the total variations in performance of manufacturing firms. This denoted those environmental uncertainties had a negative moderating effect on the relationship between risk hedging supply chain strategy and performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya. The study concluded that risk hedging supply chain strategy had a positive and statistically significant effect on performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya. The study further concluded that environmental uncertainties lower the effect of risk hedging supply chain strategy on firm performance. The study recommends that manufacturing firms should strengthen aspects related to risk hedging supply chain strategy. The firms should particularly strengthen safety stock, suppliers’ management and quality. The improvement of these aspects is expected to enhance performance of the manufacturing firms. This study further recommends that manufacturing firms should factor in environmental uncertainties related to demand, supply and technology when implementing supply chain strategies.

Corporate Growth Strategies and Performance of Selected Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies in Nairobi City County, Kenya

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-30
Author(s):  
Hamida Mwilu ◽  
Reuben Njuguna
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Inferential Statistics ◽  
Market Expansion ◽  
Acquisition Strategies ◽  
Corporate Growth ◽  
Diversification Strategies ◽  
And Performance

The dynamic nature of business operating environment has called on business leaders to be strategic in their leadership roles if they are to sustain their competitiveness into the unforeseen future. Growth is important in Sacco’s because it is future oriented establishing ways in which the organizational operations can be aligned to future changes in the business environment to ensure that competitiveness is sustained. The SACCOs in Kenya have experienced problems in the past; some even shutting down therefore there is need for customer growth to be enhanced so as to increase their incomes so as to sustain the business. These SACCOs have to look for leaders and managers who can develop future targets, direct and lead other staffs towards meeting the firm’s objective and gaining a competitive edge. The aim of this study was an assessment of corporate growth strategies and performance in savings and cooperative societies in Kenya, Nairobi County. The study sought to determine the influence of market expansion, diversification strategies and acquisition strategies. The study target population was 41 licensed SACCOs in Nairobi County. The study used primary data to collect information, and the data collection instrument was a questionnaire which was given to the 41 operations managers in the 41 selected SACCOs. The data collection procedure was done by the researcher and drop-and-pick strategy will be applied. The data was coded and keyed in Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 23.0), and was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. For descriptive statistics was through mean scores, standard deviations, frequencies and percentages, while the inferential statistics was through regression analysis to establish the relationship between strategic leadership and customer growth. The findings were presented in tables and charts for easy understanding, interpreting, and describing the data. The study established that market expansion, diversification strategies and acquisition strategies as corporate growth strategies had a positive and significant effect on the performance of SACCOs in Nairobi City County. The study concluded that the SACCOs significantly employed market expansion strategies through improved branch network, customer base enhancement, new distribution channels and technological innovation. The study concluded that the SACCOs embraced a hybrid of the main diversification strategies, diverse products and services significantly. It was concluded that to a little extent the selected SACCOs in Nairobi City County have employed acquisition as a corporate growth strategy. The study recommends that the SACCOs should embrace integrate technology in the implementation of corporate growth strategies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.  Further studies should be undertaken to establish the effect of corporate growth strategies on the performance of other SACCOs in other regions to establish the disparities or similarities among the financial sector players. 

Strategic orientations, firm performance and the moderating effect of absorptive capacity

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel-Alejandro Ibarra-Cisneros ◽  
María del Rosario Demuner-Flores ◽  
Felipe Hernández-Perlines
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Market Orientation ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Orientations ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to study the moderating effect of absorptive capacity, defined as the set of organizational routines and processes through which companies acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit knowledge to produce a dynamic organizational capacity (Zahra and George, 2002), in three strategic orientations: market orientation; technology orientation and entrepreneurial orientation and their positive relationship in the performance of the medium and large Mexican manufacturing firms. Likewise, it is determined whether these three combined SOs influence firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThe data was collected from 171 medium and large-sized Mexican manufacturing firms. The proposed hypotheses are tested using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsDespite the importance of knowledge for the development of firms, the results indicate that the moderating effect of absorptive capacity is only present in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. That is, firms cannot take advantage of knowledge simultaneously between the three strategic orientations. For their part, market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation exert a positive influence on firm performance.Practical implicationsThe main practical implication for the manufacturing industry is that they must develop mechanisms to detect what kind of knowledge affects each strategic orientation, in this way it can make the absorptive capacity influence the relationships between SO and FP.Originality/valueThe main contribution consists of studying the moderating effect of the absorptive capacity on the relationship between three strategic orientations and firm performance, and not concentrating solely on the simultaneous use of these strategies as is commonly done.

scholarly journals Analysis of Information Systems Capabilities and Performance of Firms in Telecommunications Industry, Kenya

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (04) ◽  
pp. 319-327
Author(s):  
Bett, Alfred Kipyegon ◽  
Dr. Johnmark Obura ◽  
Dr. Moses Oginda
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Telecommunications Industry ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Executive Management ◽  
Economic Role ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Service Businesses ◽  
The Relationship

In the 21st century where economies are driven majorly by knowledge and information-based service businesses, telecommunication industries are playing a critical economic role both regionally and globally. In Kenya, with a combined subscription rate of 37.8 million based on a 2016/17 Communication Authority of Kenya report of 2017, Safaricom Kenya Limited controls about 71.2% of the subscribers, Airtel Kenya Limited is second with 17.6% with Telkom Kenya coming third with 7.4%. Finserve East Africa (Equitel) a new entrant in the market controls 3.8% of subscribers. These figures points to the fact that only Safaricom seems to be the only firm performing well. This reality forms the basis of establishing whether their difference in performance is attributable to their information systems capabilities. The purpose of this study was to analyse the relationship IS capabilities and performance of firms in the telecommunications industry in Kenya. It was anchored on Resource-Based Theory and guided by a conceptual framework with the dependent variable being firm performance while independent variable was IS capabilities. Correlational and survey research designs were used. The population of the study was 408 staff comprising all executive, management and operational level managers from the business and IT sections in each firm. A sample of 202 staff was drawn through proportionate stratified random sampling method. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaire and an interview schedule. Reliability of the research instrument was tested against Cronbach’s alpha coefficient where a reliability score of 0.814 was achieved while validity was gauged through research experts’ opinions. Data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings established that IS capabilities and firm performance have a weak relationship (r = 0.409, p<0.05) which means that whenever firms in industry invested on market based IS capabilities there was a small improvement on their performance and therefore firms should invest in the development of market based IS capabilities since they have significant influence on their performance. This study may be useful to industry players by gaining better understanding on various information system resources that they can utilize to improve and sustain their performance besides policy formulation. By advancing a model that depicts the relationship between information systems resources and firm performance, this study may make a significant contribution to theory building in the field of information systems.

scholarly journals Foreign Direct Investment and Local Firm’s Performance

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 216-222
Author(s):  
M. D. Wanjere ◽  
M. Ogutu ◽  
M. Kinoti ◽  
X. N. Iraki
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Simple Linear Regression ◽  
Key Sectors ◽  
The Government ◽  
To Come ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

This paper investigates the effect of FDI on performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya. Little is documented about the link between FDI and performance of local firms in Kenya . The study has sought to establish the overall effect of FDI on the performance-manufacturing firms in Kenya. The population of study comprised 100 companies registered with Kenya Association Manufacturing as at the time of data collection in 2019 and that had over 10 percent foreign ownership. The respondents were the CEOs of organization. The study used a structured questionnaire to collect primary data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were both used to analyze the data. Data was pretested for normality, linearity, multicollinearity, autocorrelation and homoscedasticity and the data found to meet most of these preconditions. The study developed hypothesis which was tested using simple linear regression to establish the effect of FDI on performance of manufacturing firms. The results revealed that there was a statistically significant relationship between FDI and firm performance. This imply that to achieve better firm performance, the government need to come up with polices geared to attracting more FDI into the key sectors of the economy.

Industry innovation spending and openness to collaboration as levers for firm performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Fernando de Paris Caldas ◽  
Fabio de Oliveira Paula ◽  
T. Diana L. van Aduard de Macedo-Soares
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Knowledge Spillovers ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Firm Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
Industry Collaboration ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Italian Manufacturing Firms ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze to what extent spending on innovation activities and collaboration at the industry level affects the relationship between firm innovation and performance. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model was proposed and empirically tested using multiple linear regression. The data were obtained from the Community Innovation Survey 2012, composing a sample of 890 Italian manufacturing firms. Findings The results provided full support for the positive moderating effect of intra-industry innovation spending and partial support for the positive moderating effect of intra-industry collaboration, both regarding the relationship between firm innovation spending and performance. Knowledge spillovers derived from intra-industry innovation spending and intra-industry collaboration affect firm performance. While this finding corroborates other studies that have found that the intra-industry R&D spending influences firms’ innovation and performance, it also contributes to improve the understanding about the complementarity of internal innovation activities and knowledge spillovers. Originality/value This study contributes to theory by filling a gap concerning the complementarity of internal innovation activities and the effect of knowledge spillovers to improve firm performance. Our findings suggested that intra-industry openness to collaboration and innovation spending, as proxies of knowledge spillovers, plays an important role in complementing firm level innovative efforts, even in the case of firms that spend less on innovation and have a lower degree of collaboration. This is especially relevant for small and medium enterprises, which can take advantage of access to the necessary information to overcome their internal resource constraints for R&D and innovation. The originality of these findings adds value in terms of furthering the understanding of this phenomenon.

The Moderating Effect of Firm Characteristics on the Relationship between Strategic Change and Performance of Firms in the Alcohol Industry in Kenya

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Washika Okonda ◽  
Dr. Patrick B. Ojera ◽  
Dr. Isaac O. Ochieng
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Strategic Change ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Alcohol Industry ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines the moderating effect of firm characteristics on the relationship between strategic change and performance of firms in the alcohol industry in Kenya. The alcohol industry makes a substantial contribution to the country's GDP. For instance, the East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL), Kenya was feted by KRA as the second top tax payer to the government for the 2011/2012 financial year. However, clear picture of the moderating influence of firm characteristics on the relationship between strategic change occasioned Alcoholic Drinks Control Act (ADCA), 2010 and performance has not emerged from previous studies. Specifically, the study investigated the effect of managerial capabilities, product dimensions and brand portfolio on performance of alcohol industry in Kenya. Previous studies dwelt on effect of limited aspects of strategic change such as marketing leaving out critical aspects like scope of strategies, resource deployment patterns and competitive advantages and the moderating effect of firm characteristics. The study was underpinned by the Resource-Based Theory (RBT). The study adopted a mixed method survey research design using qualitative and quantitative methods. The population was 25 local firms registered by Kenya Revenue Authority by 2012 and approved by National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse, (NACADA) by 2015. A saturated sample consisted of 100 respondents to get primary data. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses that firm characteristics moderate the relationship between strategic change and performance. The R<sup>2</sup> after incorporating interaction effect was .682 (p=.004) and ΔR<sup>2</sup>=.033(p=004) implying firm characteristics significantly moderate the relationship.

scholarly journals The Moderating Effect of Organizational Characteristics on The Relationship Between Information Technology Integration and Performance: Empirical Evidence from Selected Public Hospitals in Kenya

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 3359-3367
Author(s):  
Kenneth Iloka Malongo ◽  
Stephen Muathe ◽  
Stephen Titus Waithaka
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Technology Integration ◽  
Third World ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Organizational Characteristics ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Study Results ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

With the continuing digital revolution steered by the Internet, organizations are moving towards information technology integration to improve their performance. Regrettably, these developments have in no way been all-inclusive. The health gap between public institutions in first, second and third world nations has broadened. Public organizations in second and third world nations are characterized by poor performance. This study sought to establish the moderating effect of organizational characteristics on the relationship between information technology and performance of public hospitals in Kenya.  The study used Technology Organization Environment (TOE) theory. The study was guided by explanatory and cross-sectional research design. The target population was 98 public hospitals in Kenya. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 294 respondents. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses were used. The study results established that organizational characteristics moderated the relationship between information technology integration and performance of public hospitals in Kenya. Therefore, study concluded that organizational characteristics play a major role in an organization’s adoption and utilization of information technology integration. The study recommends technologies should be customized to fit the type of organizational characteristics for better performance.

scholarly journals Effect of Firms’ Competitiveness on the Performance of selected Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 216-255
Author(s):  
Adekunle R. Onaolapo ◽  
Elijah Adeyinka Adedeji
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Business Practitioners ◽  
Chi Square Analysis ◽  
The Relationship

The study of firms’ competitiveness has drawn so much attention among business practitioners and academic researchers in the last two decades as globalization came fully into limelight. However, in Nigeria, there are few empirical studies conducted to investigate the relationship between firms’ competitiveness and firm performance. Thus, the main objective of this study was to provide further evidence on the effects of Firms’ Competitiveness (FC) on the performance of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Ten large-scale quoted manufacturing firms were selected. The study relied on primary data which were obtained using structured questionnaire administered to 300 purposively selected respondents of the selected firms. The data collected was analysed using Chi-Square Analysis and correlation analysis as well as descriptive analysis in pursuance of the stated specific objectives of the study. The result showed that firms’ competitiveness had significant effects on the profitability and operational performance of the selected manufacturing firms. Also, firms’ competitiveness had positive relationship with the level of competition of the firms. This study concluded that the practice of firms’ competitiveness is sine qua non in boosting firm performance in the manufacturing firms in Nigeria.

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