An Exploratory Study on the Role of Feasibility Study on Sustainability of Business in Kenya: A Case of Supermarkets in Nairobi County

Organizational strategic feasibility studies are critical in mitigating uncertainty in the business environment and enhancing growth and performance. This study sought to ascertain the role of feasibility studies in the sustainability of supermarkets in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study's specific objectives were to determine the impact of technical feasibility, economic feasibility, operational feasibility, and legal feasibility on the sustainability of supermarkets in Nairobi County, Kenya. A descriptive research design was used for the study. The study's target population was seven major supermarkets: Naivas, QuickMart, Cleanshelf, The Game Store, Chandarana, Eastmatt, and Carrefour. A questionnaire was used to collect primary data. Findings indicated that technical feasibility is positively and significantly related to the business sustainability of supermarkets in Nairobi County. The findings also revealed that economic feasibility is positively and significantly related to the business sustainability of supermarkets in Nairobi County. The findings revealed a positive and significant relationship between operational feasibility and business sustainability of supermarkets in Nairobi County. Finally, the findings revealed that the legal feasibility and business sustainability of Nairobi County supermarkets are positively and significantly related. The study concluded that technical feasibility, economic feasibility, operational feasibility, and legal feasibility all have a positive impact on supermarket business sustainability. The study recommends that supermarkets should become acquainted with the technical technology that is available on the market and evaluate those that are appropriate for their needs. Managers of Nairobi County supermarkets increase the level of internal and external benchmarking in their supermarkets for economic benefit assessments. Keywords: Technical Feasibility, Economic Feasibility, Operational Feasibility, Legal Feasibility, Sustainability & Supermarkets.

Information systems flexibility and robustness of manufacturing firms in Nigeria

This study examined the nexus between Information systems flexibility and Robustness of manufacturing firms in South-South, Nigeria. Nine objectives and hypotheses were postulated to examine the relationship between the dimensions (IT flexibility, Process flexibility and Data flexibility) and the measures (Persistence, Structural stability and Superposition). A structured questionnaire was prepared, while Google forms was used to gather the data from the 210 respondents. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with the aid of Smart PLS 3.3.3, was used to examine the relationship between the dimensions of Information systems flexibility and the measures of Robustness. A total of 185 responses were collected and used for the analysis. The results show that all three dimensions of Information systems flexibility improved Robustness. The study recommends amongst others, that Management of manufacturing firms should adopt flexible information systems through strengthening of networks, relationships with stakeholders and the emphasis on information technology. This will advance the organisations options and provide the firm with various advantages in terms of information access and knowledge sharing needed for their agility within the business environment.

The Intervening Effect of Corporate Strategy on the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Enterprise Risk Management Adoption by Commercial State Corporations in Kenya

In today’s dynamic and competitive business environment, organizations are adopting the enterprise risk management framework to address the inadequacies in risk management in entities. Operating in today’s dynamic and competitive business environment organizations are faced with ever evolving risks as they implement their strategic objectives in order to create value. This study examined the intervening effect of corporate strategy on the relationship between transformational leadership and enterprise risk management adoption. This research adopted a positivist research philosophy and cross-sectional survey design approach. The target population comprised all the Commercial State Corporations in Kenya listed in the register of State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC) as at January 2021. The unit of analysis was the 52 Commercial State Corporations and unit of observation was top management of each entity. The study used primary data which was collected through structured questionnaires. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 22) was used in regression modeling for prediction and causal inferences between study variables. The study findings indicated a partial mediation effect on the mediating role of corporate strategy on the relationship between transformational leadership and ERM adoption. The objective was achieved. The study recommends that the commercial state corporations should anchor the ERM adoption activities and other management programmes in the corporate strategic plan for effective execution. In addition, the corporate strategic plan should be cascaded to stakeholders to enhance ownership and design policy to ensure the implementation of the corporate strategic plan is effectively monitored. Keywords: Corporate Strategy, Transformational Leadership, Enterprise Risk Management & Commercial State Corporations

Assessing the Potential of “Mobility as a Service” in Passenger Maritime Transport

This article assesses the potential of Mobility as a Service in passenger maritime transport from the supply perspective by collecting and analyzing data provided by interviews to key experts in passenger transport from both industry and academia. “Mobility as a service” in passenger maritime transport (also in this article referred as “Maritime MaaS”) describes the integration of passenger maritime services with land mobility into a single mobility service delivered through a unique platform for planning, booking, ticketing, and payment. The scope of this article is to explore the potential interest of mobility service providers to develop a MaaS that has as a backbone coastal shipping at the Aegean Archipelagos, in Greece. The Maritime MaaS ecosystem with its key actors is identified, while the perceived challenges, opportunities, and benefits envisaged by the adaptation of this innovative concept from urban transport to the maritime sector are recorded. Computer-assisted interviews were performed at a panel of 17 experts representing different types of decision makers. Participants were selected according to their current industry position or their academic profile. A content analysis with the use of NVIVO was conducted, followed by a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis based on the experts’ input, in order to assess the MaaS business environment. Results indicate that the maritime transport sector is relatively ready to adopt MaaS from a technological readiness perspective, while land transport seems to be in a lower level of technological readiness. PAYG (pay as you go) MaaS business model is preferred than a “MaaS package” model by most stakeholders. Finally, main challenges toward MaaS implementation are the discrepancies in reliability of service among different transport modes and the ferry fleet operational flexibility ceilings that are imposed by legal framework for ferry routings in Greece.

Human Resources Strategies in Times of Crisis

The year 2020 came with new challenges for individuals,enterprise sand public institutions.The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a change in the way of thinking, management and action at local and global level, in order to overcome obstacles of financial, legislative, procedural ororganizational nature.The economic crisis felt by the business environment only started in 2020, andc ompanies mustunderstand the need to formulate and implement specific strategies related to management,human resources,supply chain,source of financing ,etc.This paper aims to present solutions for efficient management of human resources within companies in order to cope with the problems generated by COVID-19,based on the analysis of the current situation in Romania,presenting an analysis of the human resources management during the crisis. At the end, proposals are made to support the activity of human resources specialists in crisis situations, especially the type generated by COVID-19 context, when the mobility and interaction of human resources is limited.

A Bibliometric Mapping of Innovative Entrepreneurship

The new global economy requires innovative businesses that can respond to all major challenges around the world. Innovative Entrepreneurship is an active field of research since innovation is nowadays crucial for the development of any business in the world. Policymakers are also focusing their attention on innovation in business because Innovative Entrepreneurship contributes to economic growth and job creation. To create an environment that supports Innovative Entrepreneurship it is appropriate to provide access to knowledge, labour, finance, and specific policies and regulations. Innovative Entrepreneurship has a new role in the economic development of any country that is interested in creating a competitive business environment. This paper aims to identify the most relevant research concerning Innovative Entrepreneurship and realize a bibliometric mapping of the information gathered during the investigation. To perform the bibliometric analysis was used a Scopus database which included articles related to Innovative Entrepreneurship. The processing of data has been carried out using VOSviewer, an effective tool for the visualization of bibliometric networks. The bibliometric mapping included multiple analysis such as co-authorship, citation, and co-occurrence. The results of this research can be a basis for present and future researchers who are operating in the field of entrepreneurship and who intend to investigate more thoroughly the importance of innovation for business development. Another important issue to be investigated is the development of innovative business models that can strengthen the business environment.

A Strategic Double-Loop Learning Method for Organisational Decision-Making toward Servitisation

In recent years, manufacturing industries have been expected to achieve servitisation—namely, a shift from product sales to product-service systems—in order to achieve sustainable production and consumption patterns. In order to achieve servitisation, manufacturing firms should grasp the business environment and encourage organisational learning to develop the knowledge for servitisation in their environment. The existing knowledge management studies enable the empirical acquisition and reuse of knowledge from past case studies and make efforts to support organisational learning. However, they do not cover the guiding of firms engaged in servitisation to learn appropriately for their business environment. The learning required for manufacturing firms engaged in servitisation is learning that focuses on questioning and modifying existing product-oriented premises—double-loop learning. This paper proposes a method to support strategic double-loop learning within manufacturing companies engaged in servitisation. This method evaluates the compatibility between the implicit premises that manufacturers refer to as the rationale for their decision toward servitisation and the external environment and enables to formulate a practical strategy for double-loop learning. The proposed method was applied to the case of a cassette tape music player to demonstrate its usefulness. This study suggests theoretical foundations for future research into knowledge management for traditional manufacturing companies’ decisions concerning servitisation, and suggests that these should be carried out dynamically according to the business environment.

VUCA n+1. To the Infinity and Beyond!

Starting from the observation that nowadays, the need to operate in a world described by Horney et al. (2010) as a world characterized by its volatility, uncertainties, complexity, and ambiguity has become more evident than ever, we aim at identifying and reveal the need for a ceaseless VUCA model. During the last decade, the term VUCA has easily migrated in other areas, being transformed into a common expression due to rapid change manifested in the technological, political, financial, and administrative fields (Sarkar, 2016). In this context, we have analyzed the existing VUCA models and proposed the n+1 version of them. Within the current stream of events, including Brexit and especially the COVID-19 pandemic, the way managers addressed the ever-changing business environment has become less efficient in the current disruptive type of period we are facing. Therefore, the VUCA 2.0 model was developed. The model comprising the same acronym is based on the following elements: vision, understanding, courage, and adaptability (George, 2017). But, in the last years, technology has accelerated the VUCA world and, in 2020, the VUCA 3.0 popped out (Day, 2020). As the results of the analysis pointed out, the incredible pace and amplitude of change, together with the associated disruption in the way businesses are managed, call for the constant development of a never-ending VUCA n+1 model. With a wider spread of automatization, cyber systems, and artificial intelligence, a new VUCA model will soon be necessary. This framework invites the reader to think not only about a potential but to a factual infinite sequence of VUCA models.

Small and Medium Enterprises in Mexico and the Craft Beer Sector in Baja California: Dynamic Capabilities, Culture, and Innovation

This article studies how Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operating in emerging economies implement adaptative strategies to respond to constant changes in demand and global uncertainties, such as those stemming from the current SARS-COV2 pandemic. In this study the knowledge management capabilities used by SMEs in the craft beer sector in a region of northern Mexico are the focus of analysis. The objective is to present the competitive capabilities that craft beer sector has demonstrated in Baja California region and how small companies compete with the national industrial brewery and survive. Sources are data from a sample of companies and interviews with brewery owners, with which the analysis approaches, also, the Baja California business environment. The article highlights the routes of creativity, innovation, and symbolic capital of the companies in the region, and uses ideas from dynamic capabilities and knowledge management theoretical frameworks, to understand the craft brewery milieu. The conclusions in this article include the confirmation about the usefulness of these analytical frameworks based in the capabilities approach and the territorial knowledge. Also, the description of the existence of a complex Baja Californian milieu, where a multimodal scheme of craft beer characterized by different places of distribution and types of beer container, food-districts, at Mexicali, Tijuana, and Ensenada and a second generation of entrepreneur groups leading local business, is identified.