Strategic Alliances, Organizational Characteristics, Competitive Advantage and Performance of Selected Enterprises in Kenya
Abstract
Researchers and practitioners in strategic management are increasingly trying to figure
out why some businesses perform better than others even when they are in the same or
similar business conditions. With the ever changing business environment strategic
alliances are seen as the best strategies to enhance organizations innovative capabilities as a
means to stay current in their field and enhance performance. The objective of this study was
to determine the effect of organizational characteristics and competitive strategies on the
relationship between strategic alliances and performance of selected enterprises in Kenya.
The relevant theories reviewed for this study are network theory, Resource Dependency
Theory, Resource Based View theory and Market Based View Theory. The study applied
positivism research philosophy and descriptive cross-sectional design with target population
constituted of the executives of the 40 selected enterprises in Kenya. With the aid of semistructured
questionnaires, primary data was gathered. Both descriptive and inferential
statistics were used to analyze the data. Based on the goals of the study, the hypotheses
were created and evaluated. The findings of the study showed that strategic alliance
significantly influence enterprise performance. In addition, the study observed that
organizational characteristics significantly moderate the relationship between strategic
alliance and enterprise performance. The findings of the study also showed that
competitive advantage mediates the relationship between strategic alliance and enterprise
performance. Finally, the study observed that jointly, strategic alliances, organizational
characteristics and competitive advantage have a significant influence on enterprise
performance. The results contribute to policymakers as the insights gained aid them in
improving their policymaking abilities, as well as using invention in strategy employment
in zones of aptitude creation, alliance building by selected companies, and the overall
benefits accrued by companies in alliances. The study recommends that managers must
take cognizance of the fact that their main duty revolves around isolating the exact needs
of customers and deciding on the best strategies including entering in to alliances in order
to build stronger competitive advantage for their desired performance outcome to be
realized. Thus, suitable and effectively implemented strategic alliances are necessary to
effectively guide the placement of existing resources in pursuit of desired enterprise goals.
The study further suggests that running a successful business is not merely about having a
high quality product or picking a suitable strategic alliance. It is also about leveraging the
right kind of strategies to reach out to the target audience and convert them into
enterprise profits. Thus, policymakers and practitioners operating in the selected
enterprises should take advantage of the findings of this research and benefit from the
implementation of the right kind of strategies like strategic alliance together with putting
in place the right organizational characteristics and competitive advantage to maximize
on their performance.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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