Organizational Environment and Competitive Advantage of Real Estate Private Firms in Kenya

Abstract

Organizational Environment comprise both external and internal environment which provide opportunities, threats, strength and weaknesses. This environment is dynamic and turbulent. Competitive Advantage is the ultimate component necessary for success and survival in an environment that is turbulent and chaotic. This research is about the organizational environment and competitive advantage of real estate private firms in Kenya. The real estate industry has been robust and its performance good in recent years. The last 5 years however has seen what appears to be an explosion of massive real estate developments that is unprecedented in the history of the country. Concerns have been raised whether this is a boom that is sustainable or a bubble that may soon burst. The objective of this research is to determine the influence organizational environmental factors have on competitive advantage of real estate private firms in Kenya. It will reveal what real estate firms perceive as the key organizational environmental factors that have contributed to the competitive advantage. The research endeavored to review literature already written on the subject by authoritative sources. The research adopted a survey design that was most appropriate to attaining the objective of the study. The census approach was used with a population of 92 real estate firms that were subjected to a comprehensive research questionnaire related to their firms and industry knowledge. Data was then thoroughly cleaned and analyzed using IBM SPSS software. The findings revealed organizational environmental factors have a strong influence on competitive advantage of these firms. The research also lists the key factors that have provided competitive advantage with increase in economic growth, increased demand in housing and advertising being on top of the list. Limitations of the survey include respondent who felt they could not disclose information that was confidential. The research has contributed to the theory of open system and organization capability. Recommendations have been made to policy makers and practitioners. Since the research was confined to real estate firms, suggested further work has been made to cover other industries and variables not covered in this research.