The Role of International Network Management as a Source of Competitiveness Among Smes Within the Nairobi Central Business District

Abstract

As companies expand their operations beyond the boundaries of the country, it becomes challenging to enter into a foreign market and there is therefore need to adopt appropriate strategies to successfully venture to the international market. International network management is an important strategy that can be employed by a firm and involves network planning processes which takes into consideration a combination of the business operations, marketing and a dynamic master plan for all the activities of the organization. International network management facilitates organizational learning which enables a firm to penetrate a new market with fewer resources. As a result, this research sought to establish the role of international network management as a source of competitiveness among the SMEs within the Nairobi CBD. The researcher adopted a descriptive research design and used primary data. The primary data was collected by way of self-administered feedback forms. The researcher then analyzed the data collected using mean and standard deviations while presentation was done using tables and percentages. The research findings were that local SMEs enter into partnerships with foreign partners in order to increase the firm’s capacity to compete at the international market and also to be able to enhance the firm’s productive capacities and access external relations with new knowledge. Among the operational areas that were found to be positively affected by the networking process include enhancement of employees’ tacit knowledge and organizational knowledge capacity as well as management of organizational costs that the SMEs incur in their trade. The study also found that international network management enables SMEs to access complementary resources which a single firm or region does not possess and consequently enhances the productivity of the firms. The study concluded that SMEs need to consider expanding their market shares and geographical coverage as a way of diversifying their risk and extending their business lines internationally.