The study aimed at determining the influence of organizational culture on the performance of microfinance institutions in Kenya. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Secondary data were collected from annual reports by the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Kenya and the Microfinance Rating Africa. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaire targeting the chief executive officer, human resource manager, and marketing manager. Data were analyzed using factor analysis and hierarchical regression. Our analysis identifies clan and hierarchy as the dominant cultural typologies in the microfinance industry. The results obtained demonstrate that organizational culture has a significant influence on non market performance. In addition, market culture is inversely associated with debt/equity ratio. We conclude that organizational culture is a major source of sustainable competitive advantage in the microfinance industry. Furthermore, we conclude that market culture promotes financial independence and sustainability in the long term. Keywords organizational culture, performance, competing values framework, debt/equity ratio, microfinance SAGE Open assumptions adopted by the majority of the organizational members are at the core of culture. Whereas assumptions are not directly observable, they are the cerebral level of culture and are inferred from organizational values and artifacts. Assumptions are the mental models used by managers and employees to make sense of the environment (Harris, 1998). Values are the socially constructed principles that guide behavior and are reflected through the spoken and audible goals, philosophies, and strategies. Artifacts are the visual and tangible layer of culture and consist of signage, branding, and physical settings of the establishment. Cultural values and assumptions build the mental frame for reasoning and responding to stimulus from the business environment. The values and assumptions determine organizational members' perception of time, nature of human activities, and horizontal as well as vertical relationships at the various levels within the organization. The study of organizational culture has attracted a plethora of epistemological perspectives over the years. The current study adopts the competing values framework (CVF) to describe and measure organizational culture in the microfinance industry. The CVF assumes that organizations exhibit two dimensions, namely, environmental focus and internal organization as the central attention (Cameron & Quinn, 1999). The competing values theory assumes that organizational complexity breeds different types of culture (Westrum, 2004) and a single type of culture cannot distinguish an organization (Choi, Seo, Scott, & Martin, 2010; Deshpande, 1993). Therefore, in balancing the requirements of different stakeholders, firms make overt and implicit choices in the degree to which their cultures exhibit values and norms that are representative of four different cultural orientations comprising clan, ...

The objective of our study is to assess the influence of organizational culture and market orientation on performance. The population of the study comprise microfinance institutions that are members of the Association of Microfinance Institutions (AMFI) in Kenya. We used descriptive cross-sectional survey design. We collected primary data using structured questionnaire. We test our hypotheses through regression analysis. Our results demonstrate that organizational culture significantly and positively influence variations in performance. The partial mediation effect of market orientation on the relationship between organizational culture and performance was confirmed. The complimentary effect of organizational culture on market orientation implies that organizations need to spend more resources in nurturing market orientation to create sustainable competitive advantage through delivery of superior customer experience. We conclude that the influence of organizational culture and market orientation on performance is more plausible for mature industries regarded as diverse in terms of customer needs.

The purpose of our study is to assess the influence of organizational culture and marketing capabilities on performance of microfinance institutions in Kenya. We adopt descriptive cross-sectional survey design and collect data from members of the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Kenya. We test our hypothesized relations through hierarchical regression analysis. Our results reveal that organizational culture has positive and significant influence on performance. We demonstrate that marketing capabilities is strongly and positively linked to performance. Findings of the study have implications for marketing theory and practice. Our results support resource advantage theory; resource based theory and the dynamic capability theory. Our results show that product capability appears to overshadow other components of marketing capabilities in influencing performance. We conclude that organizational culture and product capability strongly influence performance outcomes of microfinance institutions in Kenya. However, due to the limitation of the cross-sectional research design, we recommend the use of triangulated approach in studies of similar nature.

Organizations seeking a competitive advantage are increasingly embracing relationship marketing programs to manage customer relationships more efficiently. However, despite the deployment of such relationship management programs, customer retention continues to be the greatest challenge facing many organizations. This paper argues that relationship marketing factors - trust, commitment, strong bonds, communication, shared values and keeping promises - each plays a unique role in influencing customer retention, however, the nature of the influence of these individual factors on customer retention moreover in a developing market context has not been empirically investigated much. Relying on social exchange theory and relational market behavior theory, this study sought to determine the relationship between these relational factors and customer retention. Data were collected among 492 customers of Kenya's microfinance sector, using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The association between individual relationship marketing factors and customer retention was tested through simple linear regression analysis. Results showed that among the six relational factors, communication and shared values were the most significant. The study makes a theoretical contribution to the relationship marketing knowledge base by providing empirical evidence on the role of individual relationship marketing factors in predicting customer retention. Marketing practitioners should develop relationship management programs that promote communication effectiveness and shared values.

This study examined the competitive environment’s moderating effect on the relationship between marketing mix strategies and tour firms’ performance in Kenya. The researcher adopted a descriptive research design and used a survey approach to collect pertinent data for analysis. The study population comprised all tour firms, both locally and foreign-registered, operating under the Kenya Association of Tour Operators (KATO) as of September 2019. Two hundred thirty-four tour firms were surveyed out of a population of 260 registered firms. Descriptive statistical and inferential analyses were conducted and regression analysis results were used to test the hypothesis. The study established a positive and significant moderating effect of Competitive Environment (CE) on the relationship between Marketing Mix Strategies (MMS) and the Organizational Performance (OP) of tour firms in Kenya. The study’s findings are significant to policymakers and stakeholders operating in the tourism industry.They accentuate the significance to tour firms in implementing the right kind of marketing mix strategies to maximize their organizational performance. The study recommends future studies in the same area be expanded to include other travel trade areas such as hoteliers and travel agencies. Such a study would increase the empirical knowledge in the subject matter while also extending the generalizability of the results.