Purpose-The purpose of this research was to assess the role of organizational innovation in sustainable competitive advantage of universities in Kenya. Specifically, the study examined the role of product innovation, administration innovation, and process innovation in sustainable competitive advantage of universities in Kenya. Design/methodology/approach-The paper adopted a cross-sectional survey design to generate quantitative data to test the research hypotheses. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 57 universities out of a target population of 67 universities accredited to undertake university education in Kenya. Primary data was collected by use of self administered questionnaires which were distributed through drop and pick method to a total sample size of 285 academic leaders selected by purposive sampling. A total of 215 complete responses were used for analyses. Data analysis was by descriptive statistics and inferential statistics using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. Simple and multiple regression analyses were used for hypotheses testing. Findings-This research provides empirical evidence on the links between organizational innovation and sustainable competitive advantage. Results revealed that organizational innovation, product innovation, administration innovation, and process innovation play significant role in sustainable competitive advantage of universities in Kenya. The research concluded that organizational innovation forms the basis for building sustainable competitive advantage. Research limitations/implications-This research has some important limitations that need to be taken into consideration. The study used a cross-sectional survey design with only quantitative measures which can be improved upon by longitudinal studies with mixed quantitative and quantitative measures. Practical implications-The research has significantly attempted to expand extant literature in strategic management, organizational innovation and sustainable competitive advantage by making several significant contributions.
The research project is an investigation into the role of E.D.I on supply chain performance in the cargo distribution management in Kenya. The Port of Mombasa is the major gateway to Kenya's international trade by sea handling 22 million tons of goods in 2013 (KPA, 2014). This represents double the volume of Dar es Salaam Port and only 4% of the volume 557.5 million tons that was handled through the port of Singapore. Over the last decade, the Government and the private sector have invested heavily in the improvement and modernization of the transport infrastructure and services aimed at improving trade facilitation. Some of these investments include the dredging of the Mombasa Port, completion of Berth 19, construction of the second container terminal, development of Embakasi ICD, focus on regional road links, privatization and improvement of weighbridges, customs modernization project, the standard gauge railway line, development of KRA Simba 2005 System, and the E.D.I.. Despite all these, issues still remain (African Universal Consulting, 2014).
The core goal of any enterprise is to grow both in assets and profitability. Such growth is critical to the wellbeing of individual firms and the economy in general. Sound supply chains that offer strong reliable relationships have been found to play a critical role in the growth and sustainability of firms. Studies show that enterprises that exploit the benefits of supply chain management improve performance by up to 80 percent depending on the extent of adherence to key supply chain requirements. However, Small firms have largely remained far removed as far as structured growth and development of supply chain relationships is concerned. Although significant levels of success has been reported among larger firms with regard to supply chain relationships, such success has not been widely replicated among smaller firms. It is largely appreciated that competition is no longer based on just the bare company-versus-company business models but also on the extended virtual enterprise of supply chain-versus-supply chain. This underpins the importance of optimizing an enterprise’s performance within the wider context of strong inter-firm and firm-market relationships. Many studies have been conducted to try and understand the supply chain scenario. Most of these studies have concentrated on European and American firms. However, the social, economic, cultural and other fundamentals that influence the success of supply chains for small firms in developed economies are largely different from those in developing countries and on this account these studies, although important as reference points for further study, may not be representative of the scenario in developing economies.There is, therefore, need to examine the supply chain relationship gaps that characterize small firms in developing economies. This would help develop recommendations that can be used to strengthen these relationships and so improve business performance among small firms in these economies.
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