Influence of Strategic Human Resource Capability on the Sustainable Competitive Advantage of Seed Companies in Kenya

Abstract

The objective of this study was to look into the influence of strategic capabilities on the sustainable competitive advantage of seed companies in Kenya. The theories that supported the study were: Human Capital Theory and Competitive Advantage Theory. The research adopted a positivist approach because the role of the researcher was limited to data collection and interpretation in a manner which was observable and verifiable. The research used cross-sectional and descriptive where qualitative data was collected through reviewing of company manuals. A questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 76 private seed firms in Kenya, using stratified sampling technique, with 280 respondents from top management, finance, operations, and information communication technology departments. Strategic human resource capability was found to be positively related to sustainable competitive advantage (R= 0.356, p<0.05; β= 0.34542, p<0.05). Changes in sustainable competitive advantage among seed companies could be accounted for by strategic human resource capability for up to 12 percent. In conclusion, strategic human resource capabilities had a significant influence on the sustainable competitive advantage of seed companies in Kenya. This conclusion was supported by the study models’ statistics that indicated that strategic human resource capabilities influenced sustainable competitive advantage among seed companies in Kenya. Seed companies should foster a culture of continuous learning by the staff, job rotations and promote knowledge transfer. Skills identification and recruitment from the industry will promote the use of technology and benchmarking with industry best practices are encouraged to enhance organization strategic human resource capabilities.