Technological Innovation and Competitive Advantage: Empirical Evidence from Large Telecommunication Firms

Abstract

Empirical research demonstrating the influence of technological innovation on competitive advantage has produced inconclusive results. This paper, therefore, aims to investigate the association amidst technological innovations and competitive advantage. Significant transformations have been evident in Kenya’s telecommunication industry for the last two decades, which has resulted in intense competition, and technological innovation has become the new face of competition among firms. The study applied the positivism philosophy and adopted the descriptive cross-sectional survey design. The target population comprised all 83 large licensed telecommunications service providers where census method was used. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized in the analysis of data. Descriptive statistics comprised of frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations while inferential statistics used linear regression analysis which was employed in testing the hypothesis. Findings reveal a significant and positive influence of technological innovation on competitive advantage. Technological innovation explained the variations in competitive advantage. It is deduced from the findings that more technologically innovative telecommunication firms are likely to produce better products and services and consequently able to acquire more customers earning competitive advantage compared to less innovative telecommunication firms. The study presented notable implications on the policy framework, the strategic management practice, and theory implications in the telecommunication industry and beyond. At policy level, the Government of Kenya would benefit from the study by ensuring that policy makers and regulatory authorities in the telecommunication sector formulate policies that would promote technological innovation for enhancing competitive advantage. Managerial practitioners may consider institutionalizing innovation by creating the requisite direction and controls that enable the emergence of innovation and value creation for sustainable competitive advantage. The study findings’ implications further extended, supported, and added value on the theory adopted by the study.

Study of the Effect of Green Investment Policy, Technological Innovation, and Sustainable Development on Industrial Competitiveness

“…Therefore, insights into technological innovation are essential for understanding the relationship between green investment policies and industrial competitiveness [38]. Technological innovation plays a pivotal role in driving industrial competitiveness [39]- [43]. There is a strong correlation and positive coefficient between technological innovation and corporate competitiveness.…”

Innovation Practices: Catalyst for SMEs Performance in Anambra State, Nigeria

“…Letangule and Letting (2012) explored how the performance of companies in the information technology in Kenya were affected by innovation strategies and found that the adoption of innovation strategies had significant and positive influence on the performance of telecommunication firms. Several researches have fund that technological innovation capabilities have a positive impact on the performance (Aziz & Samad, 2016;Wanaswa, Awino, Ogutu & Owino, 2021;Nafula, 2017;Wanyoike, 2016;Abdi & Ali, 2013). Based on the above discussions, the following hypothesis was developed: H03: Technological innovation does not significantly influence competitive advantage on SMEs.…”