Record Details

Operations Management and Performance of Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya

International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science

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Field Value
 
Title Operations Management and Performance of Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya
 
Creator Mkala, Mwamisha D
Wanjau, Kenneth L
Kyalo, Teresia N
 
Description Manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the breeding ground for human capital competencies, creativity and innovation, which are important inputs for manufacturing competitiveness. In Kenya, manufacturing SMEs contribute 14% of gross domestic product (GDP), and train and employ 30% of the workforce. However, their growth and competitiveness are undermined by challenges in the firms’ operations management. Consequently, the firms struggle to survive as competitive enterprises, both domestically and globally. The purpose of this study was to establish how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) enhances the relationship between operations management and firm performance. Quantitative primary data were collected from managers of 83 firms registered by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers in the food and beverage sub-sector using a self-administered questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data for relationships between the study variables. The study found a positive relationship between operations management and EO, and between EO and firm performance. The study also found that EO is a mediator of the relationship between operations management and performance of manufacturing SMEs in Kenya. The study recommends that for manufacturing SMEs to effectively deploy operations management competencies and gain global competitiveness, they must engage EO as a strategy to foment organisational experimentation and exploration and commercialize the resultant innovations. At the macroeconomic level, the government should support manufacturing SMEs through enactment and promotion of policies that enable operations managers to exploit their firm’s EO stock.
 
Publisher SSBFNET
 
Date 2018-11-05
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Peer-reviewed Articles
 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier http://www.ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs/article/view/43
10.20525/ijrbs.v7i2.861
 
Source International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147- 4478); Vol 7 No 2 (2018): April; 1-13
2147-4478
10.20525/ijrbs.v7i2
 
Language eng
 
Relation http://www.ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs/article/view/43/45