Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Performance of Micro and Small Enterprises in the Publishing Industry in Kenya

Kimani, Grace Wambui (2015) Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Performance of Micro and Small Enterprises in the Publishing Industry in Kenya. Masters thesis, Kenyatta University.

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Abstract

Micro and Small Enterprises have been acknowledged as very important in economic development for job creation and poverty reduction. The government of Kenya has also acknowledged that these firms face a lot of challenges and that there is need to enhance their performance and competitiveness. This study examined Entrepreneurial Orientation in the publishing Micro and Small Enterprises in Kenya in relation to their performance. Micro and Small Enterprises in this industry are faced with many problems that include stiff competition by multinationals and government owned publishing houses and this has implication on their performance. With their large resource base and support from their parent organizations and the government, subsidiaries of multinationals and government publishing houses are a force to reckon with in the marketplace. Entrepreneurial Orientation is a strategy that firms can use to gain competitive advantage and enhance their performance. The five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation construct are; innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, autonomy and competitive aggressiveness. The study was conducted in Nairobi where most of these MSEs are found and the target population was all the MSEs in the publishing industry in Kenya, which have been in existence for 3 or more years. A list of publishers was obtained from the Kenya Publishers' Association, and Kenya Business directory where 60 firms were selected after cross-checking the 2011 and 2013 directories to ensure that only those firms that are 3 years and above are in the study. The study used the explanatory and descriptive approach to examine the relationship between the dimensions of Entrepreneurial Orientation (innovation, risktaking, proactiveness, autonomy and competitive aggressiveness) and the performance of Micro and Small Enterprises in the publishing industry in Kenya using a questionnaire. The study established a positive relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation and the performance of Micro and Small Enterprises in the Publishing industry in Kenya. All the five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation were positively related to performance and the regression analysis indicated that increase in each of them would result into increase in performance. It is, therefore, imperative for these firms to integrate Entrepreneurial Orientation posture into their strategic behavior so as to be more competitive and improve their performance. The study also established that education, use of information technology, firm size and firm age had moderating influence on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance. These findings are of importance to policy makers who can come up with different programmes aimed at improving the competitiveness of these firms through creativity, experimentation and development of a wholesome entrepreneurial posture. The Micro and Small Enterprises sector will further be enriched if further research is carried on in the different sectors of the economy as recommended in this study, thus establishing other factors that can increase the competitiveness and performance of these firms.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Tim Khabala
Date Deposited:	12 Sep 2017 13:50
Last Modified:	12 Sep 2017 13:50
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/2175

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