Browsing by Author "Njuguna, Reuben Kinyuru"

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    The effectiveness of relationship management and service quality on service delivery
    (2017) Njuguna, Reuben Kinyuru; Mirugi, Susan
    To gain competitive advantage and retain their customers organisations need to take care of their prized assets which is their customers. This can only be achieved by efficient relationship management and service quality. This paper aims to study the effectiveness of service quality and relationship management on service delivery. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a questionnaire and statistical analytical techniques to explore the effectiveness of service quality and customer relationship management (CRM) on service delivery. Findings – The results indicated that service quality has a positive influence on service delivery and relationship management enhances service delivery. Practical implications – The results found that service delivery aspects such as service processes, quality improvement, and value enhancing is indeed an important source of competitive advantage. Hence, enterprises should acquire valuable service processes in order to enhance the relationship with customers, as well as enhance their service quality. Furthermore, this research is expected to provide enterprises with valuable suggestions for management practices
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    The Influence of Brand Equity on Consumer Choice in Branded Bottled Water among Supermarket Customers in Nairobi Central Business District, Kenya
    (2014-08-19) Njuguna, Reuben Kinyuru
    Building strong brand equity to attain competitive advantage is a top priority amongst many firms but it is not always an easy task to accomplish. Due to the increased globalization and competition, the management of a brand has become of importance and thus presents an interesting area to study. With the adoption of effective brand equity strategies, many companies may compete effectively and efficiently. This study, therefore, set out to investigate the influence of brand equity on consumer choice in buying branded bottled water, with special focus on the contributory roles of its various elements in influencing consumer choice, as well as the moderating role of the industry context in affecting the relationship between brand equity and consumer choice. The specific objectives of the study were to investigate (i) the influence of brand awareness on consumer choice (ii) the influence of brand loyalty on consumer choice (iii) the influence of perceived quality on consumer choice; and (iv) the influence of proprietary brand assets on consumer choice. Moreover the study sought to determine the moderating influence of the Industry context on the relationship between brand equity and consumer choice. A cross-sectional explanatory design was used. The target population in this study was 264,808 registered customers in supermarkets and procurement employees in the selected supermarkets in the Nairobi Central Business District. The study was conducted in the context of the Kenyan retail supermarkets in Kenya. This context was chosen due to the prominence of the supermarkets in the retail industry in Kenya and on the basis of the limited research conducted on branding in the Kenyan context. Convenient sampling was adopted to select the supermarkets and systematic sampling was conducted to select customers from an ordered sample size from the supermarkets 400 population sample size. Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and an interview guide. Secondary data were collected through records and documents review. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the properties of the mass data. Inferential statistics were derived using Pearson’s correlation and logistic regression analysis. Content analysis was carried out for qualitative data. The study used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 19 and Stata 11 as a tool to process and analyse data. The research results were presented in percentages, tables, charts and graphs. The findings show that all the objectives of the study were significant at 95% confidence level, there was significant impact of brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty and other proprietary brand assets on consumer choice. Furthermore it shows brand loyalty as the most dominant factor established whose platform should be built by the other three dimension of brand equity to enable a firm to influence choice habits amongst consumers. The study recommends that brand equity should be used to play a leading role among product related strategies in establishing a marketing strategy for bottled water manufacturers.
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    The influence of retail network expansion on the competitive advantage of oil marketing firms in Kenya: case of vivo energy
    (2017) Nderitu, Duncan Mathenge; Njuguna, Reuben Kinyuru
    The advent of liberalization in October 1994 in Kenya’s petroleum sub-sector has witnessed unprecedented influx of players into this sector. This has led to stiff competition, as the fight for customers seems to be a never-ending war. The increased number of firms in this sector has given the consumers a wide variety of choices from which to make a choice. This coupled with changes in socio-cultural trends such as education and the increased importance of time has forced oil companies to be more sensitive and responsive as customers are now demanding value for their money. This study therefore sought to determine the influence of retail network expansion on the competitive advantage of oil marketing firms in Kenya. This study used a descriptive research design. The target population of this study was all the 110 staff working at the headquarters of Vivo Energy. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 50% of the target population. The sample size was 55 staff. This study used both primary and secondary data. Secondary data was collected from the financial statements and the strategic plan of Vivo energy. Primary data was collected by use of semi-structured questionnaires and key informant interview guide. Before the main data collection a pilot test was conducted to test the validity and reliability of the research instrument. Quantitative data was analyzed by use of both descriptive and inferential statistics by use of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS version 22). Descriptive statistics included frequency distribution, percentages, measures of central tendencies (mean) and measures of dispersion (standard deviation). The data was then presented in tables and graphs. Inferential statistics such as correlation analysis and multivariate regression analysis were used to establish whether there is a relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. The study applied a 95% confidence level. A 95% confidence interval indicates a significance level of 0.05. This implies that for an independent variable to have a significant influence on the dependent variable, the p-value ought to be below the significance level (0.05). The study found that retail network expansion had a positive and significant influence on the competitive advantage of Vivo energy. The study recommends that Vivo Energy should seek to increase its branch network even more. In addition, they should focus more on areas lacking fuel stations, upcoming residential areas and developing cities. To improve its distribution network, Vivo Energy needs to adopt the franchising strategy as it requires little or no resources. Also, since the company has been