Influence of Strategic Capabilities in the Performance of Telecommunication Companies in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

The telecommunication companies have witnessed tremendous growth in the past seventeen years. This unprecedented growth of the industry was occasioned by the enactment of the Kenya communications act in 1998, which led to the establishment of the then Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). Its function was to license and regulate telecommunications, radio communication and postal services in Kenya. Together with the clamor by the government to loosen its grip on ownership of state corporations, a more competitive and business oriented telecommunication industry emerged. As a result, a few companies were seen to be dominant and way ahead in terms of revenue and customer numbers. Therefore, the overall objective of this study was to investigate the influence of strategic capabilities on the performance of telecommunication companies in Nairobi, County.Specifically the study was to establish the influence of; global, upper management, product/service, marketing and technological strategic capabilities on the performance of telecommunication companies in Nairobi County.The study population comprised operations, junior management, middle management and senior management staff of the three leading telecommunication companies in Nairobi County (Safaricom, Airtel and Orange).Stratified sampling was used to divide the organizations in the telecommunication industry into three strata, namely; higher turnover organizations, medium turnover organizations and lower turnover organizations.Both secondary and primary data were collected. Secondary data were collected from similar past studies, annual reports and library sources while primary data were collected by use of semi-structured questionnaires. Data analysis was carried by use of the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) for production of descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to test the relationship between the independent and dependent variable. The study concluded that capabilities of telecommunication companies in Nairobi County have influence over their performances. The specific capabilities of these companies were identified to be; global, upper management, product/service, marketing and technological strategic capabilities