The role of social media networks in the development of competitive advantage of small and micro enterprises in Kenya (case of small firms within village market in Nairobi)
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Date
2013-08-28
Authors
Njuguna, Irene Ngendo
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Abstract
By utilizing electronic media and social networks, the ways of conducting businesses are rapidly
changing and evolving. New business opportunities are emerging due to elimination of
geographical barriers and the clientele being reached varies in age, culture and financial
capability. With the growth of social media networks, most people tend to access their profiles in
their work area networks. Social networks enable a business to be where the customers are. The
sites rely on the regular presence of millions of users. The general objective of the study was to
investigate the role of social media networks in development of competitive advantage of SMEs
firms within Village Market in Nairobi. The population of this study was 130 respondents the
owners and employees in SMEs firms within Village Market in Nairobi. The researcher
interviewed 101 respondents from the entire population selected in groups. Questionnaires were
used to obtain important information about the population. The data was coded and descriptive
statistics such as means, standard deviation and frequency distribution were used to analyse the
data. Multiple Linear Regression analysis and Chi-Square Test were applied to determine the
relationship of the variables. The study concludes that Facebook is the tool being used by the
majority of SMEs as in conducting their business and this has been used for quite sometimes by
majority of the SMEs. The study also concludes that SMEs owners have adequate information in
regard to the role played by social media in running of their business and that's why they are all
moving the social media way. The study thus recommends SMEs to adopt the modem
technology since they will have the opportunity to capitalize on the advantages of deploying a
social media workforce using applications such as text messaging, email and data transfer. This
will also help the SMEs enjoy the benefits of social media that is in the ability of firms to interact
with their customers as seen by the anticipation of the drive towards customer value or
relationship marketing