Leveraging Product Innovation for Enhanced Service Quality
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Date
2025-07
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Publisher
International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management (IJECM
Abstract
The hotel industry in Kenya makes remarkable contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, employment creation and is inextricably connected to other sectors of the economy. In the last few years, the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity that has characterised the business landscape as demonstrated recently by the COVID-19 global pandemic has occasioned concerns over reliability, tangibility, responsiveness and assurance of the customer value delivery system in the hotel industry. Product innovation is one of the most unique ways of improving a business profit as well as organizational service quality. Apart from enhancing product quality, it also ensures cost reduction which are good for sustainability of business operations. The power that product innovation has when it comes to business growth and sustainability cannot be denied. Further, it ensures the organization competitiveness is improved and its market presence is felt. Organizations that want to get hold of a bigger market share use constant products innovation strategy because it leads to improved service quality which attracts different customers that have unique needs. In light of this, this study examined the effect of product innovation on service quality in Serena Hotels, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive research design. The heads of functional areas formed the unit of observation and constituted a population of 590 subjects from which a sample of 176 management staff were selected through stratified proportionate sampling method. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaire. A pilot study was executed to assess the feasibility of the research instrument for gathering the required data. Descriptive attributes of the sample were analysed using frequency count, sample mean and standard deviation. Linear regression analysis was performed to determine the causal link between product innovation and service quality. Product innovation was determined to have a positive causal link to service quality. This indicates a substantial impact of product innovation on enhancing service quality. The head of marketing division at Serena Hotels should ensure sufficient resources are committed towards improvement of product attributes on the basis of in-depth understanding of customers’ needs. In addition, the procurement division should ensure raw materials received from suppliers are high quality in line with customer value proposition. Quality audits should be strengthened to enforce compliance and minimise the variance in product performance.
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