Gachengo, Lydia Wanjiku2018-09-192018-09-192018-04http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/18614A Thesis submitted to the School of Business for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business (Strategic Management), Kenyatta University. April, 2018The Communications Authority of Kenya (2016) indicated a 14.3% drop in courier transactions from the year 2010 to 2015. Further, outgoing international transactions experienced a 20.6% decline. This downward trend has been attributed to development of communication technology and organisational competitiveness which has immensely affected the performance of the firms in this business portfolio. This has led most organisations to embrace certain corporate strategies and partnering with other organizations to strengthen their market positions and improve on performance. This study sought to investigate the effect of inter-organizational collaboration and performance of courier firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to: determine the effect of resource-based collaborations on performance of firms courier firms in Nairobi City County; establish the ef fect of cost-based collaborations on performance of courier firms in Nairobi city county; determine the effect of relational-based collaborations on the performance of courier firms in Nairobi City County; assess the moderating effect of organizational characteristics on the relationship between inter-organizational collaborations and performance of Courier firms in Nairobi City County and finally assess the mediating effect of organizational competitiveness on the relationship between inter-organizational collaborations and performance of courier firms in Nairobi City County. The study was anchored on the Transaction Cost Theory, Resource Based View Theory and Resource Dependency Theory. The study adopted positivist philosophy that premises knowledge is based on facts and that no abstractions or subjective status of individuals is considered. To achieve the objectives, the study used both descriptive and explanatory research designs. The unit of analysis was 141 courier firms and the stratified sampling design was used to group the firms into strata using the licensing category. Secondly, using the Krejce and Morgan sampling table (1970) the researcher arrived at 103 organisations which were included in the study. In each firm 3 managers were picked who included the Finance Manager, Operations Manager and Customer Service Manager to arrive at 309 managers. The study used mainly Primary data which was collected using self-administered questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize data while inferential statistics applied multiple linear regression analysis to test hypothesized relationships. Content analysis was also used for qualitative data. Adjusted R2 was used to measure the amount of variation in the dependent variable explained by the independent variables. An assessment of the underlying statistical assumptions was conducted by testing for normality, homoscedasticity, linearity, multicollinearity and autocorrelation. The study findings were that resource based, cost based and relational based collaborations had a positive significant effect on the performance of Courier firms in Nairobi City County. Organizational characteristics were found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between inter-organizational collaborations and performance of Courier Firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study recommended that firms should re-think on configuration of resources in assessment of any collaborations the firm intends to engage itself in order to enhance performance. Further, the study suggests that a similar study can be conducted in other industries to determine the causal linksenInter-organizational collaborations and performance of courier firms in Nairobi City County, KenyaThesis