Effect of Strategic Management Options on Competitive Advantage of Youth Enterprises in Kenya

Abstract

The Youth Enterprises have to survive in the global economic environment through defining the areas in which they can achieve superior results and on them base their complete business. These areas included building collaborative networks, engaging in innovation processes through product value addition, focusing on product diversification and employing sustainable business development services in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantages over their competitors. Collaborative networks refer to the group of firms that combine efforts to achieve competitive advantages that would be very difficult to achieve individually. Through such a process youth enterprises can partly resolve problems by gaining competence, building resources, sharing risks, undertaking quick market movements, and making joint investments. The purpose of the study was to unite and to expand the existing cognitions about the concept of collaborative networks, innovation, product diversification, and business development services in promoting competitive advantage of youth enterprises. The study adopted explanatory research design. The study target population consisted of 350 active youth groups dealing with income generating enterprises in Murang’a County. Youth groups were categorized into various strata and then computed to sample size. The computed sample size was 189 active youth groups. A questionnaire was used for collecting data. Questionnaire had both closed and open ended questions. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed by employing descriptive statistics such as percentage, mean, standard deviation, and inferential statistics. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were further used as a test of study hypotheses using statistical package for social science (SPSS). This technique gave summaries about the sample data and presented quantitative descriptions in a manageable form. The results indicated that youth enterprises in Kenya have largely adopted strategic options in order to raise their competitive advantage. The findings of the study revealed that collaborative networks, innovation, product diversification and business development services have positive significant relationship with competitive advantage of youth enterprises in Kenya. However, innovation through product value addition had a higher coefficient of determination meaning that, it had the greatest effect on competitive advantage of youth enterprises in Kenya. The study revealed that youth enterprises combine these strategic options to raise their competitive advantage. In the joint model, the study revealed that in the presence of other variables, business development services had a negative significant relationship with competitive advantage of youth enterprises in Kenya. The study recommend that youth enterprises must adopt collaborative networks, innovation through product value addition, product diversification and business development services in order to build their competitive advantage. The study further recommends that youth enterprise chair persons must regularly and continuously assess their enterprise strategic options in terms of their appropriateness in the ever changing business environment. Strategic options must match with the business environment in order to realize optimal competitive advantage. Analysis recommends a need for focusing on more ways of solving other challenges facing youth enterprises in order to maximally realize their competitive advantage without limiting themselves to strategic options only.