INFLUENCE OF BUSINESS NETWORKING STRATEGY ON GROWTH OF WOMEN GROUP BUSINESSES IN KIAMBU SUB COUNTY, KENYA
INFLUENCE OF BUSINESS NETWORKING STRATEGY ON GROWTH OF WOMEN GROUP BUSINESSES IN KIAMBU SUB COUNTY, KENYA
Ngoima Wangari M. A. - Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Osieko O. M. - Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Many women group enterprises are smaller, less profitable and start with little to no capital investment than those owned by men and many of them often face failures because they either fail to take off or never reach maturity. Further, enterprise survey reports indicate that more than half of women group enterprises in Kenya are known for their low start-up, low working capital, low growth rate and sometimes eminent collapse due to inadequate growth potential; a gap that motivated this study to examine the influence of business networking strategy on the growth of women group enterprises in Kiambu Sub County, Kenya. The study was guided by entrepreneurship theory and theory of social exclusion. The study adopted explanatory survey design and targeted mainly chairpersons of 350 registered and established women group enterprises in Kiambu Sub County, Kenya; where Taro Yamane’s proportional sampling technique formula was used to get a sample size of 186 respondents who were selected through stratified random sampling technique. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaire. Collected data was coded for accuracy of information at the end of every field data collection day and stored both manually and electronically. Computer software- Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 24 was used in data analysis from where descriptive statistics which include percentages, frequencies, mean, and standard deviations were computed, while linear regression analysis was computed to determine variable relationship. Data was presented in form of tables and graphs. Pilot testing was done where construct validity and Cronbach’s alpha was used to test instrument validity and reliability respectively. A total of 186 questionnaires were sent to the Women Group Enterprises in Kiambu Sub-County for data collection and 129 questionnaires were returned completely filled, depicting a response rate of 69.3% which is good for generalizability of the research findings to a wider population. Both descriptive and inferential statistics showed that business networking had a linear relationship and significantly influenced growth of women group enterprises in Kiambu Sub County, Kenya. The study concluded that, women group enterprises that engage business networking tactics such as market access networking, knowledge exchange networks, and value chain network configurations can significantly boost growth of their businesses. The study recommended that members of women group enterprises should engage in feasible business networking strategies so as to widen their market scope for their products and services.
