STRATEGIC INNOVATIONS AND TELECOMMUNICATION MOBILE NETWORK OPERATORS IN MACHAKOS COUNTY, KENYA
STRATEGIC INNOVATIONS AND TELECOMMUNICATION MOBILE NETWORK OPERATORS IN MACHAKOS COUNTY, KENYA
Makau Nancy Mutheu - Master of Business Administration (Strategic Management), Kenyatta University, Kenya
Evans Mwasiaji (PhD) - Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Telecommunications industry globally play a crucial role in not only facilitating societal communication, but also in enabling economic and social development through the provision of required infrastructure and digital services to entities for data transmission in a globalized business environment. In Kenya, the Communication Authority's 2021-2022 Annual report shows that it has promoted competition in the market and facilitated increased placement of 4G transceivers for mobile telephone service provision. Despite this, leading telecommunication firms in Kenya have most recently reported losses and or a large number of dormant customers. In its 2019-2020 annual report, the Kenya Communications Authority also indicated that Safaricom PLC which has the most subscribers in the country had a decline in its market share in June 2019. Given market challenges and importance of the telecommunications sector, some studies have recommended that strategic innovation is critical in adapting to changing circumstances, achieving a competitive advantage and superior organizational performance results. This study therefore sought to establish a link if any between strategic innovations and performance of telecommunication mobile network operators in Machakos County, Kenya. The balanced score card anchored the dependent variable. The unit of analysis was Airtel Kenya, Safaricom PLC and Telkom Kenya, while the unit of observation was 45 management staff. A structured questionnaire was used to generate data that were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while regression analysis was conducted in examining the nature of relationship between the study variables. This study with an 82.22% response rate, established a positive relationship between functional integration, market focus, technological adoption and the performance of telecommunication mobile network operators in Machakos County, Kenya. The study’s position is that effective adoption of the three strategic innovations leads to better organizational performance by telecommunication mobile network operators in terms of the four balanced score card dimensions. The study therefore recommends that there is need for telecommunication mobile network operators to undertake stakeholder management to support full integration of strategic innovations for continuous performance improvement. There is also need for additional studies on market focus in isolation from technological adoption and functional integration for having the least positivity. The expected study output is enhanced performance in support of overall growth of the telecommunication sector for social and economic development in Kenya.
