INTANGIBLE ORGANISATIONAL RESOURCES AND PERFORMANCE OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES IN NYERI COUNTY, KENYA
INTANGIBLE ORGANISATIONAL RESOURCES AND PERFORMANCE OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES IN NYERI COUNTY, KENYA
Jacinta Wairimu Mwangi - MBA Candidate, Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Paul Waithaka - Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
The number and severity of stalled projects in the Kenyan public sector have been on the rise. Inadequacy and poor state of resources has been cited as the key challenge responsible for delays or complete stall of projects. While theorists argue that the success of construction companies is largely pegged on their ability to ensure availability and efficient management of resources, empirical evidence to demonstrate this is still scanty. The current study focused on intangible organisational resources and performance of road construction companies in Nyeri County of Kenya. The study was anchored on the resource based view of the firm and the dynamic capabilities theory as the main guiding theoretical frameworks to the study. The target population was made up of 58 road construction companies in Nyeri County. A census approach was used to subject all the 58 road construction companies to the study. The study purposively targeted the project managers and project engineers working for the road construction companies. This procedure led to a total of 116 respondents targeted. Primary data was collected through a semi structured questionnaire. The study collected secondary data from the management reports of the road construction companies and through a review of other corporate handbooks. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis. The multiple regression analysis output provides evidence that intangible resources is a useful and positive determinant of performance of road construction firms. The Pearson correlation analysis showed that intangible organisational resources has a positive and statistically significant relationship with performance of road construction companies. Although the road construction companies enjoyed a rich endowment with intangible resources, there was need to further cultivate strategic partnerships with suppliers to enjoy enhanced preferential treatment in accessing materials and other services and facilities. Other ways to enhance intangible resources include involvement in corporate social responsibility and pursuit of a culture of creativity and innovation.
