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Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance
(AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018
www.oircjournals.org
Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org
Effect of Product Creation Strategy on
Performance of Small and Medium
Enterprises in Eldoret, Town.
1
Caren J. Barbengi, 2
Kimutai Geoffrey
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Type of the Paper: Research Paper.
Type of Review: Peer Reviewed.
Indexed in: worldwide web.
Google Scholar Citation: AIJMEG
Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance
(AIJMEG)
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How to Cite this Paper:
Barbengi C. J., and Kimutai, G., (2018). Effect of Product Creation Strategy on
Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Eldoret, Town. Africa
International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG), 3 (4), 1-17.
Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance
(AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October
2018 www.oircjournals.org
2 | P a g e
Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org
Effect of Product Creation Strategy on Performance of
Small and Medium Enterprises in Eldoret, Town.
1
Caren J. Barbengi, 2
Kimutai Geoffrey
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Abstract
Majority of SMEs collapse because they
operate in business environment which is
highly turbulent characterized by external
factors as well as internal business
factors. The study therefore sought to
establish the effect of effect of product
creation strategy on performance of small
and medium enterprises in Eldoret town.
The study was guided by Balanced
Scorecard Theory. This study adopted
descriptive research design. The target
population of the study was 2,391
registered SMEs according to Uasin Gishu County government records and accessible population was 1764
respondents. The sample size for the respondents was therefore be 315. The study used questionnaires as the main
tool for collecting data. The data collected was analyzed by using the excel program and Statistical Package for
Social Science (SPSS) version 23. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, frequencies,
percentages and standard derivation and inferential statistics which include correlation and multiple regressions.
Data was presented by use of frequency tables, charts and graphs. The study findings a positive and significant
effect of product creation strategy on small and medium enterprises in Eldoret Town (β=0.476, p<0.05). The
study will be of benefit to management of medium enterprises and other organizations in understanding the
challenges they would encounter when implementing various strategies and be able to come up with better ways
of dealing with these challenges so as to be successful in their strategies. The study would be of importance to
future researchers and scholars since it would be a source of material for their research and would also help
them in identifying the research gaps they need to fill.
1.1 Background of the Study
Firm performance is defined as both behavior and
results. This definition covers the achievement of
expected levels as well as objective setting and
review (Katzenbach & Smith, 2015). The underlying
thought behind the study is to seek the relationship
bearing in mind that if the behavior of management
is right, then the expected levels of output was
achieved success and vice versa for failure. Success
and failure are taken as the two ends of the
performance continuum (Linder & Sperber, 2017).
Firm performance comprises the actual output or
results of firm measured against its intended outputs
(Ngui, 2015). Whereas the definitions may differ
between the authors, they are in agreement that firm
performance is about achieving superior results
and/or achievement of objectives.
Performance is the key interest of every business
manager or owner. The overall performance of the
organization depends on proper management of the
three levels, which fall within the jurisdiction of top,
middle and lower management (Kim& Franke,
2016). Firm performance provides useful
information for monitoring and control,
improvement, maximization of effectiveness of
improvement effort, reward and discipline and as a
lever towards alignment of organizational goals and
objectives. Profits, growth, balance scorecards,
economic value added, activity based analysis and
customer satisfaction are some of the frameworks
that several scholars have proposed as effective in
undertaking firm performance (Chang & Ellinger,
2016).
According to Ramanathan and Black (2017)
performance measurement refers to the process of
measuring the action’s efficiency and effectiveness.
Performance measurement is the transference of the
complex reality of performance in organized
ARTICLE INFO
Received 28th
September, 2018
Received in Revised Form 30th
October, 2018
Accepted 18th
October, 2018
Published online 20th
October, 2018
Keywords: Product Creation, Strategy, Performance, Small
Medium Enterprise
Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance
(AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October
2018 www.oircjournals.org
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Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org
symbols that can be related and relayed under the
same circumstances. In the current business
management, performance measurement is
considered to be in a more critical role compared to
quantification and accounting (Al-Swidi & Fadzil,
2014).This is consistent with Bititci Carrie and Mc
Devitt (1997) who described performance
management as a process wherein the organization
manages its performance to match its corporate and
functional strategies and objectives (Al-Matari,
2014).
Performance measurement is critical for effective
management of any firm. The process improvement
is not possible without measuring the outcomes.
Hence, organizational performance improvement
requires measurements to identify the level to which
the use of organizational resources impact business
performance (Delima, 2017). The firm’s success is
basically explained by its performance over a certain
period of time. Ismail, (2017) have extended efforts
to determine measures for the concept of
performance as a crucial notion. Finding a
measurement for the performance of the firm
enables the comparison of performances over
different time periods.
Globally, SMEs have been considered as the
backbone of the economy in the European countries.
In the European countries, SMEs represent up to
99% of all businesses, and they generated
approximately 85% of new jobs. The important role
of SMEs in these countries has been supported by
(Payangan, Taba & Pabo, 2016). Garrigos Simon,
(2017) also confirmed the crucial role of SMEs in
promoting economic growth. Thus, it is no doubt
that SMEs play a very important role to the economy
in particular and development in general.
Also research have documented that SMEs play a
significant role in the economy of any country in the
world. Consequently, the performance of the SME
sector is closely associated with the performance of
the nation. In Thailand, SMEs account for a large
proportion of the total establishments in the various
sectors. In the manufacturing sector, for instance,
SMEs comprise 93.8 percent of all establishments.
Moreover, of the total number of SMEs, small
enterprises comprise 76.0 percent, while medium
companies account for 17.8 percent of all
manufacturing establishments. Meanwhile the
estimated that 90 percent of all manufacturing
establishments were SMEs, employing some
868,000 workers or 38.9 percent of the total.
Previous studies dealing with the conditions of
successful business have focused on large
companies rather than SMEs (Garrigos Simon,
Gonzalez-Cruz & Contreras-Pacheco, 2017).
However, changes in the environment cause more
uncertainty in SMEs than in large companies. Thai
SMEs are increasingly seen as creator of new jobs
(Payangan, 2017) and Vietnamese SMEs employ
64% of industrial workforce. SMEs in Thailand play
an important role in the country’s economic
development. According to statistics, SMEs
accounted for 76.1% per cent of all establishments
in the manufacturing sector in the year2007. The
largest concentration, by number, of SMEs in
Thailand is in the food and beverage sector, textiles,
wearing apparel, and wood and wood products
(Azmi, 2017).
Regionally, concern on SMEs is very high. This is
due to the fact that SMEs has been considered as the
backbone of the economy. However, SMEs are
vulnerable to a variety of internal as well as external
barriers. As consequence, governments’ attention to
SMEs is mostly in the form of creating conducive
environment, entrepreneurship development, access
improvement to both domestics and international
markets, providing financial facilities, the
competitiveness improvement and providing
information and supporting network. Some
researches into small-business development have
also shown that the rate of failure of small scale
businesses in developing countries is higher than in
the developed world (Doh& Kim, 2014). In Nigeria
in particular, despite the support and incentive
programmes to small scale business, Abdullahi &
Kabir, (2016) succinctly stated that it would seem
reasonable to expect that small businesses would
grow and flourish, but the rate of business failure
continues to increase because of the obstacles
affecting firm performance which include: lack of
financial resources, lack of management experience,
poor location, laws and regulations, general
economic conditions, as well as critical factors such
as poor infrastructure, corruption, low demand for
products and services, and poverty (Abdullahi &
Jakada, 2016).
For instance in Cote d’ivoire, even though a number
of studies have been done on strategies leading to
failure or success of SMEs, none has been geared
towards the significant of marketing management
strategies in enhancing performance of SMEs in
Cote d’ivoire. The findings of this study revealed
that there is a high level of awareness of the
significance roles played by marketing management
strategies in the performance of SMEs; that adoption
of technology in marketing management strategies
can be mainstreamed into SMEs development
agenda and that marketing management strategy is a
veritable tool for sustainable development of SMEs
(Ardjouman & Asma, 2015).
Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance
(AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October
2018 www.oircjournals.org
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Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org
In Kenya, the Micro and Small Enterprises
Authority (MSEA) is a State Corporation
established under Micro and Small Enterprises Act
No. 55 of 2012. The Authority (MSEA) is
categorized as a Service Corporation, PC 3B and is
domiciled in the Ministry of Industrialization and
Enterprise Development. MSEA was established for
the promotion, development, regulation of Micro
and Small Enterprises (MSE) Sector in Kenya. The
Authority is mandated to formulate and review
policies and programmes, promote and develop
MSE sector, monitor and evaluate implementation
policies, programmes and activities related to MSE
development. Further, the Authority is established to
coordinate, harmonize and facilitate integration of
various public and private policies, programmes and
activities related to Micro and Small Enterprises in
Kenya.
The SMEs in Kenya just as anywhere else play an
important role in employment and wealth creation,
income distribution, accumulation of technological
capabilities and spreading the available resources.
According to the Economic Survey (GoK, 2012), the
SME sector contributed 79.8% of new jobs created
in the year 2011 with 89.7% of new jobs created in
2013 being created by the SME sector (GoK, 2013).
Although small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) typically employ a major share of an
economy’s total employees, SME management
suffers from an insufficient business-related
knowledge base that top managers in SMEs possess
(Mohamad Radzi, Nor, Nazri & Ali, 2017).
However, SMEs are falling behind large companies
in adoption of management strategic practices and
the benefits of strategic management tools have not
fully been exploited by these firms. There is also
limited empirical evidence on whether management
strategies among the SMEs can explain their
performance differences. Further, SMEs in Kenya
continue to have poor performance and face stiff
competition from large firms (Mohamad Radzi,
2017). Against this background, this study aimed at
establishing the management strategies affecting
Performance of small and medium enterprises in
Eldoret Town.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Majority of SMEs collapse because they operates in
business environment which is highly turbulent
characterized by external factors political/legal,
economic/demographic, socio-cultural,
technological and globalization) as well as internal
business factors management expertise, resources,
individual characteristics (Ismail & Sharifi, 2016).
In this dynamism and turbulence, small businesses
are affected more than the large organizations
because the response to environmental changes in
small businesses is different from that of large
companies (Reid, 2016). A large company can move
from one business to another and have resources and
strategic choices not available to small business
enterprises. It is necessary to study the management
factors that are in place in the informal sector, that
is, investigate individual business adjustment
policies in relation to the state policies.
The business environment in Kenya is always
changing and hence firms have to adapt quickly to
competition and new challenges. This might be an
easy task for the small businesses due to their small
size and inadequate resources. Entrepreneurs
running small business face stiff competition
from large business in the market. They therefore
need to put more effort in categorization,
prioritization and coming up with solutions for the
challenges so as to be more competitive and remain
relevant in the market. The Kenyan government has
continued to campaign for the development of SMEs
as a platform of reducing unemployment by
encouraging self-employment, poverty reduction
and fostering economic growth. Despite the
incentives put in place by the government, recent
studies show that SMEs collapse within the first few
months of operation (Peter, 2017).
Developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
help to achieve sustainable growth as a centralized
theme. SMEs play a vital role in the country’s
overall production networks and they are core to the
economic growth of developing countries. The
contributions of formal SMEs are 50% of total
employment and 33% of the national income of
emerging economies. While including informal
SMEs the percentages was increased. Finance
accession is the main constraint to SME growth,
without that many SMEs are declined (Sharifi,
2016). It is expected that by the year 2030, Kenya
was transformed into a newly industrialized nation.
If the country has to make this leap, then the small
enterprises are expected to play a key role in this
transformation. Although a number of researches
have been done on factors that contribute to success
or failure of SMEs, none has focused on the
management strategies affecting performance of
Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya. This study
therefore sought to determine the effect of
management strategies on performance of small and
medium enterprises in Eldoret town, Kenya by
looking at pricing strategy, savings and investment
strategy and product creation strategy which affects
performance.
Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance
(AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October
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General Objective
The purpose of the study was to establish the effect
of product creation strategy on performance of small
and medium enterprises in Eldoret town.
Research Hypothesis
H01: There are no significant effects of product
creation strategy on performance of small and
medium enterprises in Eldoret town.
Literature Review
2.2 Theoretical Review
This study adopted resource based view theory,
survival-based theory and the balanced scorecard
approach which are relevant to the study.
The Balanced Scorecard Theory
The Balanced Scorecard Approach emanated from
the works of Kaplan and Norton in 1996. The
balanced scorecard approach emphasizes on the
need to provide management with a set of
information that covers all relevant areas of
performance in an objective way. The idea of the
balanced scorecard is that performance could be
measured form four different perspectives.
Assumptions of Balanced Scorecard theory states
that the four areas of performance are defined and
labeled into financial perspective, customer
perspective internal business and innovation and
learning perspectives respectively. The four
performance perspectives are not necessarily
comprehensive, but should represent the critical
success factors necessary for continued
organizational success hence they are intended to be
a close link between the business unit strategy
adopted and the performance measures selected.
Critics of Balanced Scorecard posit that the major
strength of the balanced scorecard approach is the
emphasis that places on linking performance
measures with business unit strategy. According to
Kaplan & Norton (1996), the balanced scorecard not
only allows the monitoring of present performance,
but also tries to capture information about how well
the organization is positioned to perform in the
future. The balanced scorecard is designed to be at
the center of an organization’s control mechanisms
to effectively deploy strategy and to link operational
practices with strategic intent (Otley, 1999).
Balanced Scorecard theory is important to the study
since it explains that the idea of the balance
scorecard is that you should not evaluate a firm
based on one single measure thus in marketing the
balanced score card can be used to link the
marketing strategies with the overall organizational
goals. Additionally, SMEs can use the balanced
score card approach to link their marketing
strategies with their strategic plans and the
performance.
Empirical Review
Product Creation Strategy
According to Makanyeza and Dzvuke (2015) on the
influence of innovation on the performance of small
and medium enterprises in Zimbabwe; study based
on a survey of 200 SMEs, this research investigated
innovation’s influence on the performance of small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Harare,
Zimbabwe. The study found that SMEs were
somewhat innovative. The performance of SMEs
was found to somewhat increase over the period
SMEs were innovating. Innovation was found to
positively predict the performance of SMEs.
Organizational innovation and product innovation
positively predicted the performance of SMEs while
marketing innovation and process innovation did
not. The influence of innovation on enterprise
performance varied from industry to industry. The
research has implications for managers and future
researchers.
Gudahi (2016) study empirically examined the
moderating effect of technology product creation on
the relationship between business strategy and
performance of SMEs in the Uganda’s
manufacturing sector. Findings of the study indicate
the performance of SME vary with the choice of the
business strategies they adopted that result to
building core competences with regard to the
competitive advantages. Additionally, to a certain
degree, the findings of the study suggest product
creation technology as measured by technological
complexity of process moderates the relationship
between business strategy and the performance of
SME’s. Finally the study suggests the model
diagrammatic model that portrays the role of
technology as facilitator to performance of SME’s
and in meeting overall customer needs and at a
balanced cost and fit of positioning in stiff
competitive environment.
Zhao, Lee & Chen, (2011) indicated that for a long
time, technology has been identified as the key for
commencing novel activities through risk-taking
and firm proactively which results in a firm’s higher
performance than competitors. Firms that focus on
technological advancement through innovation
research and development generate above average
performance. Firms that employ technology are
known for superior performance because they
believe in acquisition of new technologies for
product innovation, research and development
which enables the firm to produce unique products
Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance
(AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October
2018 www.oircjournals.org
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which are hard to copy. Technology deserves
consideration since it pursues opportunities and
renewal of new market from the areas of operation
that are existing to match with the changing needs of
the customers in the market.
The disparity between technological progression
and consumer demand means that technology does
not have an impact on superior performance of a
firm. An investigation of performance in
technology-based firms in Kenya indicated that
investment in research and development directly
contributed to higher performance of a firm. The
study analyzed a direct relationship between
technology and performance without taking into
account any mediation, which is a gap that the
current study attempted to fill by mediating the
relationship with competitive advantage while
maintaining technology as an independent variable
(Gakenia, 2015).
According to Keller, (2010), to invest in research
and development calls for evaluation of advantage
and cost before making the decision whether to
adopt or invest in technology. Technology is linked
to greater firm innovativeness. This has to do with
focusing the company’s effort on developing and
utilizing resource to produce unique products for
sustainability of competitiveness and performance.
The conclusion of the study was that there is a strong
positive relationship between technology and
performance in SMEs in Korea. However, the study
used correlation analysis, which was considered
weak for the current research.
Anal et al., (2011), concluded that innovativeness
and performance have a positive relationship, due to
the existence of uniqueness and inimitability of the
products. The study of Anal et al., (2011) analyzed
a direct relationship between innovation and
performance without either a mediator or a
moderator; therefore, the current study mediates and
moderates the relationship.
An interactive research by Hakala (2011)
maintained that for a firm to have a better
performance than its opponents, then it must make
use of complicated technologies which cannot be
duplicated by competitors for product development,
use swiftness of combination of original
technologies, and proactively expand new
technologies in creating novel, valuable and
distinctive product ideas. In addition, the firm’s
technical skills, research and development resources
and technological stand appear to be critical in
passing originality and better deliberated products
into the market, hence the firm’s superior
performance. Although the findings of the studies
showed a strong and positive relationship between
performance and technology, the studies used
survey design only, which is not adequate for the
current study, hence the current study used of
descriptive and explanatory design as well. The
study concluded that technology-oriented firms
emerge to have the capability and will to obtain
advanced technological setting, and such firms hold
the idea that innovation is a strategy for superior
performance. Nevertheless, the study employed
structural equation method for data analysis, which
was not appropriate for the current study.
A study by Spanjolet al., (2011) states that for
product creation on technology oriented firms to
achieve superior performance, they should apply
technical ability to produce new products in the
market to cope with competition, flexible products
so as to change with changing needs of customers
and be able to maintain them, and originality in
developing original products, services and processes
which are unique and difficult to imitate. Anal,
Dionysis and Carmen (2011) found out that
customers choose technologically superior products
and services and that customers stick to a firm that
has the capability to react to their choices in a
successful way.
Product creation through technological competence
is viewed as the principal means of a firm to create
product differentiation which will end up being
unique to a specific firm and promote product
designs that are not beyond those of competitors.
Firms which use technological -oriented strategy are
in support of a strong research and development
department, acquisition of new technologies and
application of the most recent technologies which
enhance superior turnovers and be difficult to be
copied by competitors. Cristima (2012) noted that
for a firm that invest in technology to maintain its
superior performance, it should focus on engaging in
the search for new market opportunities and
rebuilding of existing areas of operations to keep on
producing unique products. The two studies used
Organization Learning theory and Knowledge
Management theory which were considered useful
in the current study, hence the decision to adopt
organization learning and RBV theories.
Wimmer (2016) on the title unraveling the
entrepreneurial process argue that the lack of
empirical testing of product creation based
entrepreneurship is a major impediment to the
further development of entrepreneurship theory
given its importance to firm- and societal-level value
creation. Since entrepreneurs move the market
forward and drive economic growth, the
understanding of what distinguishes their value-
creation activities from the conventional
management practices is a globally appealing
challenge, especially because of the recently
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(AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October
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experienced economic downturns in many countries.
Consequently, with the dissertation my aim was to
resolve the contemporary challenge of theory
development and contribute to the field by
investigating the behavioral aspects of
entrepreneurial activity.
Conceptual Framework
Conceptual framework will show the relationship
between independent variables which is product
creation strategy which was measured by following
indicators; level of innovation, level of consumer
demand, competition level and range of product
flexibility. The dependent variable was performance
of micro and small enterprises measured by the
following indicators; Quality of service, growth rate
and level of market value.
Independent Variable Dependent Variable
Figure 2.1 Conceptual framework
Research Methods
Research Design
Orodho (2003) defines descriptive as a method of
collecting information by interviewing or
administering a questionnaire to a sample of
individuals. This study adopted descriptive research
design. This is due to the fact that the study sought
to have an accurate description of the study
variables and also study the relationship between
the aforesaid variables.
Target Population
The target population refers to the group of people
or study subjects who are similar in one or more
ways and which forms the subject of the study in a
particular survey Orodho (2003). The target
population of the study was 2,391 registered SMEs
according to Uasin Gishu County government
records (Company Registrar, 2017). The listed
SMEs include General Shops, SACCOs, Hotels,
Banking Agencies, Agrovet, Saloon and Barber
Shops, Boutiques, Service Firms, Mobile and Phone
Accessory Shops, chemist, membership Clubs,
Guest Houses, Groceries, Hardware and Electronic
Shops.
Table 3.1 Target Population
Target Group Number of SMEs Accessible Population
General Shops 175 112
Banking Agencies 75 75
Agrovet 196 125
Chemist 110 90
Guest Houses 86 86
Service Firms 215 138
Membership Clubs 26 26
Mobile and Phone Accessory Shops 265 186
Saloon and Barber Shops 210 159
SACCOS 155 140
Boutiques 250 156
Electronic Shops 125 89
Hotels 213 206
Groceries 140 96
Hardware 150 80
Total 2391 1764
Performance of micro and small enterprises
 Level of product quality
 Growth rate of SMEs
 Level of market value
 Uniqueness of the products
Product Creation Strategy
 Level of Innovation
 Level of Consumer demand
 Competition level
 Range of product flexibility
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Sampling Frame
The sampling frame comprised of 112 General
Shops, 155 SACCOs, 206 Hotels, 75 Banking
Agencies, 125 Agro vet, 159 Saloon and Barber
Shops, 156 Boutiques, 138 Service Firms, 186
Mobile and Phone Accessory Shops, 90 Chemists,
26 Membership Clubs, 86 Guest Houses, 96
Groceries, 80 Hardware and 89 Electronic Shops in
Eldoret Town Uasin Gishu County. This choice was
arrived by choosing those SMEs with managers.
Therefore the study target was 1764 respondents.
Sampling Techniques and Sample Size
Sample size refers to the number of observations or
replicates to include in a statistical sample (Orodho,
2003). The sample was obtained using a
combination of non-probability sampling and
probability sampling methods. In an attempt to
obtain a fair representation of the population, the
selection of small and medium enterprises was done
using both judgmental sampling and random
sampling.
The sample size of the study was calculated using
the formula below as recommended by Fisher et al
(2011):
Where;
nf = Sample size (when the population is less
than 10,000).
n = Sample size (when the population is more
than 10,000); 384.
N = Estimate of the population size; 1764
n = 384/ (1+ 384/1764)
n =
384
1.21769
Sample size for the respondents = 315
Using the proportionate sampling the study
distributed the samples size among the target
group indicated in table 3.2.
Table 3.2 Sample Size Distribution of Population
Target Group Accessible Population Sample size
General Shops 112 20
Banking Agencies 75 13
Agrovet 125 22
Chemist 90 16
Guest Houses 86 15
Service Firms 138 25
Membership Clubs 26 5
Mobile and Phone Accessory
Shops
186 33
Saloon and Barber Shops 159 28
SACCOS 140 25
Boutiques 156 28
Electronic Shops 89 16
Hotels 206 37
Groceries 96 17
Hardware 80 15
Total 1764 315
Data Collection Instruments
The study used questionnaires as the main tool for
collecting data. Gay (2010) explains that descriptive
data are usually collected using questionnaires.
Cohen and Manion (2013) have also identified
questionnaires as crucial instruments of data
collection in descriptive research. This study
adopted both the open ended and closed type of
questionnaires, the questionnaires was administered
by the researcher who interviewed the respondents
and recorded their responses.
Pilot Study
Pilot study was done among small and medium
enterprises in Kapsabet town by distributing 32
questionnaires representing 10% of the total sample
size. Pilot study was carried out to ascertain validity
and reliability of research instruments.
N
n
n
nf


1
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Validity
Validity is the extent to which differences found
with a measuring tool reflect true difference among
respondents being tested (Kimberlin, & Winterstein,
2008). Content validity was determined using
constructive criticism from project supervisor who
have an extensive experience and expertise in
questionnaire construction.
Reliability
Reliability is the ability of research instruments to
generate same /consistent results when used
(Kimberlin, & Winterstein, 2008). Reliability was
ensured through a pilot study among small and
medium enterprises in Kapsabet town. Piloted data
was used to test for reliability using Split half type
of reliability test. Randomly, the test questions were
divided into two parts using odd numbers and even
numbers.
Data Collection Procedure
Data collection involves selecting subjects and
gathering information from them. The process
delineates the steps involved in data collection with
regard to a specific study and depending on the
research design and method of measurement (Burns
and Grove, 2012). Ghauri (2010) observed that
depending on the sources and techniques ones uses
for gathering data, it can be divided into secondary
and primary data. This study collected primary data
using semi structured questionnaires which
comprised open and closed ended questionnaires,
closed ended questions required respondents to fill
the questionnaires on their own after making some
necessary clarifications so as to get their full
consent while open ended questions was used where
explanation and personal opinion is seek.
The study used a survey questionnaire administered
to each member of the sample population. The
questionnaire had close-ended questions. The close-
ended questions provided more structured responses
to facilitate tangible recommendations. The closed
ended questions were used to test the rating of
various attributes and this helped in reducing the
number of related responses in order to obtain more
varied responses. The questionnaire was carefully
designed and tested with a few members of the
population for further improvements. This was done
in order to enhance its validity and accuracy of data
collected for the study.
Data Processing and Analysis
Orodho (2005) observes that data analysis is the life
line of a research and that the method of analysis is
the back bone and conduct wire. The data collected
was analyzed by using the excel program. The study
generated quantitative data. Both descriptive and
inferential statistics was used to analyze data.
Descriptive statistics included frequencies, means,
mode, standard deviation, variance and percentages.
Inferentially data was analyzed using correlation and
multiple linear regressions. Data was presented
using frequency tables, charts and graphs. The
model equation was as follows:
Y= βo+ β1X1+ ε
Where,
Y represents Firm performance
βo represents Constant term
X3 represents product creation strategy
β1, is the coefficient of proportionality for product
creation strategy.
ε represents Error term.
Research Findings and Discussion
Response Rate
A total of 315 questionnaires were distributed to the
respondents and of the sample size of 315
questionnaires, 298 were completed and returned to
the researcher. This represents a response rate of
94.6%. The results were presented in Table 4.1. This
percentage was considered sufficient for this study.
The 3.4% who failed to fill questionnaires cited busy
schedules as the main reason for not filling them.
Table 4.1 Response Rate
Response Rate Frequency percentage
Completed 298 94.6
Not completed 17 3.4
Total 315 100
Background Information
The first part of the questionnaire contained
background information regarding the respondents.
The areas sited in this part were: Gender of the
respondents, age brackets, and years of operation
and education levels of the respondents. The study
results were presented in table 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and table
4.5.
The study sought to determine the gender of
respondents and it was evident from the findings of
the study in figure 4.2 that most of the subjects who
participated in the study are female as represented
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by 194(65.1%) and the least being male 104(34.9%)
as shown in the table above. This is a clear indication
that most of the respondents were females compared
to that of males.
Table 4.2 Genders of the Respondents
Gender Frequency Percent
Male 104 34.9
Female 194 65.1
Total 298 100
The study established in table 4.3 that most of the
respondents 126(42.3%) were aged between 29-39
years followed by 96(32.2%) those aged between
39-49 years. Those aged between 18-29 years were
at 47(15.8%) while those over 49 years were the
least at 29 (9.7%). This indicates that the researcher
got the views from different age groups avoiding
biasness in the study.
Table 4.3 Age Brackets of the Respondents
Age Bracket Frequency Percent
Above 18-29 Years 47 15.8
Above 29-39 Years 126 42.3
Above 39-49 Years 96 32.2
Over 49 Years 29 9.7
Total 298 100
The study further sought to know the number of
years the respondent had been working in their
respective organizations. The study established in
table 4.4 that 127(42.6%) of the respondents had
below 2 years, 140(47.0%) were those who had
worked for 2-5 years, 31(10.4%) were those with 6
and above years working. This indicates that the
respondents were well experienced to understand
what has been going on in the organization.
Table 4.4 Operation Times of the Respondents
Operation Times Frequency Percent
Below 2 Years 127 42.6
Above 2 – 5 Years 140 47.0
6 Years and Above 31 10.4
Total 298 100
The respondents were also requested to indicate
their highest level of education and the research
showed in table 4.5 that majority 94(31.5%) were
undergraduates followed by those with certificate
80(26.8%). Those with diploma holders at
64(21.5%) and the least were those with masters at
60(20.1%). An implication that most of the
respondents were learned and they provided correct
information
.
Table 4.5 Level of Education
Frequency Percent
Valid Certificate 80 26.8
Diploma 64 21.5
Undergraduate 94 31.5
Masters 60 20.1
Total 298 100.0
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Reliability Statistics
The study used Cronbach’s coefficient alpha to
measure the internal consistency reliability of the
instruments used in the study. The strategy is used
when the research carried out has multiple-item
measures of a concept. Therefore the research used
this technique since it had many variables. The
acceptable range of is between 0.70 and 0.90 or
higher depending on the type of research
(Howstatsc, 2015).
Table 4.6 Reliability Statistics
Variable Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
Pricing strategy .780 4
Savings and investment
strategy
.728 4
Product innovation strategy .912 4
Small and medium enterprises
performance
.869 4
Findings of Descriptive Statistics
In this section descriptive analysis of study
objectives was done and presented. A scale was used
to show the extent to which the respondent thought
the statement of effect of pricing strategy on
performance of small and medium enterprises in
Eldoret town, effect of savings and investment
strategy on performance of small and medium
enterprises in Eldoret town and effect of product
creation strategy on performance of small and
medium enterprises in Eldoret town. With
5=strongly Agree 4= Agree 3= Undecided
2=Disagree 1=Strongly Disagree. Therefore the
results of the study are as shown below.
Product creation strategy and Performance of
Small and Medium Enterprises
The also sought to know the level of the subjects
agreement on various elements concerning the
influence of product creation strategy on
performance of small and medium enterprises in
Eldoret Town, Kenya. A likert scale of 1-5 was used
and the results of the study are as shown in table 4.9.
The study found out that the respondents agreed that
the performance of the firm has increased since the
introduction of the innovativeness within the
product or service delivery as indicated by
(M=4.4463, SD=.83614). The respondents agreed
that all the services offered or products sold by the
business are under the consumer demand and
description as evidenced by (M=4.7651,
SD=.81144). The respondents also agreed that the
products of the business are competent in market;
therefore enable the business to survive in the midst
of the same premises shown by (M=4.5839,
SD=.96819) and finally the subjects also agreed
strongly that Performance of the firm solely depends
on the flexibility of the products to suit the market
demand as shown by (M=4.5604, SD=.91271). The
studied deviations indicated the level of to which
responses varied.
Also the results showed that most of the subject
believed in positive effect of product creation on
performance leading to a conclusion that creation of
new products and updating them regularly to appeal
to consumers and using the right combination of
features that makes them cost effective to sell and
able to generate a high demand will eventually lead
to generation of high profits and improving the
performance enterprises.
The study findings agrees with Anal et al., (2011)
who concluded that innovativeness and performance
have a positive relationship, due to the existence of
uniqueness and inimitability of the products. It also
conceded with the study of Anal et al., (2011) who
analyzed a direct relationship between innovation
and performance without either a mediator or a
moderator.
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Table 4.9 Product Creation Strategy and Performance of SMEs
SD D UD A SA Total Mean Std.
Dev
Min Max
The performance of the firm has
increased since the introduction of the
innovativeness within the product or
service delivery.
F 5 7 16 92 178 298 4.446 .8361 1 5
% 1.7 2.3 5.4 30.9 59.7 100
All the services offered or products sold
by the business are under the consumer
demand and description.
F 3 16 5 274 298 4.765 .8114 1 5
% 1.0 5.4 1.7 91.9 100
The products of the business are
competent in market; therefore enable
the business to survive in the midst of
the same premises.
F 6 21 4 29 238 298 4.584 .9682 1 5
% 2.0 7.0 1.3 9.7 79.9 100
Performance of the firm solely depends
on the flexibility of the products to suit
the market demand.
F 7 13 6 52 220 298 4.560 .9127 1 5
% 2.3 4.4 2.0 17.4 73.8 100
Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises
The study lastly sought to know the level of
subject’s agreement concerning the small enterprise
performance. The results of the study are as shown
in table 4.10.
The study found out that the most agreed statement
was firm innovativeness and performance have a
positive relationship, due to the existence of
uniqueness and inimitability of the products
indicated by (M=4.7047, SD=.82473) followed by
that the Firms that embrace technological
advancement and integrate in the production of the
business have a competitive advantage as evidenced
by (M=4.6544, SD=.80695). The respondents also
agreed with the statement that Growth of the
business is contributed greatly by resource
availability that enables business to run successfully
as shown by (M=4.5671, SD=.66958) and lastly on
the last statement concerning Firm performance
depends on the market value of its products pricing
was agreed upon and this is evident by (M=4.7047,
SD=.82473). The standard deviations indicated that
the subjects were not clustered around the mean but
dispersed.
The study clearly shows that strategic practices has
a positive effects on performance of small and
medium enterprises in Eldoret Town the study
therefore concurs with Kurgat (2015) who
conducted a study on strategic management
practices and challenges at Nandi county
Government. This research was carried out with the
objectives of establishing the strategic management
practices adopted by Nandi county government and
the challenges faced by adopting strategic practices
at Nandi county Government. The research problem
was studied by use content analysis, the content
found out that although faced with challenges during
the adoption of strategic management practices like
inadequate financial resources, politics, human
resource malpractices, liberation of services and
diseases like HIV/AIDS, it was established that
Nandi county Government practice good strategic
management practices improving its performance.
Table 4.10 Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises
SD D UD A SA Total Mea Std. Dev Min Max
Firms that embrace
technological advancement
and integrate in the
production of the business
have a competitive advantage.
F 4 12 3 45 234 298
% 1.3 4.0 1.0 15.1 78.5 100 4.654 .8070 1 5
Growth of the business is
contributed greatly by
resource availability that
enables business to run
successfully.
F 2 5 3 100 188 298 4.567 .6696 1 5
% .7 1.7 1.0 33.6 63.1 100
Firm performance depends on
the market value of its
products pricing.
F 6 10 38 72 172 298 4.322 .9589 1 5
% 2.0 3.4 12.8 24.2 57.7 100
Firm innovativeness and
performance have a positive
relationship, due to the
existence of uniqueness and
inimitability of the products
F 7 8 4 28 251 298 4.705 .8247 1 5
% 2.3 2.7 1.3 9.4 84.2 100
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Findings of Inferential Statistics
The study uses correlation analysis and regression
analysis as its inferential statistics. The study started
with testing of regression models assumptions.
Correlation Analysis
The research used Karl Pearson’s coefficient of
correlation examines if there is linear association
between the variables. The correlation showed in the
table 4.11 below shows bivariate correlations of all
the variables (pricing strategy, savings and
investment strategy, product creation strategy and
performance of small enterprises). Since a variable
in the questionnaire was measured by multiple
variables, the mean of the items was computed and
used in the analysis such as correlation analysis and
multiple regression analysis (Wang and Benbasat,
2007).
Research shows that correlation coefficient values
(r) ranging from 0.10-0.29, it is considered to be
weak correlation, 0.30-0.49, medium, 0.5-1.0 is
considered strong, Wong and Hiew (2005).
Implying that pricing strategy is positively and
statistically significant (r=0.266, p=0.000), savings
and investments strategy is positively and
statistically significant (r=0.169, p=0.00) and
product creation strategy is positively and
statistically significant (r=0.388, p=0.000).This
implies that all the study variables: pricing strategy,
savings and investment strategy and product
creation strategy were positively correlated to
performance of small enterprises and statistically
significant.
From the study it is clear that the table was at 99%
level of confidence (significant at the 0.01 level (2-
tailed), meaning a unit increase in pricing strategy
leads to 26.6 % increase in performance, a unit
increase in savings and investment strategy leads to
16.9% increase in performance and lastly a unit
change in product creation strategy leads to 38.8%
increase in performance.
Table 4.11 Correlation Analysis
Product creation
strategy
Performance
Product creation strategy Pearson Correlation 1 .388**
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000
Performance Pearson Correlation .388**
1
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000
Regression Analysis
Multiple linear regression model was used analyze
the linear statistical relationship between the
independent (pricing strategy, savings and
investment strategy and product creation strategy)
and dependent variable (small enterprises
performance). The study computed regression
model for each of the variables each showing how
they associate with each other.
Linear Regression Model of Product Creation
Strategy and Performance.
The linear regression analysis models the
relationship between the dependent variable product
creation strategy and independent variable
performance. The results are shown in table 4.20.
The coefficient of determination (R2
) and correlation
coefficient (R) shows the degree of association
between product creation strategy and performance
of small enterprises. The results of the linear
regression in table indicate that R2
=0.151 and R =
0.388. R value indicates that there is a strong linear
relationship between product creation strategy and
performance of small enterprises. The R2
indicates
that explanatory power of the independent variables
is 0.151. This means that 15.1% of the variation in
small enterprises performance is explained by the
regression model while 84.9 % is unexplained by the
model.
Adjusted R2
is a modified version of R2
that has been
adjusted for the number of predictors in the model
by less than chance. The adjusted R2
0.148 of which
is slightly lower than the R2
value is an exact
indicator of the relationship between the
independent and the dependent variable because it is
sensitive to the addition of irrelevant variables. The
adjusted R2
indicates that 14.8% of the changes in
strategy implementation are explained by the model
while 85.2% is not explained by the model. This
implies that level of product creation strategy has a
weak influence on small enterprise performance.
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Table 4.12 Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
1 .388a
0.151 0.148 0.54902
From the results in table 4.21 the F test provides an
overall test of significance of the fitted regression
model. The F value indicates that all the variables in
the equation are important hence the overall
regression is significant. The F-statistics produced
(F = 52.585) was significant at p=0.000<0.05thus
confirming the fitness of the model and therefore,
there is statistically significant relationship between
product creation strategy and performance of small
enterprises in Eldoret Town. The study therefore
rejects the third null hypothesis; H03: There is no
significant effect of product creation strategy on
performance of small and medium enterprises in
Eldoret town.
Table 4.13 ANOVA Product Creation Strategy
Model Sum of
Squares
Df Mean
Square
F Sig.
1 Regression 15.85 1 15.85 52.585 .000b
Residual 89.22 296 0.301
Total 105.071 297
The table 4.13 indicates there was positive linear
relationship between product creation and
performance which means that an increase in a unit
of product creation strategy increases performance
by 0.294 units. Product creation strategy was
significant (p=0.000) in performance. This is an
indication that product creation strategy influence
small enterprises performance.
Table 4.14 Coefficients Product Creation Strategy on Performance
Model Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 3.243 0.189 17.195 0
Product Creation
Strategy
0.294 0.041 0.388 7.252 0
Overall Regression Analysis
The linear regression analysis models the
relationship between the dependent performance
and all the independent variable. The findings are as
shown in table 4.14;
Table 4.15 presents results of model summary; the
“R” value is used to indicate the strength and
direction of the relationship between the variables.
The closer the value gets to 1, the stronger the
relationship. In this case the R= 0.567. This means
there was an average positive relationship between
the variables. This value of R square indicates that
the independent variables can explain 32.1% of the
variation in the dependent variable. This implies that
there is a positive relationship between the
dependent and the independent variables and the
data that had been employed in the regression model
were accurate.
Adjusted R2
is a modified version of R2
that has been
adjusted for the number of predictors in the model
by less than chance. The adjusted R2
of 0.314 which
is slightly lower than the R2
value is an exact
indicator of the relationship between the
independent and the dependent variables because it
is sensitive to the addition of irrelevant variables.
The adjusted R2
indicates that 31.4% of the changes
in small enterprise performance are explained by the
model while 68.6% is not explained by the model
This implies that product creation strategy has a
positive relationship on small enterprise
performance in Eldoret Town.
Table 4.15 Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the
Estimate
1 .567a
0.321 0.314 0.49253
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Table 4.16 presents the results of regression
ANOVA to test the model fitness at 95%
confidence level. The study results indicated that
there was a significant value (p<0.05) and F-value
of 46.734. This shows that the regression model has
a probability of less than 0.000 of giving wrong
prediction. Hence, the regression model used above
is a suitable prediction model for explaining the
relationship between product creation strategy and
performance of small enterprises in Eldoret Town.
Table 4.16 Overall ANOVA
Model Sum of
Squares
Df Mean
Square
F Sig.
1 Regression 33.749 3 11.25 46.374 .000b
Residual 71.321 294 0.243
Total 105.071 297
Table 4.25 presents the results of regression
coefficients. The study findings showed that pricing
strategy registered a p-value of 0.000 indicating that
the influence on performance was extremely
significant while savings and investment strategy
registered a p-value of 0.019 indicating that the
influence was statistically significant and finally
product creation registered a p-value of 0.000
showing that the influence on performance was
greatly significant.
The results shows that the regression coefficients of
the independent variable product creation strategy is
statistically significant in explaining small
enterprises performance in Eldoret Town. Thus the
regression equation becomes;
The equation for the regression model is expressed
as:
Y= β0 + β1 Χ1 + є
Y= 1.081 + 0.360Χ1 + є
Where;
Y represents performance
X1 represents product creation
β0 represents Co-efficient of the model
β1–β2 represents Beta Co-efficient of Determination
є represents Stochastic Error Term
The results of the regression equation show that if all
the independent variables were rated zero,
performance would be 1.081. However, all the
predictors had a positive relationship with the
dependent variable. A unit increase in product
creation would increase performance by 0.360. The
Stochastic Error Term was assumed to be zero.
The results above also indicated there was positive
linear relationship between product creation strategy
and performance.
Table 4.17 Coefficients
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) 1.081 0.323 3.346 0.001
Product Creation
Strategy
0.36 0.04 0.476 9.12 0.000
Table 4.17 presents the results of hypotheses testing.
The study findings on pricing strategy found out a
positive and significant (β= 0.435; p<0.05) effect on
small enterprise performance in Eldoret Town. The
null hypothesis was rejected and the conclusion was
that adoption of pricing strategy by small and
medium enterprises leads to a positive performance.
The study findings indicated that the effects of
product creation strategy on small and medium
enterprises in Eldoret Town was positive and
significant (β= 0.476; p<0.05). This implies that the
null hypothesis was rejected and shows that there
was a significant effect of savings and investment
strategy on performance of small and medium
enterprises in Eldoret town was rejected.
Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
Summary of the Findings
There were three specific objectives in this study. So
as to attain the results the researcher conducted the
research by using the questionnaires and the
following was found from the study;
Product Creation Strategy on Performance
Finally the researcher looked into the effects of
product creation strategy on small and medium
enterprises in Eldoret Town and found out that that
product creation strategy has a positive and
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significant (p=0.000) influence on small and
medium enterprise performance in Eldoret Town.
The findings means that the null hypothesis that
there is no significant effect of savings and
investment strategy on performance of small and
medium enterprises in Eldoret town were rejected
and concluded that there is a significant effect on
adopting savings and investment strategy on
performance of small and medium enterprises.
Also the results showed that most of the subject
believed in positive effect of product creation on
performance leading to a conclusion that creation of
new products and updating them regularly to appeal
to consumers and using the right combination of
features that makes them cost effective to sell and
able to generate a high demand will eventually lead
to generation of high profits and improving the
performance enterprises.
The study findings agrees with Anal et al., (2011)
who concluded that innovativeness and performance
have a positive relationship, due to the existence of
uniqueness and inimitability of the products. It also
conceded with the study of Anal et al., (2011) who
analyzed a direct relationship between innovation
and performance without either a mediator or a
moderator.
Conclusions
The study concluded that creation of new products
and updating them regularly to appeal to consumers
and using the right combination of features that
makes them cost effective to sell and able to generate
a high demand will eventually lead to generation of
high profits and improving the performance
enterprises.
Balanced Scorecard theory was important to the
study since it explains that the idea of the balance
scorecard is that you should not evaluate a firm
based on one single measure thus in marketing the
balanced score card can be used to link the
marketing strategies with the overall organizational
goals. Additionally, SMEs can use the balanced
score card approach to link their marketing
strategies with their strategic plans and the
performance.
Recommendations
The study therefore recommends that small
enterprises should create new products and employ
new strategies in improving their sales and their
competitiveness to improve their performance.
The study recommends management of medium
enterprises and other organizations to come up with
better ways of dealing with strategic challenges so
as to be successful in their operations.
Research for Further Researchers
The study recommends future researchers to
research to major on market for effective pricing
decision and strategy to later improve firm sales.
They should research on how and the importance of
savings to businesses.
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and an assessment of knowledge gaps. Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource
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Wimmer, J. P. J. (2016). Unravelling the entrepreneurial process: Exploring the role of business models in
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Zhao, Y., Li, Y., Lee, S. H., & Chen, L. B. (2011). Entrepreneurial orientation, organizational learning, and
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Effect of-product-creation-strategy-on-performance-of-small-and-medium-enterprises-in-eldoret-town

  • 1. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org Effect of Product Creation Strategy on Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Eldoret, Town. 1 Caren J. Barbengi, 2 Kimutai Geoffrey Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Type of the Paper: Research Paper. Type of Review: Peer Reviewed. Indexed in: worldwide web. Google Scholar Citation: AIJMEG Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) A Refereed International Journal of OIRC JOURNALS. © Oirc Journals. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License subject to proper citation to the publication source of the work. Disclaimer: The scholarly papers as reviewed and published by the OIRC JOURNALS, are the views and opinions of their respective authors and are not the views or opinions of the OIRC JOURNALS. The OIRC JOURNALS disclaims of any harm or loss caused due to the published content to any party. How to Cite this Paper: Barbengi C. J., and Kimutai, G., (2018). Effect of Product Creation Strategy on Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Eldoret, Town. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG), 3 (4), 1-17.
  • 2. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 2 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org Effect of Product Creation Strategy on Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Eldoret, Town. 1 Caren J. Barbengi, 2 Kimutai Geoffrey Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Abstract Majority of SMEs collapse because they operate in business environment which is highly turbulent characterized by external factors as well as internal business factors. The study therefore sought to establish the effect of effect of product creation strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret town. The study was guided by Balanced Scorecard Theory. This study adopted descriptive research design. The target population of the study was 2,391 registered SMEs according to Uasin Gishu County government records and accessible population was 1764 respondents. The sample size for the respondents was therefore be 315. The study used questionnaires as the main tool for collecting data. The data collected was analyzed by using the excel program and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, frequencies, percentages and standard derivation and inferential statistics which include correlation and multiple regressions. Data was presented by use of frequency tables, charts and graphs. The study findings a positive and significant effect of product creation strategy on small and medium enterprises in Eldoret Town (β=0.476, p<0.05). The study will be of benefit to management of medium enterprises and other organizations in understanding the challenges they would encounter when implementing various strategies and be able to come up with better ways of dealing with these challenges so as to be successful in their strategies. The study would be of importance to future researchers and scholars since it would be a source of material for their research and would also help them in identifying the research gaps they need to fill. 1.1 Background of the Study Firm performance is defined as both behavior and results. This definition covers the achievement of expected levels as well as objective setting and review (Katzenbach & Smith, 2015). The underlying thought behind the study is to seek the relationship bearing in mind that if the behavior of management is right, then the expected levels of output was achieved success and vice versa for failure. Success and failure are taken as the two ends of the performance continuum (Linder & Sperber, 2017). Firm performance comprises the actual output or results of firm measured against its intended outputs (Ngui, 2015). Whereas the definitions may differ between the authors, they are in agreement that firm performance is about achieving superior results and/or achievement of objectives. Performance is the key interest of every business manager or owner. The overall performance of the organization depends on proper management of the three levels, which fall within the jurisdiction of top, middle and lower management (Kim& Franke, 2016). Firm performance provides useful information for monitoring and control, improvement, maximization of effectiveness of improvement effort, reward and discipline and as a lever towards alignment of organizational goals and objectives. Profits, growth, balance scorecards, economic value added, activity based analysis and customer satisfaction are some of the frameworks that several scholars have proposed as effective in undertaking firm performance (Chang & Ellinger, 2016). According to Ramanathan and Black (2017) performance measurement refers to the process of measuring the action’s efficiency and effectiveness. Performance measurement is the transference of the complex reality of performance in organized ARTICLE INFO Received 28th September, 2018 Received in Revised Form 30th October, 2018 Accepted 18th October, 2018 Published online 20th October, 2018 Keywords: Product Creation, Strategy, Performance, Small Medium Enterprise
  • 3. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 3 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org symbols that can be related and relayed under the same circumstances. In the current business management, performance measurement is considered to be in a more critical role compared to quantification and accounting (Al-Swidi & Fadzil, 2014).This is consistent with Bititci Carrie and Mc Devitt (1997) who described performance management as a process wherein the organization manages its performance to match its corporate and functional strategies and objectives (Al-Matari, 2014). Performance measurement is critical for effective management of any firm. The process improvement is not possible without measuring the outcomes. Hence, organizational performance improvement requires measurements to identify the level to which the use of organizational resources impact business performance (Delima, 2017). The firm’s success is basically explained by its performance over a certain period of time. Ismail, (2017) have extended efforts to determine measures for the concept of performance as a crucial notion. Finding a measurement for the performance of the firm enables the comparison of performances over different time periods. Globally, SMEs have been considered as the backbone of the economy in the European countries. In the European countries, SMEs represent up to 99% of all businesses, and they generated approximately 85% of new jobs. The important role of SMEs in these countries has been supported by (Payangan, Taba & Pabo, 2016). Garrigos Simon, (2017) also confirmed the crucial role of SMEs in promoting economic growth. Thus, it is no doubt that SMEs play a very important role to the economy in particular and development in general. Also research have documented that SMEs play a significant role in the economy of any country in the world. Consequently, the performance of the SME sector is closely associated with the performance of the nation. In Thailand, SMEs account for a large proportion of the total establishments in the various sectors. In the manufacturing sector, for instance, SMEs comprise 93.8 percent of all establishments. Moreover, of the total number of SMEs, small enterprises comprise 76.0 percent, while medium companies account for 17.8 percent of all manufacturing establishments. Meanwhile the estimated that 90 percent of all manufacturing establishments were SMEs, employing some 868,000 workers or 38.9 percent of the total. Previous studies dealing with the conditions of successful business have focused on large companies rather than SMEs (Garrigos Simon, Gonzalez-Cruz & Contreras-Pacheco, 2017). However, changes in the environment cause more uncertainty in SMEs than in large companies. Thai SMEs are increasingly seen as creator of new jobs (Payangan, 2017) and Vietnamese SMEs employ 64% of industrial workforce. SMEs in Thailand play an important role in the country’s economic development. According to statistics, SMEs accounted for 76.1% per cent of all establishments in the manufacturing sector in the year2007. The largest concentration, by number, of SMEs in Thailand is in the food and beverage sector, textiles, wearing apparel, and wood and wood products (Azmi, 2017). Regionally, concern on SMEs is very high. This is due to the fact that SMEs has been considered as the backbone of the economy. However, SMEs are vulnerable to a variety of internal as well as external barriers. As consequence, governments’ attention to SMEs is mostly in the form of creating conducive environment, entrepreneurship development, access improvement to both domestics and international markets, providing financial facilities, the competitiveness improvement and providing information and supporting network. Some researches into small-business development have also shown that the rate of failure of small scale businesses in developing countries is higher than in the developed world (Doh& Kim, 2014). In Nigeria in particular, despite the support and incentive programmes to small scale business, Abdullahi & Kabir, (2016) succinctly stated that it would seem reasonable to expect that small businesses would grow and flourish, but the rate of business failure continues to increase because of the obstacles affecting firm performance which include: lack of financial resources, lack of management experience, poor location, laws and regulations, general economic conditions, as well as critical factors such as poor infrastructure, corruption, low demand for products and services, and poverty (Abdullahi & Jakada, 2016). For instance in Cote d’ivoire, even though a number of studies have been done on strategies leading to failure or success of SMEs, none has been geared towards the significant of marketing management strategies in enhancing performance of SMEs in Cote d’ivoire. The findings of this study revealed that there is a high level of awareness of the significance roles played by marketing management strategies in the performance of SMEs; that adoption of technology in marketing management strategies can be mainstreamed into SMEs development agenda and that marketing management strategy is a veritable tool for sustainable development of SMEs (Ardjouman & Asma, 2015).
  • 4. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 4 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org In Kenya, the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA) is a State Corporation established under Micro and Small Enterprises Act No. 55 of 2012. The Authority (MSEA) is categorized as a Service Corporation, PC 3B and is domiciled in the Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development. MSEA was established for the promotion, development, regulation of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) Sector in Kenya. The Authority is mandated to formulate and review policies and programmes, promote and develop MSE sector, monitor and evaluate implementation policies, programmes and activities related to MSE development. Further, the Authority is established to coordinate, harmonize and facilitate integration of various public and private policies, programmes and activities related to Micro and Small Enterprises in Kenya. The SMEs in Kenya just as anywhere else play an important role in employment and wealth creation, income distribution, accumulation of technological capabilities and spreading the available resources. According to the Economic Survey (GoK, 2012), the SME sector contributed 79.8% of new jobs created in the year 2011 with 89.7% of new jobs created in 2013 being created by the SME sector (GoK, 2013). Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) typically employ a major share of an economy’s total employees, SME management suffers from an insufficient business-related knowledge base that top managers in SMEs possess (Mohamad Radzi, Nor, Nazri & Ali, 2017). However, SMEs are falling behind large companies in adoption of management strategic practices and the benefits of strategic management tools have not fully been exploited by these firms. There is also limited empirical evidence on whether management strategies among the SMEs can explain their performance differences. Further, SMEs in Kenya continue to have poor performance and face stiff competition from large firms (Mohamad Radzi, 2017). Against this background, this study aimed at establishing the management strategies affecting Performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret Town. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Majority of SMEs collapse because they operates in business environment which is highly turbulent characterized by external factors political/legal, economic/demographic, socio-cultural, technological and globalization) as well as internal business factors management expertise, resources, individual characteristics (Ismail & Sharifi, 2016). In this dynamism and turbulence, small businesses are affected more than the large organizations because the response to environmental changes in small businesses is different from that of large companies (Reid, 2016). A large company can move from one business to another and have resources and strategic choices not available to small business enterprises. It is necessary to study the management factors that are in place in the informal sector, that is, investigate individual business adjustment policies in relation to the state policies. The business environment in Kenya is always changing and hence firms have to adapt quickly to competition and new challenges. This might be an easy task for the small businesses due to their small size and inadequate resources. Entrepreneurs running small business face stiff competition from large business in the market. They therefore need to put more effort in categorization, prioritization and coming up with solutions for the challenges so as to be more competitive and remain relevant in the market. The Kenyan government has continued to campaign for the development of SMEs as a platform of reducing unemployment by encouraging self-employment, poverty reduction and fostering economic growth. Despite the incentives put in place by the government, recent studies show that SMEs collapse within the first few months of operation (Peter, 2017). Developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) help to achieve sustainable growth as a centralized theme. SMEs play a vital role in the country’s overall production networks and they are core to the economic growth of developing countries. The contributions of formal SMEs are 50% of total employment and 33% of the national income of emerging economies. While including informal SMEs the percentages was increased. Finance accession is the main constraint to SME growth, without that many SMEs are declined (Sharifi, 2016). It is expected that by the year 2030, Kenya was transformed into a newly industrialized nation. If the country has to make this leap, then the small enterprises are expected to play a key role in this transformation. Although a number of researches have been done on factors that contribute to success or failure of SMEs, none has focused on the management strategies affecting performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya. This study therefore sought to determine the effect of management strategies on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret town, Kenya by looking at pricing strategy, savings and investment strategy and product creation strategy which affects performance.
  • 5. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 5 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org General Objective The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of product creation strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret town. Research Hypothesis H01: There are no significant effects of product creation strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret town. Literature Review 2.2 Theoretical Review This study adopted resource based view theory, survival-based theory and the balanced scorecard approach which are relevant to the study. The Balanced Scorecard Theory The Balanced Scorecard Approach emanated from the works of Kaplan and Norton in 1996. The balanced scorecard approach emphasizes on the need to provide management with a set of information that covers all relevant areas of performance in an objective way. The idea of the balanced scorecard is that performance could be measured form four different perspectives. Assumptions of Balanced Scorecard theory states that the four areas of performance are defined and labeled into financial perspective, customer perspective internal business and innovation and learning perspectives respectively. The four performance perspectives are not necessarily comprehensive, but should represent the critical success factors necessary for continued organizational success hence they are intended to be a close link between the business unit strategy adopted and the performance measures selected. Critics of Balanced Scorecard posit that the major strength of the balanced scorecard approach is the emphasis that places on linking performance measures with business unit strategy. According to Kaplan & Norton (1996), the balanced scorecard not only allows the monitoring of present performance, but also tries to capture information about how well the organization is positioned to perform in the future. The balanced scorecard is designed to be at the center of an organization’s control mechanisms to effectively deploy strategy and to link operational practices with strategic intent (Otley, 1999). Balanced Scorecard theory is important to the study since it explains that the idea of the balance scorecard is that you should not evaluate a firm based on one single measure thus in marketing the balanced score card can be used to link the marketing strategies with the overall organizational goals. Additionally, SMEs can use the balanced score card approach to link their marketing strategies with their strategic plans and the performance. Empirical Review Product Creation Strategy According to Makanyeza and Dzvuke (2015) on the influence of innovation on the performance of small and medium enterprises in Zimbabwe; study based on a survey of 200 SMEs, this research investigated innovation’s influence on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Harare, Zimbabwe. The study found that SMEs were somewhat innovative. The performance of SMEs was found to somewhat increase over the period SMEs were innovating. Innovation was found to positively predict the performance of SMEs. Organizational innovation and product innovation positively predicted the performance of SMEs while marketing innovation and process innovation did not. The influence of innovation on enterprise performance varied from industry to industry. The research has implications for managers and future researchers. Gudahi (2016) study empirically examined the moderating effect of technology product creation on the relationship between business strategy and performance of SMEs in the Uganda’s manufacturing sector. Findings of the study indicate the performance of SME vary with the choice of the business strategies they adopted that result to building core competences with regard to the competitive advantages. Additionally, to a certain degree, the findings of the study suggest product creation technology as measured by technological complexity of process moderates the relationship between business strategy and the performance of SME’s. Finally the study suggests the model diagrammatic model that portrays the role of technology as facilitator to performance of SME’s and in meeting overall customer needs and at a balanced cost and fit of positioning in stiff competitive environment. Zhao, Lee & Chen, (2011) indicated that for a long time, technology has been identified as the key for commencing novel activities through risk-taking and firm proactively which results in a firm’s higher performance than competitors. Firms that focus on technological advancement through innovation research and development generate above average performance. Firms that employ technology are known for superior performance because they believe in acquisition of new technologies for product innovation, research and development which enables the firm to produce unique products
  • 6. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 6 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org which are hard to copy. Technology deserves consideration since it pursues opportunities and renewal of new market from the areas of operation that are existing to match with the changing needs of the customers in the market. The disparity between technological progression and consumer demand means that technology does not have an impact on superior performance of a firm. An investigation of performance in technology-based firms in Kenya indicated that investment in research and development directly contributed to higher performance of a firm. The study analyzed a direct relationship between technology and performance without taking into account any mediation, which is a gap that the current study attempted to fill by mediating the relationship with competitive advantage while maintaining technology as an independent variable (Gakenia, 2015). According to Keller, (2010), to invest in research and development calls for evaluation of advantage and cost before making the decision whether to adopt or invest in technology. Technology is linked to greater firm innovativeness. This has to do with focusing the company’s effort on developing and utilizing resource to produce unique products for sustainability of competitiveness and performance. The conclusion of the study was that there is a strong positive relationship between technology and performance in SMEs in Korea. However, the study used correlation analysis, which was considered weak for the current research. Anal et al., (2011), concluded that innovativeness and performance have a positive relationship, due to the existence of uniqueness and inimitability of the products. The study of Anal et al., (2011) analyzed a direct relationship between innovation and performance without either a mediator or a moderator; therefore, the current study mediates and moderates the relationship. An interactive research by Hakala (2011) maintained that for a firm to have a better performance than its opponents, then it must make use of complicated technologies which cannot be duplicated by competitors for product development, use swiftness of combination of original technologies, and proactively expand new technologies in creating novel, valuable and distinctive product ideas. In addition, the firm’s technical skills, research and development resources and technological stand appear to be critical in passing originality and better deliberated products into the market, hence the firm’s superior performance. Although the findings of the studies showed a strong and positive relationship between performance and technology, the studies used survey design only, which is not adequate for the current study, hence the current study used of descriptive and explanatory design as well. The study concluded that technology-oriented firms emerge to have the capability and will to obtain advanced technological setting, and such firms hold the idea that innovation is a strategy for superior performance. Nevertheless, the study employed structural equation method for data analysis, which was not appropriate for the current study. A study by Spanjolet al., (2011) states that for product creation on technology oriented firms to achieve superior performance, they should apply technical ability to produce new products in the market to cope with competition, flexible products so as to change with changing needs of customers and be able to maintain them, and originality in developing original products, services and processes which are unique and difficult to imitate. Anal, Dionysis and Carmen (2011) found out that customers choose technologically superior products and services and that customers stick to a firm that has the capability to react to their choices in a successful way. Product creation through technological competence is viewed as the principal means of a firm to create product differentiation which will end up being unique to a specific firm and promote product designs that are not beyond those of competitors. Firms which use technological -oriented strategy are in support of a strong research and development department, acquisition of new technologies and application of the most recent technologies which enhance superior turnovers and be difficult to be copied by competitors. Cristima (2012) noted that for a firm that invest in technology to maintain its superior performance, it should focus on engaging in the search for new market opportunities and rebuilding of existing areas of operations to keep on producing unique products. The two studies used Organization Learning theory and Knowledge Management theory which were considered useful in the current study, hence the decision to adopt organization learning and RBV theories. Wimmer (2016) on the title unraveling the entrepreneurial process argue that the lack of empirical testing of product creation based entrepreneurship is a major impediment to the further development of entrepreneurship theory given its importance to firm- and societal-level value creation. Since entrepreneurs move the market forward and drive economic growth, the understanding of what distinguishes their value- creation activities from the conventional management practices is a globally appealing challenge, especially because of the recently
  • 7. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 7 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org experienced economic downturns in many countries. Consequently, with the dissertation my aim was to resolve the contemporary challenge of theory development and contribute to the field by investigating the behavioral aspects of entrepreneurial activity. Conceptual Framework Conceptual framework will show the relationship between independent variables which is product creation strategy which was measured by following indicators; level of innovation, level of consumer demand, competition level and range of product flexibility. The dependent variable was performance of micro and small enterprises measured by the following indicators; Quality of service, growth rate and level of market value. Independent Variable Dependent Variable Figure 2.1 Conceptual framework Research Methods Research Design Orodho (2003) defines descriptive as a method of collecting information by interviewing or administering a questionnaire to a sample of individuals. This study adopted descriptive research design. This is due to the fact that the study sought to have an accurate description of the study variables and also study the relationship between the aforesaid variables. Target Population The target population refers to the group of people or study subjects who are similar in one or more ways and which forms the subject of the study in a particular survey Orodho (2003). The target population of the study was 2,391 registered SMEs according to Uasin Gishu County government records (Company Registrar, 2017). The listed SMEs include General Shops, SACCOs, Hotels, Banking Agencies, Agrovet, Saloon and Barber Shops, Boutiques, Service Firms, Mobile and Phone Accessory Shops, chemist, membership Clubs, Guest Houses, Groceries, Hardware and Electronic Shops. Table 3.1 Target Population Target Group Number of SMEs Accessible Population General Shops 175 112 Banking Agencies 75 75 Agrovet 196 125 Chemist 110 90 Guest Houses 86 86 Service Firms 215 138 Membership Clubs 26 26 Mobile and Phone Accessory Shops 265 186 Saloon and Barber Shops 210 159 SACCOS 155 140 Boutiques 250 156 Electronic Shops 125 89 Hotels 213 206 Groceries 140 96 Hardware 150 80 Total 2391 1764 Performance of micro and small enterprises  Level of product quality  Growth rate of SMEs  Level of market value  Uniqueness of the products Product Creation Strategy  Level of Innovation  Level of Consumer demand  Competition level  Range of product flexibility
  • 8. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 8 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org Sampling Frame The sampling frame comprised of 112 General Shops, 155 SACCOs, 206 Hotels, 75 Banking Agencies, 125 Agro vet, 159 Saloon and Barber Shops, 156 Boutiques, 138 Service Firms, 186 Mobile and Phone Accessory Shops, 90 Chemists, 26 Membership Clubs, 86 Guest Houses, 96 Groceries, 80 Hardware and 89 Electronic Shops in Eldoret Town Uasin Gishu County. This choice was arrived by choosing those SMEs with managers. Therefore the study target was 1764 respondents. Sampling Techniques and Sample Size Sample size refers to the number of observations or replicates to include in a statistical sample (Orodho, 2003). The sample was obtained using a combination of non-probability sampling and probability sampling methods. In an attempt to obtain a fair representation of the population, the selection of small and medium enterprises was done using both judgmental sampling and random sampling. The sample size of the study was calculated using the formula below as recommended by Fisher et al (2011): Where; nf = Sample size (when the population is less than 10,000). n = Sample size (when the population is more than 10,000); 384. N = Estimate of the population size; 1764 n = 384/ (1+ 384/1764) n = 384 1.21769 Sample size for the respondents = 315 Using the proportionate sampling the study distributed the samples size among the target group indicated in table 3.2. Table 3.2 Sample Size Distribution of Population Target Group Accessible Population Sample size General Shops 112 20 Banking Agencies 75 13 Agrovet 125 22 Chemist 90 16 Guest Houses 86 15 Service Firms 138 25 Membership Clubs 26 5 Mobile and Phone Accessory Shops 186 33 Saloon and Barber Shops 159 28 SACCOS 140 25 Boutiques 156 28 Electronic Shops 89 16 Hotels 206 37 Groceries 96 17 Hardware 80 15 Total 1764 315 Data Collection Instruments The study used questionnaires as the main tool for collecting data. Gay (2010) explains that descriptive data are usually collected using questionnaires. Cohen and Manion (2013) have also identified questionnaires as crucial instruments of data collection in descriptive research. This study adopted both the open ended and closed type of questionnaires, the questionnaires was administered by the researcher who interviewed the respondents and recorded their responses. Pilot Study Pilot study was done among small and medium enterprises in Kapsabet town by distributing 32 questionnaires representing 10% of the total sample size. Pilot study was carried out to ascertain validity and reliability of research instruments. N n n nf   1
  • 9. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 9 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org Validity Validity is the extent to which differences found with a measuring tool reflect true difference among respondents being tested (Kimberlin, & Winterstein, 2008). Content validity was determined using constructive criticism from project supervisor who have an extensive experience and expertise in questionnaire construction. Reliability Reliability is the ability of research instruments to generate same /consistent results when used (Kimberlin, & Winterstein, 2008). Reliability was ensured through a pilot study among small and medium enterprises in Kapsabet town. Piloted data was used to test for reliability using Split half type of reliability test. Randomly, the test questions were divided into two parts using odd numbers and even numbers. Data Collection Procedure Data collection involves selecting subjects and gathering information from them. The process delineates the steps involved in data collection with regard to a specific study and depending on the research design and method of measurement (Burns and Grove, 2012). Ghauri (2010) observed that depending on the sources and techniques ones uses for gathering data, it can be divided into secondary and primary data. This study collected primary data using semi structured questionnaires which comprised open and closed ended questionnaires, closed ended questions required respondents to fill the questionnaires on their own after making some necessary clarifications so as to get their full consent while open ended questions was used where explanation and personal opinion is seek. The study used a survey questionnaire administered to each member of the sample population. The questionnaire had close-ended questions. The close- ended questions provided more structured responses to facilitate tangible recommendations. The closed ended questions were used to test the rating of various attributes and this helped in reducing the number of related responses in order to obtain more varied responses. The questionnaire was carefully designed and tested with a few members of the population for further improvements. This was done in order to enhance its validity and accuracy of data collected for the study. Data Processing and Analysis Orodho (2005) observes that data analysis is the life line of a research and that the method of analysis is the back bone and conduct wire. The data collected was analyzed by using the excel program. The study generated quantitative data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze data. Descriptive statistics included frequencies, means, mode, standard deviation, variance and percentages. Inferentially data was analyzed using correlation and multiple linear regressions. Data was presented using frequency tables, charts and graphs. The model equation was as follows: Y= βo+ β1X1+ ε Where, Y represents Firm performance βo represents Constant term X3 represents product creation strategy β1, is the coefficient of proportionality for product creation strategy. ε represents Error term. Research Findings and Discussion Response Rate A total of 315 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents and of the sample size of 315 questionnaires, 298 were completed and returned to the researcher. This represents a response rate of 94.6%. The results were presented in Table 4.1. This percentage was considered sufficient for this study. The 3.4% who failed to fill questionnaires cited busy schedules as the main reason for not filling them. Table 4.1 Response Rate Response Rate Frequency percentage Completed 298 94.6 Not completed 17 3.4 Total 315 100 Background Information The first part of the questionnaire contained background information regarding the respondents. The areas sited in this part were: Gender of the respondents, age brackets, and years of operation and education levels of the respondents. The study results were presented in table 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and table 4.5. The study sought to determine the gender of respondents and it was evident from the findings of the study in figure 4.2 that most of the subjects who participated in the study are female as represented
  • 10. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 10 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org by 194(65.1%) and the least being male 104(34.9%) as shown in the table above. This is a clear indication that most of the respondents were females compared to that of males. Table 4.2 Genders of the Respondents Gender Frequency Percent Male 104 34.9 Female 194 65.1 Total 298 100 The study established in table 4.3 that most of the respondents 126(42.3%) were aged between 29-39 years followed by 96(32.2%) those aged between 39-49 years. Those aged between 18-29 years were at 47(15.8%) while those over 49 years were the least at 29 (9.7%). This indicates that the researcher got the views from different age groups avoiding biasness in the study. Table 4.3 Age Brackets of the Respondents Age Bracket Frequency Percent Above 18-29 Years 47 15.8 Above 29-39 Years 126 42.3 Above 39-49 Years 96 32.2 Over 49 Years 29 9.7 Total 298 100 The study further sought to know the number of years the respondent had been working in their respective organizations. The study established in table 4.4 that 127(42.6%) of the respondents had below 2 years, 140(47.0%) were those who had worked for 2-5 years, 31(10.4%) were those with 6 and above years working. This indicates that the respondents were well experienced to understand what has been going on in the organization. Table 4.4 Operation Times of the Respondents Operation Times Frequency Percent Below 2 Years 127 42.6 Above 2 – 5 Years 140 47.0 6 Years and Above 31 10.4 Total 298 100 The respondents were also requested to indicate their highest level of education and the research showed in table 4.5 that majority 94(31.5%) were undergraduates followed by those with certificate 80(26.8%). Those with diploma holders at 64(21.5%) and the least were those with masters at 60(20.1%). An implication that most of the respondents were learned and they provided correct information . Table 4.5 Level of Education Frequency Percent Valid Certificate 80 26.8 Diploma 64 21.5 Undergraduate 94 31.5 Masters 60 20.1 Total 298 100.0
  • 11. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 11 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org Reliability Statistics The study used Cronbach’s coefficient alpha to measure the internal consistency reliability of the instruments used in the study. The strategy is used when the research carried out has multiple-item measures of a concept. Therefore the research used this technique since it had many variables. The acceptable range of is between 0.70 and 0.90 or higher depending on the type of research (Howstatsc, 2015). Table 4.6 Reliability Statistics Variable Cronbach's Alpha N of Items Pricing strategy .780 4 Savings and investment strategy .728 4 Product innovation strategy .912 4 Small and medium enterprises performance .869 4 Findings of Descriptive Statistics In this section descriptive analysis of study objectives was done and presented. A scale was used to show the extent to which the respondent thought the statement of effect of pricing strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret town, effect of savings and investment strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret town and effect of product creation strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret town. With 5=strongly Agree 4= Agree 3= Undecided 2=Disagree 1=Strongly Disagree. Therefore the results of the study are as shown below. Product creation strategy and Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises The also sought to know the level of the subjects agreement on various elements concerning the influence of product creation strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret Town, Kenya. A likert scale of 1-5 was used and the results of the study are as shown in table 4.9. The study found out that the respondents agreed that the performance of the firm has increased since the introduction of the innovativeness within the product or service delivery as indicated by (M=4.4463, SD=.83614). The respondents agreed that all the services offered or products sold by the business are under the consumer demand and description as evidenced by (M=4.7651, SD=.81144). The respondents also agreed that the products of the business are competent in market; therefore enable the business to survive in the midst of the same premises shown by (M=4.5839, SD=.96819) and finally the subjects also agreed strongly that Performance of the firm solely depends on the flexibility of the products to suit the market demand as shown by (M=4.5604, SD=.91271). The studied deviations indicated the level of to which responses varied. Also the results showed that most of the subject believed in positive effect of product creation on performance leading to a conclusion that creation of new products and updating them regularly to appeal to consumers and using the right combination of features that makes them cost effective to sell and able to generate a high demand will eventually lead to generation of high profits and improving the performance enterprises. The study findings agrees with Anal et al., (2011) who concluded that innovativeness and performance have a positive relationship, due to the existence of uniqueness and inimitability of the products. It also conceded with the study of Anal et al., (2011) who analyzed a direct relationship between innovation and performance without either a mediator or a moderator.
  • 12. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 12 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org Table 4.9 Product Creation Strategy and Performance of SMEs SD D UD A SA Total Mean Std. Dev Min Max The performance of the firm has increased since the introduction of the innovativeness within the product or service delivery. F 5 7 16 92 178 298 4.446 .8361 1 5 % 1.7 2.3 5.4 30.9 59.7 100 All the services offered or products sold by the business are under the consumer demand and description. F 3 16 5 274 298 4.765 .8114 1 5 % 1.0 5.4 1.7 91.9 100 The products of the business are competent in market; therefore enable the business to survive in the midst of the same premises. F 6 21 4 29 238 298 4.584 .9682 1 5 % 2.0 7.0 1.3 9.7 79.9 100 Performance of the firm solely depends on the flexibility of the products to suit the market demand. F 7 13 6 52 220 298 4.560 .9127 1 5 % 2.3 4.4 2.0 17.4 73.8 100 Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises The study lastly sought to know the level of subject’s agreement concerning the small enterprise performance. The results of the study are as shown in table 4.10. The study found out that the most agreed statement was firm innovativeness and performance have a positive relationship, due to the existence of uniqueness and inimitability of the products indicated by (M=4.7047, SD=.82473) followed by that the Firms that embrace technological advancement and integrate in the production of the business have a competitive advantage as evidenced by (M=4.6544, SD=.80695). The respondents also agreed with the statement that Growth of the business is contributed greatly by resource availability that enables business to run successfully as shown by (M=4.5671, SD=.66958) and lastly on the last statement concerning Firm performance depends on the market value of its products pricing was agreed upon and this is evident by (M=4.7047, SD=.82473). The standard deviations indicated that the subjects were not clustered around the mean but dispersed. The study clearly shows that strategic practices has a positive effects on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret Town the study therefore concurs with Kurgat (2015) who conducted a study on strategic management practices and challenges at Nandi county Government. This research was carried out with the objectives of establishing the strategic management practices adopted by Nandi county government and the challenges faced by adopting strategic practices at Nandi county Government. The research problem was studied by use content analysis, the content found out that although faced with challenges during the adoption of strategic management practices like inadequate financial resources, politics, human resource malpractices, liberation of services and diseases like HIV/AIDS, it was established that Nandi county Government practice good strategic management practices improving its performance. Table 4.10 Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises SD D UD A SA Total Mea Std. Dev Min Max Firms that embrace technological advancement and integrate in the production of the business have a competitive advantage. F 4 12 3 45 234 298 % 1.3 4.0 1.0 15.1 78.5 100 4.654 .8070 1 5 Growth of the business is contributed greatly by resource availability that enables business to run successfully. F 2 5 3 100 188 298 4.567 .6696 1 5 % .7 1.7 1.0 33.6 63.1 100 Firm performance depends on the market value of its products pricing. F 6 10 38 72 172 298 4.322 .9589 1 5 % 2.0 3.4 12.8 24.2 57.7 100 Firm innovativeness and performance have a positive relationship, due to the existence of uniqueness and inimitability of the products F 7 8 4 28 251 298 4.705 .8247 1 5 % 2.3 2.7 1.3 9.4 84.2 100
  • 13. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 13 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org Findings of Inferential Statistics The study uses correlation analysis and regression analysis as its inferential statistics. The study started with testing of regression models assumptions. Correlation Analysis The research used Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation examines if there is linear association between the variables. The correlation showed in the table 4.11 below shows bivariate correlations of all the variables (pricing strategy, savings and investment strategy, product creation strategy and performance of small enterprises). Since a variable in the questionnaire was measured by multiple variables, the mean of the items was computed and used in the analysis such as correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis (Wang and Benbasat, 2007). Research shows that correlation coefficient values (r) ranging from 0.10-0.29, it is considered to be weak correlation, 0.30-0.49, medium, 0.5-1.0 is considered strong, Wong and Hiew (2005). Implying that pricing strategy is positively and statistically significant (r=0.266, p=0.000), savings and investments strategy is positively and statistically significant (r=0.169, p=0.00) and product creation strategy is positively and statistically significant (r=0.388, p=0.000).This implies that all the study variables: pricing strategy, savings and investment strategy and product creation strategy were positively correlated to performance of small enterprises and statistically significant. From the study it is clear that the table was at 99% level of confidence (significant at the 0.01 level (2- tailed), meaning a unit increase in pricing strategy leads to 26.6 % increase in performance, a unit increase in savings and investment strategy leads to 16.9% increase in performance and lastly a unit change in product creation strategy leads to 38.8% increase in performance. Table 4.11 Correlation Analysis Product creation strategy Performance Product creation strategy Pearson Correlation 1 .388** Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 Performance Pearson Correlation .388** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 Regression Analysis Multiple linear regression model was used analyze the linear statistical relationship between the independent (pricing strategy, savings and investment strategy and product creation strategy) and dependent variable (small enterprises performance). The study computed regression model for each of the variables each showing how they associate with each other. Linear Regression Model of Product Creation Strategy and Performance. The linear regression analysis models the relationship between the dependent variable product creation strategy and independent variable performance. The results are shown in table 4.20. The coefficient of determination (R2 ) and correlation coefficient (R) shows the degree of association between product creation strategy and performance of small enterprises. The results of the linear regression in table indicate that R2 =0.151 and R = 0.388. R value indicates that there is a strong linear relationship between product creation strategy and performance of small enterprises. The R2 indicates that explanatory power of the independent variables is 0.151. This means that 15.1% of the variation in small enterprises performance is explained by the regression model while 84.9 % is unexplained by the model. Adjusted R2 is a modified version of R2 that has been adjusted for the number of predictors in the model by less than chance. The adjusted R2 0.148 of which is slightly lower than the R2 value is an exact indicator of the relationship between the independent and the dependent variable because it is sensitive to the addition of irrelevant variables. The adjusted R2 indicates that 14.8% of the changes in strategy implementation are explained by the model while 85.2% is not explained by the model. This implies that level of product creation strategy has a weak influence on small enterprise performance.
  • 14. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 14 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org Table 4.12 Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .388a 0.151 0.148 0.54902 From the results in table 4.21 the F test provides an overall test of significance of the fitted regression model. The F value indicates that all the variables in the equation are important hence the overall regression is significant. The F-statistics produced (F = 52.585) was significant at p=0.000<0.05thus confirming the fitness of the model and therefore, there is statistically significant relationship between product creation strategy and performance of small enterprises in Eldoret Town. The study therefore rejects the third null hypothesis; H03: There is no significant effect of product creation strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret town. Table 4.13 ANOVA Product Creation Strategy Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 15.85 1 15.85 52.585 .000b Residual 89.22 296 0.301 Total 105.071 297 The table 4.13 indicates there was positive linear relationship between product creation and performance which means that an increase in a unit of product creation strategy increases performance by 0.294 units. Product creation strategy was significant (p=0.000) in performance. This is an indication that product creation strategy influence small enterprises performance. Table 4.14 Coefficients Product Creation Strategy on Performance Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 3.243 0.189 17.195 0 Product Creation Strategy 0.294 0.041 0.388 7.252 0 Overall Regression Analysis The linear regression analysis models the relationship between the dependent performance and all the independent variable. The findings are as shown in table 4.14; Table 4.15 presents results of model summary; the “R” value is used to indicate the strength and direction of the relationship between the variables. The closer the value gets to 1, the stronger the relationship. In this case the R= 0.567. This means there was an average positive relationship between the variables. This value of R square indicates that the independent variables can explain 32.1% of the variation in the dependent variable. This implies that there is a positive relationship between the dependent and the independent variables and the data that had been employed in the regression model were accurate. Adjusted R2 is a modified version of R2 that has been adjusted for the number of predictors in the model by less than chance. The adjusted R2 of 0.314 which is slightly lower than the R2 value is an exact indicator of the relationship between the independent and the dependent variables because it is sensitive to the addition of irrelevant variables. The adjusted R2 indicates that 31.4% of the changes in small enterprise performance are explained by the model while 68.6% is not explained by the model This implies that product creation strategy has a positive relationship on small enterprise performance in Eldoret Town. Table 4.15 Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .567a 0.321 0.314 0.49253
  • 15. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 15 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org Table 4.16 presents the results of regression ANOVA to test the model fitness at 95% confidence level. The study results indicated that there was a significant value (p<0.05) and F-value of 46.734. This shows that the regression model has a probability of less than 0.000 of giving wrong prediction. Hence, the regression model used above is a suitable prediction model for explaining the relationship between product creation strategy and performance of small enterprises in Eldoret Town. Table 4.16 Overall ANOVA Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 33.749 3 11.25 46.374 .000b Residual 71.321 294 0.243 Total 105.071 297 Table 4.25 presents the results of regression coefficients. The study findings showed that pricing strategy registered a p-value of 0.000 indicating that the influence on performance was extremely significant while savings and investment strategy registered a p-value of 0.019 indicating that the influence was statistically significant and finally product creation registered a p-value of 0.000 showing that the influence on performance was greatly significant. The results shows that the regression coefficients of the independent variable product creation strategy is statistically significant in explaining small enterprises performance in Eldoret Town. Thus the regression equation becomes; The equation for the regression model is expressed as: Y= β0 + β1 Χ1 + є Y= 1.081 + 0.360Χ1 + є Where; Y represents performance X1 represents product creation β0 represents Co-efficient of the model β1–β2 represents Beta Co-efficient of Determination є represents Stochastic Error Term The results of the regression equation show that if all the independent variables were rated zero, performance would be 1.081. However, all the predictors had a positive relationship with the dependent variable. A unit increase in product creation would increase performance by 0.360. The Stochastic Error Term was assumed to be zero. The results above also indicated there was positive linear relationship between product creation strategy and performance. Table 4.17 Coefficients Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta (Constant) 1.081 0.323 3.346 0.001 Product Creation Strategy 0.36 0.04 0.476 9.12 0.000 Table 4.17 presents the results of hypotheses testing. The study findings on pricing strategy found out a positive and significant (β= 0.435; p<0.05) effect on small enterprise performance in Eldoret Town. The null hypothesis was rejected and the conclusion was that adoption of pricing strategy by small and medium enterprises leads to a positive performance. The study findings indicated that the effects of product creation strategy on small and medium enterprises in Eldoret Town was positive and significant (β= 0.476; p<0.05). This implies that the null hypothesis was rejected and shows that there was a significant effect of savings and investment strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret town was rejected. Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations Summary of the Findings There were three specific objectives in this study. So as to attain the results the researcher conducted the research by using the questionnaires and the following was found from the study; Product Creation Strategy on Performance Finally the researcher looked into the effects of product creation strategy on small and medium enterprises in Eldoret Town and found out that that product creation strategy has a positive and
  • 16. Africa International Journal of Management Education and Governance (AIJMEG) ISSN: 2518-0827 (Online Publication) Vol. 3 (4) 1-17, October 2018 www.oircjournals.org 16 | P a g e Barbengi and Kimutai, (2018) www.oircjournals.org significant (p=0.000) influence on small and medium enterprise performance in Eldoret Town. The findings means that the null hypothesis that there is no significant effect of savings and investment strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises in Eldoret town were rejected and concluded that there is a significant effect on adopting savings and investment strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises. Also the results showed that most of the subject believed in positive effect of product creation on performance leading to a conclusion that creation of new products and updating them regularly to appeal to consumers and using the right combination of features that makes them cost effective to sell and able to generate a high demand will eventually lead to generation of high profits and improving the performance enterprises. The study findings agrees with Anal et al., (2011) who concluded that innovativeness and performance have a positive relationship, due to the existence of uniqueness and inimitability of the products. It also conceded with the study of Anal et al., (2011) who analyzed a direct relationship between innovation and performance without either a mediator or a moderator. Conclusions The study concluded that creation of new products and updating them regularly to appeal to consumers and using the right combination of features that makes them cost effective to sell and able to generate a high demand will eventually lead to generation of high profits and improving the performance enterprises. Balanced Scorecard theory was important to the study since it explains that the idea of the balance scorecard is that you should not evaluate a firm based on one single measure thus in marketing the balanced score card can be used to link the marketing strategies with the overall organizational goals. Additionally, SMEs can use the balanced score card approach to link their marketing strategies with their strategic plans and the performance. Recommendations The study therefore recommends that small enterprises should create new products and employ new strategies in improving their sales and their competitiveness to improve their performance. The study recommends management of medium enterprises and other organizations to come up with better ways of dealing with strategic challenges so as to be successful in their operations. Research for Further Researchers The study recommends future researchers to research to major on market for effective pricing decision and strategy to later improve firm sales. They should research on how and the importance of savings to businesses. Reference Abdullahi, M. S., Jakada, B. A., & Kabir, S. (2016). Challenges Affecting the Performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMES) in Nigeria. Journal of Human Capital Development (JHCD), 9 (2), 21-46. Azmi, I. A. G. (2017). Muslim Women Entrepreneurs Motivation in SMEs: A Quantitative Study in Asia Pacific Countries. Asian Economic and Financial Review, 7(1), 27. Delima, V. J. (2017). Organizational Performance of Financial Institutions in Batticaloa District. Doh, S., & Kim, B. (2014). Government support for SME innovations in the regional industries: The case of government financial support program in South Korea. Research Policy, 43(9), 1557-1569. Gakenia, N. J. (2015). Organizational resources and performance of mobile phone companies in Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, unpublished PhD Thesis). Gudahi, M. (2016). Competitive strategies and market growth of Standard Chartered bank in Kenya. Unpublished MBA project, School of Business, University of Nairobi. Hakala, H. (2011). Strategic orientations in management literature: three approaches to understanding the interaction between market, technology, entrepreneurial and learning orientations. International Journal of Management Reviews, 13(2), 199-217. Ismail, A., & Bakar, M. S. (2017). The Effect Of Competitive Environment And Information Technology Infrastructure On Bank’s Performance In Malaysia. International Journal, 2(5), 163-176. Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1996). The Balanced Scorecard. Boston: HBSPress. Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2015). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press. Keller, W. (2010). International trade, foreign direct investment, and technology spillovers. In Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, 1(2), 793-829. North-Holland.
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