STRATEGIC INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE OF AGRIBUSINESS COMPANIES IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

This study sought to establish the influence of Strategic innovation on the performance of agribusiness companies in Nairobi County. The study was guided by the following Specific objectives; to establish the influence of Product Innovation on performance of agribusiness companies in Nairobi County, and to establish the influence of Marketing Innovation on the performance of agribusiness companies in Nairobi County. The theories underpinning the study were diffusion of innovation theory, and dynamic capabilities theory. The study adopted a descriptive research design to measure the influence of strategic innovations on the performance of agribusiness companies in Nairobi County. The target population was 199 agribusiness companies in Nairobi Kenya with respondents being one business unit manager per firm. The study employed purposive sampling to determine the sample size. A 10% sample size was allocated for the pilot study to assess the reliability and validity of the research instruments. The study used structured questionnaire to collect primary data and SPSS was used to analyze data. Descriptive and Inferential statistics were used to establish the relationships that exist between the variables. The correlation coefficient was used to measure the relationship between independent variables and dependent variables while the regression analysis will be used to measure the strength between the independent and dependent variables. Data was presented in the form of tables. Descriptive such as mean, frequencies, standard deviation, and percentages, were used to profile major patterns emerging from the data. The relationships between the variables were determined using inferential statistics. The correlation analysis showed that there exists a significant positive correlation between the independent variables of the study and the performance of agribusiness firms in Nairobi County. Inferential analysis showed a statistically significant relationship between strategic innovations and the performance of agribusiness firms. Based on the R–squared, the model can explain 69.3% of the changes in the dependent variable. Regression results showed that a unit increase in any independent variable will lead to an increase in the performance of agribusiness firms. The study recommends that the management of agribusiness firms invest more in research and development for continuous product development. The study further recommends that the firms should adopt more strategic innovations in line with operations and productions.

Key Words: Strategic innovation, Product Innovation, Marketing Innovation, Performance, Agribusiness Companies