Publication: Innovativeness and Business Competitive Advantage: A Case of Business Firms Operating in Karatina Sub County, Kenya
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2018
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Mount Kenya University
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Abstract
In this competitive world of business, the ability of firms to come up with a culture
of staff members who will think of innovation as an essential factor in the business
survival is a plus to any organization. The innovativeness of a business firm is thought
to be a factor of its survival. It is from this belief that this research is based: to find
out what role innovativeness has on the business in creating a competitive advantage
in the market. This study adopted a descriptive study design using a case study of
SMEs found in Karatina sub county of Nyeri Kenya. Purposive sampling was used
to interview 130 respondents out of 2278 SMEs operating in the area for more than
five years. The results showed that businesses that embrace innovativeness as part of
their survival tactics were better placed competitively against their competitors and,
they performed fairly well in all kinds of business they indulged in. Most businesses
which encourages their employees to embrace innovativeness are able to improve
competitiveness by improving their technology, skills and increasing their scale of
innovations so as to be competitive. The conclusion of the study was that there is
a positive link between innovativeness and competitive advantage. Innovativeness
enhanced the need for more competition and product quality improvements, but
there is also need of acknowledging the part played by the innovators .There is need
for motivating and recognizing the workers with better salaries and other incentives
so as to keep their morale high to achieve best results
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Keywords
Competitive world of business, Business survival, Business firm