Thesis:

Influence of strategic reinvention on business sustainability in petroleum firms in Nairobi, Kenya

Strategic reinvention provides disruptive competitive advantage that is essential for business to thrive in a difficult environment where rules and strategies change from time to time. There is little competition among the oil marketers in Kenya because government control pricing strategy. The investigation mainly targeted to determine influence of strategic reinvention on business sustainability among oil and gas marketing companies in Nairobi, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were: to determine the influence of innovation, to evaluate the influence of technology, to investigate the contribution of research and development and to determine the influence of government policy on business sustainability for oil firms in Nairobi, Kenya. The study was underpinned by v Michael Porter’s generic competitive strategies and the dynamic capability theory. The investigation was guided by descriptive research design. The study total population was 60 oil marketing companies in Nairobi where all the oil firms were included in the study. The primary data was collected using questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used in the study that included the mean, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages. The data was presented in tables and explanations were done in prose. The relationship of the strategic reinvention and business sustainability was estimated using linear regression model whereas the technique by Kenny and Baron was employed to determine the moderating effect of government policy on the relationship between strategic reinvention and business sustainability for oil firms in Nairobi, Kenya. Results indicated that innovation positively and significantly affected business sustainability of oil marketing companies. Likewise, technology, research and development depicted a positive and significant effect on business sustainability of oil marketing companies. In addition, government policies moderated the nexus between strategic reinvention and business sustainability in petroleum firms in Nairobi, Kenya as depicted incremental of coefficient of determination after introduction of interactive term. The study concluded that innovation is an enabler of business sustainability of oil marketing companies. It was inferred that strengthening of technology enhances the sustainability of business among oil marketing companies. Research and development is an essential predictor of business sustainability among the oil marketing companies. Further, businesses are directed by the government policies and their mode of operations always tend to be consistent with government policies. Implementation of innovative and creative ideas is crucial in spearheading innovation within an organization. The study recommends adoption of improvised technology for all the processes and services of oil marketing companies. More investment on research and development is essential in enhancing innovation and technological progress in an organization since currently financing of the R&D is inadequate as depicted by descriptive finding. Oil marketing companies should ensure that activities and operations are aligned with government policies since non-compliance on programs which touches environmental sustainability might be costly. In terms of policy implication, the energy and petroleum regulatory authority and Ministry of energy and petroleum in connection with oil companies need to strengthen existing policy framework to support strategic reinvention via energy and petroleum research and development hubs.