Kagone, Naomi NjeriOrwa, George .O.Ndolo, Jackson M.2019-08-012019-08-012015http://erepository.mku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/5625The main objective of the study was to establish the influence of strategic orientation on the performance of micro and small enterprises in the service sectors operated by the youth in Kiambu and Nairobi Counties, Kenya. The study takes firm characteristics as the moderating variables. The population of this study was 3280 ( three thousand two hundred and eighty) youth owned MSEs in Kiambu County and Nairobi County who had registered with the department of Youth and benefited from Youth Enterprises Development Fund (YEDF) from which a sample of respondents was selected. YEDF was established to address the economic challenges faced by youth. The fund constantly reviews its operational mechanisms from time to time in order to achieve its vision of creating a sustainable and growing fund though it does not seem to meet its economic objectives with many youths unable to pay back loan. Therefore, the study investigated the role of strategic orientation on the performance of youth owned MSES. The study variables used were entrepreneurial orientation, interaction orientation and market orientation. The sample size was 384 youths owned micro and small enterprise which was 10.5% of the population. The study used secondary data. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to check the validity and reliability of the questionnaires in gathering the data required for purposes of the study as the pilot study which was carried out. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. The specific descriptive statistics included percentages, frequencies, means and standard deviation. The inferential statistics included correlation and multiple linear regressions. The inferential statistics assisted in testing the study hypotheses. Qualitative data was presented descriptively and through statistical techniques such as tables, pie charts and bar graphs respectively. On the other hand, qualitative data was presented in continuous prose form.enStrategic orientationsOperational mechanismsEconomic objectiveArticle