INFLUENCE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL MANAGEMENT ON GROWTH OF MICRO AND SMALL FURNITURE MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES IN KENYA
Grace Adhiambo Okello - Doctor of Philosophy in Entrepreneurship, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Entrepreneurial management has been fronted as a key determinant for a firm’s growth and profitability. Entrepreneurial management helps firms to be proactive in managing uncertainty to create long-term value because uncertainty has upside potential as well as a downside exposure. While MSEs can play a crucial role in contributing to job creation and decent working conditions, it should be noted that majority of those who run MSEs are not well equipped with the knowledge to carry out managerial routines for their enterprises (King & McGrath, 2012). The typical owners or managers of MSEs develop their own approaches to management, through the process of trial and error. MSEs’ capacity to meet growing customer expectations is based largely on their ability to innovate and deliver new products at competitive prices. MSEs have the ability to innovate effectively and develop new products more rapidly than larger firms. However, many MSEs in Kenya still fail to see the opportunities and advantages available to them, such as the flexibility of customizing products to consumers’ requirements through well-defined processes, an advantage adopted by larger firms. Therefore, this study sought to establish the influence of entrepreneurial management on growth of MSE in furniture manufacturing industry in Kenya. To achieve this objective, the study was guided by Firm Growth Theory and Network Theory. The research design adopted in this study was the mixed method. The target population of study was the 10,345 owner managers of furniture manufacturing MSEs in Kenya. A sample of 393 owner managers of furniture business in Nairobi were selected using stratified random sampling. Questionnaires were used as data collection tool. The researcher administered the questionnaires personally and also employed drop and pick later method in cases where it was not possible for respondents to complete the questionnaires the same day. The study generated both qualitative and quantitative data. The study used correlation analysis to establish the degree of association between the independent and dependent variables. Multiple linear regression model was also used to establish the relationship between dependent and independent variables. The overall objective of this study was to determine the effect of entrepreneurial management on the Growth of Micro and Small Furniture Manufacturing Enterprises in Kenya. The expectation was that if a firm chooses to implement entrepreneurial management strategies of strategic orientation, resource orientation and reward philosophy, it will achieve superior growth and stay ahead of competition. The results of regression analysis showed that strategic orientation, resource orientation and reward philosophy combined had significant positive relationship with growth of micro and small furniture manufacturing enterprises X1 (β = 0.227, p-value <0.001), X2 (β = 0.344, p-value <0.001), X3 (β = 0.216, p-value<0.001). The study recommends that policy managers of these firms pay careful consideration to aligning their entrepreneurial management as one of the environmental variable so as to remain competitive and grow in this global business.
