Abstract: MSEs in Kenya are often faced with resource limitations that cause them to be vulnerable to various environmental changes. Consequently, most MSEs are unable to meet the high levels of customers’ quality and service demands and to differentiate themselves from competitors particularly when competing against bigger companies. This has necessitated the need for strategic partnerships as an alternative way of gaining access to strategic resources in the alliance network and to gain competitive advantage. Alliances are expected to facilitate MSE access to resources, customers and markets which eventually results to a competitive advantage and MSE growth. Whereas most studies have focused on benefits from the large company perspective literature on MSE benefits are limited. The current study sought to determine benefits from the MSE perspective. The study sought to determine the influence of strategic alliances on the growth of MSEs in partnership with Safaricom along Moi Avenue in Nairobi based on four objectives; influence of technology development partnerships, franchise, outsourcing, marketing and distribution partnerships on the growth of MSEs in partnership with Safaricom, A descriptive survey design was adopted with a target population of 200 MSEs operating within Nairobi central Business district. 133 MSE businesses were sampled using Yamane (1967) formula. Data was collected using a questionnaire which was piloted to ensure validity and reliability. A Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was calculated which gave an alpha value of 0.827. Data was processed and analyzed using descriptive statistics aided by Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0. Relationships between independent and dependent variables were determined using cross tabulations. Findings revealed that; Technology partnerships were the least common among MSEs surveyed but those with this partnership had realized growth in their businesses to a large extent in terms of sales, profits and returns on investment. Franchise partnerships were the most popular and had also positively influenced MSE growth however the large number of licensed agents reduced the volume of transactions per business. Outsourcing and marketing partnerships were also found to exist amongst some MSEs which had positively influenced MSE growth. Recommendations made were; Safaricom to review evaluation criteria to accommodate more MSEs in technology development partnerships, number of Mpesa agents licensed should be limited based on the customer base in a given locality and government to enact laws to govern strategic alliances between MSEs and large companies.
Keywords: Technological Alliance, Franchise, Marketing and Distribution Partnerships, Outsourcing Partnerships, Strategic Partnerships.
Title: INFLUENCE OF SAFARICOM STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS ON GROWTH OF MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES IN KENYA: A CASE OF NAIROBI CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
Author: EDWIN MURIMI CHOMBA, Dr. Jared Deya
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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