PRODUCT INNOVATION STRATEGY AND OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF KENYA BREWERIES LIMITED, NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA
Abstract
Product innovation product provides opportunities for enhancing operational performance in any given organization world wide. Kenya Breweries Limited which is categorized under the manufacturing industry in Kenya, has been operating in an increasingly competitive, highly regulated and dynamic market. Therefore, the company formulated strategies aimed to ensure the operational efficiency of the firm. However, despite the adopted measures, Kenya Breweries Limited still faces operational challenges which include; inflation impacting operational costs, managing overheads due to the increased number of employee requirements, adopting to modern operations due to high skills requirements, high costs of investing in green energy capital, shifting service demand requirements and diminishing returns from process enhancements. The company also is facing increasing levels of competition in the beer sector marked by illegal brewers as well as new local and international start-ups businesses. The main aim of this study therefore, was to investigate the effect of product innovation strategy on operational performance of Kenya Breweries based in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study was anchored on porter’s generic competitive theory and diffusion innovation theory. In the research design, descriptive survey was most preferred methodology for this study. Further, the unit of observation was 382 employees. Primary data was collected by use of a questionnaire. The filled in data was then coded in SPPS for analysis where tables were used to display descriptive data. On the same, frequency distributions, numbers, mean and median values and the standard deviation of scores were also used. Thereafter, linear regression analysis, was used to draw inferences about the nature of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The study found that product innovation, influenced Kenya Breweries Limited operational performance to a great extent. The findings presented show that a unit increase in product innovation would lead to an increase in performance of Kenya Breweries Limited. Overall, product innovation had the greatest influence on performance of Kenya Breweries Limited. The study recommended that Kenya Breweries Limited should enhance their product innovation to provision of relevant products of the highest quality in order to sustain and expand market share.
Key Words: Product Innovation Strategy, Operational Performance
CITATION: Muriuki, M., & Makhamara, M. (2023). Product innovation strategy and operational performance of Kenya Breweries Limited, Nairobi City County, Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 10 (4), 1259 – 1271. http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v10i4.2815
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v10i4.2815
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