IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rbs/ijbrss/v9y2020i5p38-47.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technological innovation and competitive advantage in telecommunication companies in Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Mugo

    (Chief Executive Officer at Jayden Ltd. Nairobi, Kenya)

  • Jimmy Macharia

    (Associate Professor of Information Systems, United States International University,Nairobi,Kenya)

Abstract

Previous studies have established that the telecommunications industry in Kenya is characterized by decreasing voice revenues, many regulations, technological progress and varying consumer needs. This phenomenon has resulted in industry companies developing sound innovation strategies to make sure they form a competitive advantage over their rivals with the aim of ensuring their survival and growth in the evermore cut-throat marketplace. Nevertheless, in spite of the essential part played by these innovation strategies to safeguard competitive advantage, several companies have failed to translate the plans into reality. Therefore, the major objective of this study was to investigate the influence of technological innovation on the competitive advantage of telecommunication companies in Kenya. Technological innovation was measured by expansion of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks; new equipment and software; and partnerships and synergies. To satisfy the objective of this paper, a positivist philosophical stance was adopted and research design using cross-sectional survey data used. Data was collected using proportionate sampling from 247 managers. The results indicate that technological innovation improves the competitive advantage of telecommunication companies in Kenya. However, with government regulation as a moderating variable, only the new equipment, and software constructs had a positive and significant influence on the dependent variable. Ultimately, the findings suggest that government regulation moderates the influence of technological innovation on the competitive advantage of telecommunication companies in Kenya. Key Words: Telecommunication, Innovation, Competitive advantage, Technology

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Mugo & Jimmy Macharia, 2020. "Technological innovation and competitive advantage in telecommunication companies in Kenya," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 9(5), pages 38-47, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:9:y:2020:i:5:p:38-47
    DOI: 10.20525/ijrbs.v9i5.866
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs/article/view/866/635
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v9i5.866
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.20525/ijrbs.v9i5.866?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bernhard Dachs & Martin Hud & Christian Koehler & Bettina Peters, 2017. "Innovation, creative destruction and structural change: firm-level evidence from European countries," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 346-381, May.
    2. Markovic, Stefan & Bagherzadeh, Mehdi, 2018. "How does breadth of external stakeholder co-creation influence innovation performance? Analyzing the mediating roles of knowledge sharing and product innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 173-186.
    3. Mark A. Cohen & Adeline Tubb, 2018. "The Impact of Environmental Regulation on Firm and Country Competitiveness: A Meta-analysis of the Porter Hypothesis," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(2), pages 371-399.
    4. Chen Liu, 2017. "International Competitiveness and the Fourth Industrial Revolution," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 5(4), pages 111-133.
    5. MARINCEAN Dan Andrei, 2019. "Innovation And Competitiveness," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(2), pages 385-394, December.
    6. Dmitrii Trubnikov, 2020. "The Russian Telecommunications Experience: a Positive Outcome of the Competitive Order in the Industry," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 35-58, March.
    7. Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2017. "Science, technology, and innovation for economic competitiveness: The role of smart specialization in less-developed countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 95-107.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hille, Erik & Althammer, Wilhelm & Diederich, Henning, 2020. "Environmental regulation and innovation in renewable energy technologies: Does the policy instrument matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Davcik, Nebojsa S. & Cardinali, Silvio & Sharma, Piyush & Cedrola, Elena, 2021. "Exploring the role of international R&D activities in the impact of technological and marketing capabilities on SMEs’ performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 650-660.
    3. Pietro Moncada-Paternò-Castello, 2022. "Top R&D investors, structural change and the R&D growth performance of young and old firms," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(1), pages 1-33, March.
    4. Yu-Hong Ai & Di-Yun Peng & Huan-Huan Xiong, 2021. "Impact of Environmental Regulation Intensity on Green Technology Innovation: From the Perspective of Political and Business Connections," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-23, April.
    5. Ren, Shenggang & Hu, Yucai & Zheng, Jingjing & Wang, Yangjie, 2020. "Emissions trading and firm innovation: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    6. Michael Peneder & Spyros Arvanitis & Christian Rammer & Tobias Stucki & Martin Wörter, 2022. "Policy instruments and self-reported impacts of the adoption of energy saving technologies in the DACH region," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 369-404, May.
    7. Nelson, Kelly P. & Parton, Lee C. & Brown, Zachary S., 2022. "Biofuels policy and innovation impacts: Evidence from biofuels and agricultural patent indicators," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    8. Yaman Du & Ruihua Wang & Xuefeng Jin, 2021. "Research on the Performance of Knowledge Co-Creation of Science and Technology Enterprises Based on IUR Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Markovic, Stefan & Koporcic, Nikolina & Arslanagic-Kalajdzic, Maja & Kadic-Maglajlic, Selma & Bagherzadeh, Mehdi & Islam, Nazrul, 2021. "Business-to-business open innovation: COVID-19 lessons for small and medium-sized enterprises from emerging markets," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    10. Aldieri, Luigi & Bruno, Bruna & Makkonen, Teemu & Vinci, Concetto Paolo, 2023. "Environmental innovations, geographically mediated knowledge spillovers, economic and environmental performance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. Ricardo S. Santos & Jose Soares & Pedro Carmona Marques & Helena V. G. Navas & José Moleiro Martins, 2021. "Integrating Business, Social, and Environmental Goals in Open Innovation through Partner Selection," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-25, November.
    12. Lu, Yunguo & Zhang, Lin, 2022. "National mitigation policy and the competitiveness of Chinese firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    13. Kreiling, Laura & Serval, Sarah & Peres, Raphaële & Bounfour, Ahmed, 2020. "University technology transfer organizations: Roles adopted in response to their regional innovation system stakeholders," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 218-229.
    14. Maogang Tang & Silu Cheng & Wenqing Guo & Weibiao Ma & Fengxia Hu, 2023. "Relationship between carbon emission trading schemes and companies’ total factor productivity: evidence from listed companies in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(10), pages 11735-11767, October.
    15. Mohsen Mohammadi Khyareh & Nasrin Rostami, 2022. "Macroeconomic Conditions, Innovation and Competitiveness," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(2), pages 1321-1340, June.
    16. Feng Liu & Kangning Xu & Meina Zheng, 2018. "The Effect of Environmental Regulation on Employment in China: Empirical Research Based on Individual-Level Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-23, July.
    17. Carlos Bianchi & Hugo Laguna, 2020. "Firm’s innovation strategies and employment: new evidence from Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 20-06, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    18. Lin, Chia-Yang & Chau, Ka Yin & Tran, Trung Kien & Sadiq, Muhammad & Van, Le & Hien Phan, Thi Thu, 2022. "Development of renewable energy resources by green finance, volatility and risk: Empirical evidence from China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P1), pages 821-831.
    19. László Szerb & Raquel Ortega‐Argilés & Zoltan J. Acs & Éva Komlósi, 2020. "Optimizing entrepreneurial development processes for smart specialization in the European Union," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(5), pages 1413-1457, October.
    20. Secundo, Giustina & Del Vecchio, Pasquale & Simeone, Luca & Schiuma, Giovanni, 2020. "Creativity and stakeholders' engagement in open innovation: Design for knowledge translation in technology-intensive enterprises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 272-282.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:9:y:2020:i:5:p:38-47. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Umit Hacioglu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ssbffea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.