Networking capability and sustainable competitive advantage of small and medium food manufacturing enterprises in Kenya

Abstract

In every country's economic development objective, manufacturing firms owned by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role. They provide a variety of economic contributions; income generation, the creation of new job opportunities, the introduction of innovation, and the promotion of competition are all examples of these. Despite their substantial contribution, SMEs in the food manufacturing sector in developing economies confront a variety of problems and constraints that prevent or limit their ability to maintain a sustained competitive advantage. Networking competency has been identified as one of the missing link to the sustainability of SMEs. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of network capabilities on the sustainability of SMEs in Kenya's food manufacturing enterprises. A cross-sectional approach and a descriptive survey design were utilised in this study. Quantitative primary data was obtained from 106 owners of 123 SMEs in the food and beverage sub-sector in Kenya registered by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, yielding an 86 percent response rate. The research revealed that networking capabilities account for 6.9 percent of SMEs' sustainable competitive advantage, with each unit increase in networking capabilities improving the SCA of Kenyan SMEs by 0.306.