Browsing by Author "Wamalwa, Lucy S."

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Together We Can Do Great Things An Inclusive Business Model
(Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies, 2020) Wamalwa, Lucy S.
Doing business in developing economies like Kenya is difficult because of resource scarcity, weak institutions, poor market infrastructure and lower purchasing power of consumers especially in rural areas. In the past, most multinational corporations have repeatedly failed to penetrate this market, acquire relevant and valuable resources, to create value for these consumers, launch, and grow a sustainable business. The challenges in designing a business model in this market is how to combine and maintain a balance between low cost, quality products, sustainability, profitability, and integrate all stakeholders in value creation. Safaricom Kenya offers a viable business model for this market, as they are socially and culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable building value off local resources and capabilities. The company harnesses customer competencies by engaging with them beyond the mere buyer-seller relationship to innovate products with them. Their strength and survival largely depend on how they understand consumers' needs and how they create, enhance, retain, and, most importantly, utilize and preserving the existing social capital."
TQM perspectives under the competitive strategies and the organization performance in Kenyan manufacturing sector
(Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 2017) Wamalwa, Lucy S.
The Kenya manufacturing industry contributes to 10.7% of the country GDP, 26% of the merchandise exported and 12 % of formal employment. The manufacturing industry in Kenya is faced with a number of challenges one of which is competition from local firms as well as well-established multinationals. This necessitates the need for the sector to implement a viable business strategy in order to improve its competitiveness. Generic strategies are widely accepted both academically and practically as sustainable competitive strategies and their influence on performance have been critically examined in a wide range of business settings in countries worldwide. TQM on the other hand establishes quality enhancement as a dominant priority and one that is vital for long-term effectiveness and survival, it focuses on increasing efficiency and improving processes, providing superior customer value and meeting customer needs. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediation effect of TQM practices, on the relationship between competitive strategies and organization performance in the Kenyan manufacturing industry. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population for the study was 39 ISO certified, manufacturing firms. The target respondents were the CEO, Strategic managers and Quality Assurance Managers a total of 117 respondents. A pilot test was conducted to assess the questionnaire validity and reliability of the data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and multiple Regression analysis were used. The finding indicated that TQM partially mediates the relationship between cost leadership strategy and organization performance (organization learning and growth and internal process performance) but TQM fully mediated the relationship between differentiation strategy and the following performance measures internal process performance and organization learning and growth.