STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND PERFORMANCE OF SUPERMARKETS IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA
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Date
2025-09
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THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN AFRICA
Abstract
The retail sector, particularly the supermarkets, plays a key role in shaping the global economy through the provision of essential goods and services to consumers. Despite this crucial role in shaping the global economy, the supermarkets face challenges, including but not limited to increasing competition, fluctuations in consumer preferences, and technological advancements. These challenges necessitate the supermarkets to adopt effective strategic management practices to enhance sustainable performance. The primary goal of this research was to determine the effect of strategic management practices on the performance of supermarkets in Nairobi City County. The study focused on four specific research objectives, namely, to determine the effect of inventory management, supply chain management, strategic human resource management, and technology adoption on the performance of the supermarkets. This research was anchored on strategic choice theory, resource-based view theory, dynamic capability view theory, and attribution theory. To achieve its main purpose, the study adopted a descriptive research design with a population of 137 branch managers drawn from the supermarkets operating in Nairobi City County as licensed by the Business Licensing Board. Due to the small target population, the study carried out a census to obtain data from all 137 branch managers. The data collection instrument was subjected to a pre-test conducted on purposively selected supermarket managers operating in Thika Town, Kiambu County. The study adopted Cronbach's Alpha the evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire items, and the results indicated that all items had a Cronbach's alpha value of more than 7.0 and concluded that they were reliable to measure the intended objectives. The data was collected by the use of a questionnaire technique and was analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency, standard deviation, and mean) and inferential statistics (correlation and regression analysis) using SPSS v26. Before collecting data, the researcher sought authorization from the university, NACOSTI, and supermarket management for permission to conduct the study as required by research ethics. The study findings indicated that strategic management practices (inventory management, supply chain management, human resource management, and technology adoption) had a positive and significant effect on the performance of supermarkets in Nairobi City County at a 5% significance level. Specifically, the findings regarding inventory strategies were significant in enhancing operational efficiency, and supply chain management findings showed that strong supplier partnerships and market relationships allow for recognition of the value of effective supply chain strategies in boosting performance. Furthermore, the results on strategic human resource management revealed a significant and positive effect of effective recruitment processes, training programs, and rewarding and employee compensation strategies on the performance outcomes of the supermarkets in Nairobi City County. Finally, adoption of technology practices exhibited a significant and positive effect on the performance of supermarkets, emphasizing continual assessment and enhancement of technological infrastructure to remain competitive in the dynamic retail industry. The study recommends that supermarkets should adopt effective and efficient strategic management practices, especially inventory management, supply chain management, human resource management, and technology adoption practices, to improve supermarket performance and gain a competitive advantage in the industry. Future studies on a similar topic should focus on conducting longitudinal studies to reveal the time effect in the relationship between strategic management practices and supermarket performance in Nairobi City County.
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Keywords
Strategic management practices, organizational performance, supermarkets, retail management, competitive advantage, business strategy, Nairobi County, Kenya