Human capital business development services and sustainable competitive advantage among agribusiness SMEs in Kenya
Keywords:
agribusiness SMEs, human capital business development services, sustainable competitive advantageAbstract
This paper seeks to examine the influence of human capital business development services (HCBDS)
on the attainment of sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) among agribusiness small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) in selected regions in Kenya. The study applied a descriptive correlation research
design and positivism philosophy. Inferential statistics were used for data analysis which was then
confirmed by structural equation modeling (SEM). A census survey was used to select 117 agribusiness
SMEs from the database of Africa Agribusiness Academy (AAA), of which 84 (72%) SMEs responded.
The AAA database hosts agribusiness SMEs from five business regions, namely Great Rift, Nairobi,
Lower Eastern, Upper Eastern and Western regions. The research is useful to the Business development
services (BDS) providers and SMEs’ policy makers and offers new knowledge to researchers on SCA
among agribusiness SMEs. The study adopted a margin error of 5%. The results reveal that HCBDS
had a significant and positive influence on SCA among agribusiness SMEs. Agribusiness SMEs should
thus endeavor to access HCBDS continually to build the competencies of their employees to enhance
organizational capabilities and competitive advantage (CA). Further, BDS providers and policy makers
should adopt strategies and policies for enhancing the human resource capacities of agribusiness
SMEs.
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