Role of Market Orientation on Competitiveness of Manufacturing Firms in Kenya

In order to be competitive, manufacturing firms have to embrace and undertake strategies that will make them perform exceedingly better than their rivals in the market. Such kind of strategies to be undertaken calls for the firm to make decisions and have principles that will direct their activities and generate a behaviour that is intended to propel the firm in the market-place. In this regard the main focus of this study was to examine the role of market orientation and moderating influence that top management commitment have on competitiveness of manufacturing firms in Kenya. Theoretically, this study was grounded on resource-based and upper echelon theories, and a descriptive survey design was adopted, which targeted 134 manufacturing firms registered members of the Machakos and Central Kenya Chapters of Kenya Association of Manufacturers. A census was undertaken of all the 134 firms that are members of the two chapters. Primary data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire that were semi-structured questionnaire that was administered to the Chief Executive Officers/Directors of the firms under the study of which both quantitative and qualitative data was generated. To determine the relationship that exist between the variables regression analysis was used while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the relationship between independent and dependent variables. The overall study findings revealed that market orientation had a positive and statistically significant role on competitiveness of manufacturing firms in Kenya and top management commitment had a positive moderating role. The study findings also noted that firms that are market-oriented have developed mechanisms that gather information about the customer continuously and are able to implement various strategies aimed at improving their competitiveness. Based on the findings, the study concluded that the competitiveness of manufacturing firms in Kenya depends not only on how they determine the needs and wants of the consumer but also on how effectively and efficiently they deliver satisfaction to them.