INNOVATIVE ADAPTATION AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY ON SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE FIRMS IN KENYA (Published)
The idea that an organization’s members are the real source of its competitive advantage has long been acknowledged. The significance of human capital as a determinant of firm performance is gaining recognition in the strategic management literature, and the need for relating employee talent to a firm’s competitive advantage is continuing to develop in the human resource management arena hence the drive to establish superior human capital to generate competitive advantage Many firms have explicitly embraced competitive strategies to gain and maintain a lead in their industries. In all the competitive strategies firms have engaged in, human capital has been the driver of competition. This study endeavoured to empirically test the effects of human capital and especially in innovation and operational efficiency in according food and beverage firms the requisite competitive advantage in the very dynamic industry. the study sought to answer the following research question: What are the effects of human capital (in innovative adaptation and dynamic operational efficiency) on firms’ ability to attain sustainable competitive advantage within the F & B companies in Kenya? This research entailed a descriptive study design. This study sought to do that among the F & B firms in Kenya. The study was concerned with describing the characteristics of a unique group of food and beverage firms and their competitiveness. From the study, 87 percent of respondents indicated concurrence on usefulness of human resources for SCA. Kenyan firms in the food and beverage industry therefore highly regard human capital as a major contributor to sustainable competitive advantage. The study established that internal processes largely rely on how capabilities are harnessed for competitive advantage.
Keywords: : Human Capital, Innovation, Sustained Competitive Advantage