Inter-Organizational Collaborations And Performance Of Courier Firms In Nairobi City County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

The Communications Authority of Kenya (2016) indicated a 14.3% drop in courier

transactions from the year 2010 to 2015. Further, outgoing international transactions

experienced a 20.6% decline. This downward trend has been attributed to development

of communication technology and organisational competitiveness which has immensely

affected the performance of the firms in this business portfolio. This has led most

organisations to embrace certain corporate strategies and partnering with other

organizations to strengthen their market positions and improve on performance.

This study sought to investigate the effect of inter-organizational collaboration and

performance of courier firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Specifically, the study

sought to: determine the effect of resource-based collaborations on performance of

firms courier firms in Nairobi City County; establish the ef fect of cost-based

collaborations on performance of courier firms in Nairobi city county; determine the

effect of relational-based collaborations on the performance of courier firms in

Nairobi City County; assess the moderating effect of organizational characteristics

on the relationship between inter-organizational collaborations and performance of

Courier firms in Nairobi City County and finally assess the mediating effect of

organizational competitiveness on the relationship between inter-organizational

collaborations and performance of courier firms in Nairobi City County. The study was

anchored on the Transaction Cost Theory, Resource Based View Theory and Resource

Dependency Theory. The study adopted positivist philosophy that premises knowledge

is based on facts and that no abstractions or subjective status of individuals is

considered. To achieve the objectives, the study used both descriptive and explanatory

research designs. The unit of analysis was 141 courier firms and the stratified sampling

design was used to group the firms into strata using the licensing category. Secondly,

using the Krejce and Morgan sampling table (1970) the researcher arrived at 103

organisations which were included in the study. In each firm 3 managers were picked

who included the Finance Manager, Operations Manager and Customer Service

Manager to arrive at 309 managers. The study used mainly Primary data which was

collected using self-administered questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using

both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize

data while inferential statistics applied multiple linear regression analysis to test

hypothesized relationships. Content analysis was also used for qualitative data.

Adjusted R2 was used to measure the amount of variation in the dependent variable

explained by the independent variables. An assessment of the underlying statistical

assumptions was conducted by testing for normality, homoscedasticity, linearity, multicollinearity

and autocorrelation. The study findings were that resource based, cost

based and relational based collaborations had a positive significant effect on the

performance of Courier firms in Nairobi City County. Organizational characteristics

were found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between inter-organizational

collaborations and performance of Courier Firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The

study recommended that firms should re-think on configuration of resources in

assessment of any collaborations the firm intends to engage itself in order to enhance

performance. Further, the study suggests that a similar study can be conducted in other

industries to determine the causal links.