The Moderating Role of Social Networking on Commitment to Learning and Performance of SMEs in Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet County
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Abstract
The purpose of this research is to determine and analyse the moderating effects of social networking on commitment to learning and SMEs performance. Small medium Enterprises are considered to be the backbone of most economies worldwide, SMEs that have capacities to learn faster are likely to respond to market challenges better than competitors. The study examined the effect of commitment to learning on performance of SMEs. It also looked at the moderating effect of their social networking on relationship between commitment to learning and performance. The study is based on resource-based view and social network analysis theories, and it adopted the explanatory research design which targeted 2492 SMEs in the Counties. Systematic sampling technique was used to select 332 respondents to participate in the study. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Factor analysis was carried out using principal components analysis to extract factors from the data. The data had average reliability coefficient of 0.807. Results indicated that Commitment to learning did not affect SME performance (β = 0.054, p-value =0.08). Social networking significantly moderated the relationship between commitment to learning (β = 0.08, p-value =0.01). The results supported the hypothesis and revealed that commitment to learning was critical and may be helpful to SMEs in the two counties, through understanding of the crucial link between learning orientation and performance. The results of this study can add new knowledge to SMEs professionals and support agencies. Thus, improving insight knowledge and understanding on the value of learning orientation, more especially on how firms, SMEs can develop competitive strategies to improve its performance in the selected counties.
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