Influence of Technology Alliances on Performance of Telecommunication Organizations in Kenya: A Case of Safaricom Limited

Abstract

Strategic alliances are a common scenario in businesses and organizations. This is attributable to the rising number of business collaborations anchored on affiliations that have caused enormous changes to business culture and the running of organizations. In Kenya’s telecommunication industry, three of the four main operators have not matched the performance of the industry leader through the years. This has partly been associated with the level of involvement in strategic alliances. This paper sought to establish how technology alliances influence performance of telecommunication organizations in Kenya; particularly, at Safaricom PLC. A descriptive research design, case study method, was employed. Six thousand staff working at Safaricom headquarters formed the target population. The sample comprised those in top management and departmental management positions. Stratification was done according to the management level in the organization. A sample size of 105 respondents was selected via simple random sampling. Primary and secondary data were used. Primary data was sourced through survey, using questionnaires. Data was analyzed descriptively and using inferential techniques. Descriptive analysis involved generating first and second order averages. Inferential analysis was done using regression and correlation analysis. Results were presented in tables. Results showed a direct and statistically significant relationship between organizational performance and technology alliances. The study recommends telecommunication firms to invest heavily in technology since their products are dependent on technology which is diverse and dynamic. Further, telecommunication firms should target technology alliances that help bring about robust innovation, research and development, as well as invest in trained and skilled manpower to keep up with global trends and dynamism of the sector. There was a statistically significant high degree of positive correlation result between technology alliances and organizational performance, a perspective that deviated from earlier findings.