TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF WATER COMPANIES IN KENYA

Abstract

The rapid change in technologies, increasing globalization, shifting demographics and greater regulatory oversight are combining to create fundamental shifts in business environment that has led to new opportunities, challenges and risks for the managers. Businesses are in constant lookout for sources of competitive advantage, therefore intangible resources and technological capability are of great strategic potential for the firm. Studies in technological capabilities, although limited, are being carried for both developing and developed countries at national level, and at industry sector or firm level. There is a wide consensus that building technological capability is influenced by both internal and external factors to the firm. Despite the importance of technological capability, there is still a scarcity of research on the integration of technological capability into the performance measurement system in order to quantify the causal impact of technological capability on the business performance. This paper describes the development of an assessment model for assessing the impact of technological capability on the sustainability of the firm. Therefore, effective combination of appropriate operational capabilities enhances the strength of firm's technological capability. The objective of this paper was to establish effect of technological capability on service sustainability of water companies in Kenya. The paper was also guided by positivistic philosophy. This paper employed a cross-sectional design to determine the effect of technological capability on service sustainability. The target population for this study was the 88 Water Service Providers (WSPs) in Kenya. The total respondents from the sample size was 429. Data was collected by use of structured questionnaires. Content analysis and statistics were employed. Quantitative techniques were employed in the data analysis. This paper established that technological capability had a significant influence on service sustainability. The paper recommends that future studies should consider utilizing multiple methodologies to validate and further strengthen the existing research findings.