Human capital business development services and sustainable competitive advantage among agribusiness SMEs in Kenya

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the influence of human capital business development services (HCBDS)on the attainment of sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) among agribusiness small and mediumenterprises (SMEs) in selected regions in Kenya. The study applied a descriptive correlation researchdesign and positivism philosophy. Inferential statistics were used for data analysis which was thenconfirmed by structural equation modeling (SEM). A census survey was used to select 117 agribusinessSMEs from the database of Africa Agribusiness Academy (AAA), of which 84 (72%) SMEs responded.The AAA database hosts agribusiness SMEs from five business regions, namely Great Rift, Nairobi,Lower Eastern, Upper Eastern and Western regions. The research is useful to the Business developmentservices (BDS) providers and SMEs’ policy makers and offers new knowledge to researchers on SCAamong agribusiness SMEs. The study adopted a margin error of 5%. The results reveal that HCBDShad a significant and positive influence on SCA among agribusiness SMEs. Agribusiness SMEs shouldthus endeavor to access HCBDS continually to build the competencies of their employees to enhanceorganizational capabilities and competitive advantage (CA). Further, BDS providers and policy makersshould adopt strategies and policies for enhancing the human resource capacities of agribusinessSMEs.