Managerial capability and competitive advantage of event management ventures in selected counties in Kenya

Abstract

This paper sought to determine the influence of managerial capabilities on the competitive advantage of Event Management Ventures (EMVs) in selected counties in Kenya. The events sector is one of the fastest-growing areas of the tourism industry. Despite its great potential and the positive impacts events have on a country's economy, it is faced with challenges like all other industries. With rising competition within the events management industry, competitive strategies help focus on assessing organisations' strengths, growth opportunities, and competitive threats. Traditional competitive advantage models may not wholly be applicable to smaller firms because they assume the existence of scale economies. Yet, small firms cannot compete with larger organisations in economies of scale. Managerial capabilities were discussed under four categories, namely, leadership, strategic thinking, people relationships, and problem solving. The sample size comprised 230 managers selected through stratified and simple random sampling techniques, respectively, and 15 entrepreneurs selected using purposive sampling. The regression analysis revealed that managerial capabilities (?=0.334, p=0.000) significantly influenced the competitive advantage of EMVs. Based on these results, the study concluded that managerial capabilities influence the competitive advantage of EMVs. The study recommends that managers should continuously acquire managerial capabilities, as these capabilities are a source of competitive advantage for small ventures like EMVs.