https://uonjournals.uonbi.ac.ke/ojs/index.php/DBAAMR <p>DBA Africa Management Review is a quarterly publication of the University of Nairobi, Faculty of Business and Management Science, Nairobi, Kenya. It is a business and management journal in various Thematic areas.</p> A publication by the Department of Business Administration,Faculty of Business and Management Sciences en-US DBA Africa Management Review 2224-2023 https://uonjournals.uonbi.ac.ke/ojs/index.php/DBAAMR/article/view/1722 <p>Explaining how firms operating within an industry can vary in their performance outcomes continue to generate debate among strategic management scholars. The objective of this study was to examine whether learning orientation influenced competitive advantage. The population of study comprised all the 56 insurance firms in Kenya. Primary data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The data was tested for reliability, validity and sampling adequacy. Simple regression analysis was carried out to understand the relationships among the variables. The findings established that learning orientation had a statistically significant effect on competitive advantage. The study concludes that for insurance firms to gain and sustain competitive advantage, they need to embrace a culture of learning orientation. The study contributes to knowledge by providing empirical evidence that learning orientation significantly influence competitive advantage. This study presents opportunities for future research. For instance, the study used cross-sectional survey design and therefore future studies could consider use of longitudinal research design using the same study variables. Further, the study used a questionnaire to collect data from a single respondent. Future studies could consider using both questionnaires and an interview guide and with at least two respondents so as to cure both common method and respondent bias.<br>Key Words: Learning orientation, Firm Innovation, Competitive Advantage, Insurance firms in Kenya</p> Joseph Kipketer Koskey Zachary Bolo Awino Peter K’obonyo X N Iraki ##submission.copyrightStatement## 2023-09-04 2023-09-04 13 3 1 9 https://uonjournals.uonbi.ac.ke/ojs/index.php/DBAAMR/article/view/1723 <p>The main objective of the study was to determine the joint effect of entrepreneurial orientation, resources and the external environment on performance of dairy micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Kiambu County. In Kenya, the micro and small enterprises in the dairy subsector have received focus due to their potential for employment generation, incomes, food and contributing 3.8% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Other benefits that accumulate due to micro enterprises in the dairy subsector in Kenya include creation of economic progress, prosperity, new products and services creation, results and processes for use by manufacturers and customers. The current study was anchored on positivistic paradigm. The investigation followed a cross-sectional descriptive survey. All 175 licensed dairy micro and small businesses that sell milk from milk dispensers and milk bars made up the target population. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires. Data was analysed using the multiple regression analysis. The study concluded that entrepreneurial orientation, resources and the external ienvironment had a combined significant influence on the performance of Dairy MSEs in Kiambu County. The study recommends that policy makers in the dairy sector like Kenya Dairy Board should adopt policies that will encourage the Dairy MSEs to adopt strategies that will enhance employees’ efficiency. The policies should also lead to strategies that increase the firms’ pro-activeness and aggressiveness. They should use the study findings to determine the loopholes that are connected to misuse of resources to enhance transparency and accountability for performance to be realized.<br>Key Words: Entrepreneurial Orientation, Organizational Resources, External Environment, Firm Performance, Dairy MSEs, Kenyan perspective</p> Gladwell Kiwara James Gathungu Martin Ogutu James M Njihia ##submission.copyrightStatement## 2023-09-04 2023-09-04 13 3 10 20