THE INFLUENCE OF FIRM AGE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKET ORIENTATION AND PERFORMANCE OF PRIVATE SECURITY FIRMS IN KENYA

Abstract

The objective of the study was to establish the moderating effect of firm age on the relationship between market orientation and non-financial performance of private security firms in Kenya. The study targeted 39 firms that were members of the Kenya Security Industry Association (KSIA) and a census was done because the population was relatively small. A cross sectional design was adopted in which 37 firms participated. Data was collected from key informants using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using simple and hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicated that market orientation explained 50.4% of the variation in non-financial performance and this was significant (p = 0.000). The moderation test results indicated that the interaction term in the regression model was not significant (p = 0.617). This led to the conclusion that firm size had no moderating influence on market orientation and non-financial performance. This implied that regardless of firm age, both new and older firms practice market orientation. The authors recommend that managers of private security firms should consider market orientation as a resource that enhances the dynamic capabilities of the firm. The authors suggested that future studies should consider conducting qualitative studies and corporate reputation be studied as a moderator variable