KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF FLOWER FARMS IN NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA

Managing the knowledge of an organization contributes to its competitive advantage. It has been tested elsewhere that knowledge management relates to competitive advantage, but not to farms in Nakuru County, Kenya. The project therefore set out to assess how knowledge management relates to competitive advantage as regards to farms doing flower growing in the identified area of Nakuru County in Kenya. This study mainly concerned evaluation of the effects of knowledge management dimensions, which included conversion, application, acquisition and protection on competitive advantage. This study applied descriptive survey research approach. The target population included 839 workers from 14 flower farms in Molo County. Consistency of factors was tested in an attempt to understand the research tool reliability. Content validity was determined by the researcher in collaboration with the supervisor and the opinion of an expert and tests on the instruments. Data was collected by questionnaire. The obtained data evaluated using SPSS to derive descriptive statistics, which included measures of central tendency, tables and graphs. The descriptive statistics affirmed Knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion, knowledge application, knowledge protection, and competitive advantage among the firms. Inferential regression analysis was done, in which the independent variables were the knowledge management dimensions that included knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion, knowledge application and knowledge protection, while the dependent variable was competitive advantage. The tests results showed that 25.4% of the total variation in the measurement of competitive advantage was explained by knowledge management. Further, the F-value of 6.716, p-value (0.000) < 0.05 level of significance (2-tailed) indicated that there was a statistically significant relationship between knowledge management and competitive advantage at the 95% confidence level. Thus, knowledge management influenced competitive advantage among the flower firms. The study will help flower industry stakeholders, including flower farm workers and managers understand the value of establishing knowledge management skills for a sustainable competitive advantage. Research results can act as a self-assessment tool for knowledge management capabilities to increase an organization's competitive advantage. The research findings and recommendations will be of great relevance to flower farm management to understand the value of knowledge management capabilities and how they improve the efficiency and innovation of their operations.