Influence of Staff Development Capabilities on Competitive Advantage Among Level 5 Public Hospitals in Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70641/ajbds.v1i1.56Keywords:
Competitive Advantage, Kenya, Level 5 Public Hospitals, Staff Development CapabilitiesAbstract
Healthcare industry in Kenya is going through many challenges including reduced funding, shortage of staff, technological innovations and changing customer expectations which puts pressure on public hospitals to attain competitive advantage. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of staff development capabilities on the competitive advantage of Level 5 Public Hospitals in Kenya. The study was anchored on the dynamic capabilities theory. Positivism philosophy and a descriptive correlational research design were applied in the study where a structured questionnaire was used to gather quantitative data. The study focused on 33 Level 5 public hospitals in Kenya and the study population comprised 495 CEOs, departmental heads and administrative heads of all the Level 5 public hospitals in Kenya. Stratified random sampling was used to pick a sample of 222 respondents. The study’s data analyses involved descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and inferential analysis (simple linear regression analysis). The study results revealed that staff development capabilities had a statistically significant and positive influence on the competitive advantage of Level 5 public hospitals in Kenya (β = 0.744, p < 0.05). The study concluded that the vital staff development capabilities were strategic training initiatives, recruitment of highly skilled personnel, healthy work-life balance and ongoing employee training. Based on the conclusion of the study, it is recommended that the top management of level 5 public hospitals revamp staff development and training initiatives to equip their employees with distinct competencies and skills to deal with today’s healthcare challenges.
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