Seizing Capabilities and Performance of Supermarkets in Kenya

In Kenya the supermarkets provide market access for the manufacturers’ and small and medium enterprises’ products. In the recent past renowned supermarket brands such as Nakumatt, Tuskys, Choppies and Uchumi have collapsed due to underperformance. This paper examines the influence of seizing capabilities on the performance of supermarkets in Kenyan cities. The study was anchored on the dynamic capability theory (DCT). The study was grounded on positivism research philosophy and adopted crossectional descriptive research design. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from  629 licensed supermarkets. A sample size of 304 respondents from a population of 1258 senior managers was used. Stratified random sampling method was used to select the sample size in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics which included correlation and regression are the statistical tools that were used to analyse the data. Statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) software version 28 was utilized to explore the data. The findings demonstrated that seizing capabilities have a statistically significance (β = 0.511, t = 12.501, p < 0.05) influence on the performance of supermarkets in the Kenyan cities. The study demonstrated that it is vital for supermarkets’ management to consciously design business models and allocate resources that can facilitate the optimal exploitation of new business opportunities to add value to the supermarkets. The management should develop a resource mobilization strategy to fund long term projects that are aimed at seizing opportunities that will improve supermarket’s survival and performance.