Performance of Large Tea Firms in Rift Valley Region, Kenya: The Perspective of Innovation Ambidexterity

The concept of firm performance is uncertain as scholars often agree that there exists no universal common rationale of the concept.Nevertheless, researchers often concur to the fact that firm performance is an outcome of time and firm context.Maziriri et al. (2018) postulate that firm performance evaluates business sufficiency and production in attaining its goals.Kariithi and Kihara (2017) explain that firm performance is utilized as a measure to stipulate advancement of a firm.Firm performance has been measured by financial indicators, but a few researchers advise for an extensive performance notion that includes features of non-financial indicators for example quality, company image, efficiency and effectiveness (Waiganjo, Mukulu&Kahiri, 2012).Dynamic capability enables firms to incorporate, gather and rearrange resources and capacities to adjust to swiftly changing environments.Innovation ambidexterity is a vital dynamic capability for firm's expansion and survival in the long run (Michelino, Cammarano, Celone& Caputo 2019).Firms have to integrate exploitation and exploration, getting advantages from the two, and thus adjust to developments in the environment to pursue a sustainable ambidextrous capability (Michelino et al., 2019;Wan, Cenamor, Parker & Van Alstyne 2017).As a dimension of dynamic capability, innovation ambidexterity can be considered important for allowing businesses to adapt to change, maintaining competitiveness and achieve short term efficiency and long term growth in a dynamic business environment.According to Luger et al. (2018), innovation ambidexterity is the mechanisms by which firms balance between exploitation and exploration innovation.According to Peng, He and Li (2015), innovation ambidexterity entails product exploration, market exploitation, service exploitation and market exploration.Product exploration stresses risk-taking and product experimentation, which can improve business to get new products and suggest current changes to meet the requirements of Abstract: Despite the tea sector performing a key function in Kenya's growth, tea firms have been performing poorly as evidenced by low efficiency, reduced tea quality, low market share and low profitability.This study therefore investigated the effect of innovation ambidexterity on large tea firms' performance in selected Counties in Rift Valley region, Kenya.The research was anchored on dynamic capabilities theory.The philosophical foundation of the study was positivism.The study utilized descriptive and explanatory research designs.The population of the study was 31 large tea firms and a sample size of 217 participants from purposively selected departments was used.Information was gathered using self-administered questionnaires with Likert scale items.Piloting was done to test the reliability and validity of the study tools.Reliability was determined using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of over 0.7.Validity was established by use of construct, face and content validity.The study had a response rate of 93.5 percent.Quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis were employed.Diagnostic tests were executed to make sure the outcomes of multiple linear regression analysis were dependable.Descriptive statistics were used to explain the features of research variables while multiple linear regression was used to show the magnitude and nature of connections among explanatory and explained variables.Findings showed that innovation ambidexterity had a positive effect on firm performance.Results of the study will be of importance to tea firms and contribute to a new knowledge base to broaden the contextual understanding of innovation ambidexterity.