The Influence of Product Innovations On Performance of Dairy Cooperative Societies in Meru County-Kenya.

Abstract

The cooperative movement in Kenya has been on the forefront of resource mobilization for the sake of members and representing member’s interests regionally and nationally. The performance of the cooperative societies has not been to the expectations of the members despite the numerous guidelines guiding the conduct of members, management and the employees. To establish the cause of the poor performance, this study sought to investigate the link between product innovations and organizational performance in Meru County, Kenya. The study focused on the management of the 72 registered cooperative societies in Meru with a target population of 87 senior managers. The study used descriptive research design. The linear regression model was used for data analysis using SPSS. The response rate was 82.7%. The p-value and regression coefficient generated after running the regression model was as follows; product innovation (β= 0.278, p< 0.01). This implied that continuous product innovation within cooperative societies contributes towards its performance. The study recommends the inclusion of other factors like capacity building and marketing strategies in the analysis of the factors influencing cooperative society performance. Keywords: Product Innovation, New Products, Organizational Performance, Kenya