Effect of Mobile Phone Technology on Performance of Micro and Small-Scale Enterprises in Kakamega County

Abstract

The evolution of mobile phone technology and its facilities has led to economic growth and development as many people can now access financial services. Previously the financial institutions had ignored the people in remote areas and the poor population, key in them are the micro and small-scale enterprise owners. The lack of financial services led to poor performance hence the need to investigate on the effect that mobile phone technology has on performance of the micro and small-scale enterprises. The study considered mobile phone credit facilities, mobile phone savings facilities, mobile phone payment facilities and mobile phone internet facilities as the specific objectives and its link to performance. The study was anchored on technology acceptance model, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and theory of financial intermediation. The study adopted the causal-effect research design and targeted MSEs in Kakamega County that use mobile phone technology, the population was stratified as per sub-county and final sample size of 399 respondents was obtained by using the Yamane Formula. The study collected primary data using structured questions with the help of 6 research assistants after the instrument has been pilot tested to ensure it is valid and reliable. Statistical software SPSS was applied in data analysis where descriptive statistics that produced frequencies, means and standard deviations and the multiple regression analysis was done to draw inferences. From the results, the study failed to reject hypotheses HI and H3while hypotheses H2 and H4 were rejected. The study concludes that mobile phone saving facilities and mobile phone internet facilities have significant effect on performance of micro and small-scale enterprises. The study recommends that the owners and senior managers of the micro and small-scale enterprises in Kakamega County should invest more resources in enhancing the mobile phone saving facilities and mobile phone internet facilities so as to significantly drive performance of their firms. The policy makers in Kakamega County should formulate policies that encourage and support uptake of mobile phone technologies to enhance performance of the micro and small-scale enterprises in place. The practitioners who may include information and communication technology specialists should appreciate the role played by mobile phone saving facilities and mobile phone internet facilities in driving performance of the firm.