The Impact of Systems Thinking as a Construct of Organizational Learning on Competitive Advantage in Kenya’s Oil Marketing Sector

Abstract

Introduction: Systems thinking has emerged as the convergence point between sciences, a fundamental way of interpreting nature and mastering the ever increasing complexity of the products of human intelligence. Objective: This study aimed to determine the impact of systems thinking as a construct of organizational learning on competitive advantage in Kenya’s Oil Marketing Sector. The latent aspects of competitive advantage; organization agility, innovation, barriers to entry, mass customization and inimitability (difficulty to duplicate) were investigated against the independent variable. Methodology: The research design was explanatory, non-contrived and cross-sectional study on Kenya’s oil marketing sector. A sample size of 425 was drawn from oil marketing companies that had a market share above 1% according to the Petroleum Institute of East Africa. Structured questionnaires were used as the data collection tool. Correlation, regression and SEM model were used to analyze the study findings. Findings: The study found that systems thinking significantly predicted competitive advantage which indicated rejection of the null hypothesis.

Keywords: Organizational Learning, Systems Thinking, Competitive Advantage, Oil Marketing Sector.