Innovation strategies adopted by funeral homes in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

For organizations to achieve their goals and objectives, they have to constantly adjust to their environment. This environment is constantly changing and so it makes it imperative for organizations to continuously adapt their activities in order to assure survival (Aosa, 1997). Different forces take on prominence in shaping competition in each industry. Each industry has an underlying structure or set of fundamental economic and technical characteristics, that gives rise to these competitive forces. Funeral sector in Kenya has both publicly and privately owned morgues, the following are some of the funeral homes that provide an inclusive package of morgue, coffins, lowering gears, viewing area, a religious services room or area, public address systems, video\ cameras seats and hearse in Nairobi county namely; Lee Funeral Home, Montezuma & Monalisa Funeral home, Umash Funeral home, Kenyatta funeral home and Chiromo Mortuary. Studies done (Waithaka 2001 and Muriithi 2009) indicate that privately owned funeral homes have a competitive edge compared to the public managed. This study sought to determine factors which influence the choice of innovation strategies adopted by funeral homes in Kenya? The research was conducted through a census. The population for the study consisted of all privately and public owned morgues in Nairobi county, funeral homes offering services. There are 24 funeral homes in Nairobi County and all were under study. The study used both primary and secondary data. The target respondents were morgue directors/ superintendents, marketing managers and administrators. The data collected from the respondents was analyzed using simple statistical tools and presented in frequencies percentages, mean and standard deviation. This study therefore recommends that these firms should incorporate several innovative strategies especially on the marketing area. They should adopt channels including print, direct mail, websites, social media and email marketing to reach a larger market niche. The study further recommends that these funeral homes should partnered with other institutions giving similar services like the insurance companies which helps them reach a large clientele and makes the business more viable. This would bring clients more closely to their services.