This document summarizes a study on the competitive strategies adopted by Middle Level Colleges in Mombasa County, Kenya. It provides background on the competitive environment facing these colleges and discusses Porter's model of generic competitive strategies of differentiation, cost leadership, and focus. The study aimed to identify the strategies used by the colleges, determine if they enhance performance and market positioning, and identify challenges to implementation. It describes the research methodology used, which was a descriptive design studying 20 colleges selected through convenience sampling. The findings provided insight into the strategies adopted and issues facing the colleges.
Critical analysis of competitive strategies on performance and market positio...Alexander Decker
This document summarizes a study on the competitive strategies adopted by middle level colleges in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study aimed to identify and analyze the competitive strategies used, determine if they enhance performance and market positioning, and identify challenges in implementing strategies. It provides context on the competitive environment faced by these colleges and discusses Michael Porter's generic competitive strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. The document analyzes Porter's model and competitive forces affecting firms. It examines the concept of competitive strategy and its importance for relating organizations to their environment.
An application of competitive analysis strategies on organizational competiti...Alexander Decker
This document discusses competitive analysis strategies applied to the University of Nairobi in Kenya. It uses Porter's five forces model to evaluate the competitive environment facing the university. A questionnaire was used to collect data on factors influencing student choice among competing universities. The analysis found that cost and value for money are key considerations for students. Student preferences can strongly impact university choice. Lecturer strikes did not deter students but lecturer reputation and relations skills did influence choice. Buyer power, competition between universities, and lecturer influence were also found to be significant competitive forces for the university. Only substitute options seemed to have less impact on the university's competitiveness. The university needs aggressive policies that are student-friendly to maintain competitiveness.
International Journal of Business and Management Invention (IJBMI) is an international journal intended for professionals and researchers in all fields of Business and Management. IJBMI publishes research articles and reviews within the whole field Business and Management, new teaching methods, assessment, validation and the impact of new technologies and it will continue to provide information on the latest trends and developments in this ever-expanding subject. The publications of papers are selected through double peer reviewed to ensure originality, relevance, and readability. The articles published in our journal can be accessed online.
Analysis of Competitive Advantage in the perspective of Resources Based View.IOSR Journals
Conditions of competition between colleges service providers, both private and state, require leaders and college administrators to do everything possible in order to gain competitive advantage compared with other similar institutions. In the perspective of RBV attempt to gain competitive advantage through the utilization of internal resources of the organization consisting of tangible aspects, intangible aspects, as well as the capability aspects. So far, in the research of Competitive Advantage on RBV perspective, in the context of universities has not existed yet that combine the aspects of tangible, intangible, and capability in a research model to study. This study aims to analyze the effect of market orientation, HR Competencies and Territory Management in creating a competitive advantage, as well as its impact on organizational performance. The survey research is conducted at 142 Institutions of Higher Education of Muhammadiyah in Indonesia, represented by the head of each institutions. The research findings indicate that Competitive Advantage is significantly influenced by market orientation and HR (Human Resources) Competence. Meanwhile, HR Competency directly no significant effect on organization performance, but must be mediated by a Competitive Advantage. Meanwhile, the Territory Management can directly affect the performance of organizations, but has no effect on Competitive Advantage
In general sense, a good financial performance suggests that the firm is doing better in terms of competitiveness since profitable opportunities result in higher production and sales. The advantage of employing financial measures is their agreed-upon definitions and the easiness of calculations.
According to the study results reported by an authors, industry concentration, growth, market share, geographic dispersion of production, research and development expenditures and size measured by sales have a positive impact on the financial performance of the companies.
This document summarizes a study on evaluating employee satisfaction at a call center in the UK using a corporate social responsibility approach. The study utilizes an existing employee satisfaction model and applies a CSR framework to identify strategic, ethical, and altruistic obligations of organizations regarding employee satisfaction. Surveys were conducted with frontline agents at a mobile communications call center in northwest England. The study aims to determine what factors influence employee satisfaction and expected length of employment, and what variables management can control to improve satisfaction. Key findings indicated flexibility and career prospects were more important to employees than the existing model suggested. The study highlights how employee satisfaction relates to organizational strategy, ethics, and social responsibilities.
The study presents a conceptual framework showing the moderating role of technological turbulence on the relationship between total quality management and firms performance. Literature was reviewed before arriving at the proposed conceptual framework. From the model, it is proposed that the relationship between total quality management and organizational performance will be stronger when technological turbulence is supportive and taken in to consideration by Nigerian banking industry. Organizations that leverages on opportunities that evolves around its external environment in terms of change in technology has an edge in attaining competitive edge and improving performance of their organizations more efficiently and effectively than competitors do.
Drawing on and integrating the resource-based view (RBV) and competitive dynamics literature,
this study developed an interaction model to explore competitive contests by investigating how the interaction
between technologically heterogeneous resources and competitive actions affects performance in the nascent
market. The proposed model was examined using structured content analysis and data extracted from more than
3,200 news articles regarding the interfirm rivalry between Google and Apple in the table industry. The findings,
first, indicate that in nascent markets, aggressive competitive action can exert a negative effect on firm
performance. Second, this paper presents empirical evidence supporting the RBV through testing how the
technological resource heterogeneity of these firms contributed to their performance (in terms of technological
value and technological rarity). Finally, we found that technological resource heterogeneity mitigates the
potentially negative effects of aggressive competitive action on the performance of high-technology firms during
the nascent cycle.
Critical analysis of competitive strategies on performance and market positio...Alexander Decker
This document summarizes a study on the competitive strategies adopted by middle level colleges in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study aimed to identify and analyze the competitive strategies used, determine if they enhance performance and market positioning, and identify challenges in implementing strategies. It provides context on the competitive environment faced by these colleges and discusses Michael Porter's generic competitive strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. The document analyzes Porter's model and competitive forces affecting firms. It examines the concept of competitive strategy and its importance for relating organizations to their environment.
An application of competitive analysis strategies on organizational competiti...Alexander Decker
This document discusses competitive analysis strategies applied to the University of Nairobi in Kenya. It uses Porter's five forces model to evaluate the competitive environment facing the university. A questionnaire was used to collect data on factors influencing student choice among competing universities. The analysis found that cost and value for money are key considerations for students. Student preferences can strongly impact university choice. Lecturer strikes did not deter students but lecturer reputation and relations skills did influence choice. Buyer power, competition between universities, and lecturer influence were also found to be significant competitive forces for the university. Only substitute options seemed to have less impact on the university's competitiveness. The university needs aggressive policies that are student-friendly to maintain competitiveness.
International Journal of Business and Management Invention (IJBMI) is an international journal intended for professionals and researchers in all fields of Business and Management. IJBMI publishes research articles and reviews within the whole field Business and Management, new teaching methods, assessment, validation and the impact of new technologies and it will continue to provide information on the latest trends and developments in this ever-expanding subject. The publications of papers are selected through double peer reviewed to ensure originality, relevance, and readability. The articles published in our journal can be accessed online.
Analysis of Competitive Advantage in the perspective of Resources Based View.IOSR Journals
Conditions of competition between colleges service providers, both private and state, require leaders and college administrators to do everything possible in order to gain competitive advantage compared with other similar institutions. In the perspective of RBV attempt to gain competitive advantage through the utilization of internal resources of the organization consisting of tangible aspects, intangible aspects, as well as the capability aspects. So far, in the research of Competitive Advantage on RBV perspective, in the context of universities has not existed yet that combine the aspects of tangible, intangible, and capability in a research model to study. This study aims to analyze the effect of market orientation, HR Competencies and Territory Management in creating a competitive advantage, as well as its impact on organizational performance. The survey research is conducted at 142 Institutions of Higher Education of Muhammadiyah in Indonesia, represented by the head of each institutions. The research findings indicate that Competitive Advantage is significantly influenced by market orientation and HR (Human Resources) Competence. Meanwhile, HR Competency directly no significant effect on organization performance, but must be mediated by a Competitive Advantage. Meanwhile, the Territory Management can directly affect the performance of organizations, but has no effect on Competitive Advantage
In general sense, a good financial performance suggests that the firm is doing better in terms of competitiveness since profitable opportunities result in higher production and sales. The advantage of employing financial measures is their agreed-upon definitions and the easiness of calculations.
According to the study results reported by an authors, industry concentration, growth, market share, geographic dispersion of production, research and development expenditures and size measured by sales have a positive impact on the financial performance of the companies.
This document summarizes a study on evaluating employee satisfaction at a call center in the UK using a corporate social responsibility approach. The study utilizes an existing employee satisfaction model and applies a CSR framework to identify strategic, ethical, and altruistic obligations of organizations regarding employee satisfaction. Surveys were conducted with frontline agents at a mobile communications call center in northwest England. The study aims to determine what factors influence employee satisfaction and expected length of employment, and what variables management can control to improve satisfaction. Key findings indicated flexibility and career prospects were more important to employees than the existing model suggested. The study highlights how employee satisfaction relates to organizational strategy, ethics, and social responsibilities.
The study presents a conceptual framework showing the moderating role of technological turbulence on the relationship between total quality management and firms performance. Literature was reviewed before arriving at the proposed conceptual framework. From the model, it is proposed that the relationship between total quality management and organizational performance will be stronger when technological turbulence is supportive and taken in to consideration by Nigerian banking industry. Organizations that leverages on opportunities that evolves around its external environment in terms of change in technology has an edge in attaining competitive edge and improving performance of their organizations more efficiently and effectively than competitors do.
Drawing on and integrating the resource-based view (RBV) and competitive dynamics literature,
this study developed an interaction model to explore competitive contests by investigating how the interaction
between technologically heterogeneous resources and competitive actions affects performance in the nascent
market. The proposed model was examined using structured content analysis and data extracted from more than
3,200 news articles regarding the interfirm rivalry between Google and Apple in the table industry. The findings,
first, indicate that in nascent markets, aggressive competitive action can exert a negative effect on firm
performance. Second, this paper presents empirical evidence supporting the RBV through testing how the
technological resource heterogeneity of these firms contributed to their performance (in terms of technological
value and technological rarity). Finally, we found that technological resource heterogeneity mitigates the
potentially negative effects of aggressive competitive action on the performance of high-technology firms during
the nascent cycle.
Idiosyncratic Effect of Corporate Solvency Management Strategies on Corporate...IOSR Journals
The study identifies and evaluates the association among corporate solvency management strategies and the corporate performance valuation in Chemical industry of Pakistan. The study uses purposive sampling or judgmental sampling for selecting 30 sample companies from the sector; covering 10 years financial statements data ranging from year 2002 to 2011. Balanced panel data is taken for the purpose of study. Levin, Lin & Chu test is used to check the stationarity of data whereas White Test is used to check the heteroskedasticity of data. Panel Least square technique with fixed effects is used to generalize the relationship between studied variables. The study observed that the performance of the chemical sector in terms of market to book value is affected by internal firm and industry specific factors related to solvency management strategic decisions. Findings of the study provide with the overview of historic performance and the potential performance of the selected sector to help policy makers including finance, economics and industry experts for creating value through the idiosyncratic resources.
This document discusses Porter's Diamond Theory of national competitive advantage. It explains that Porter's theory analyzes how factors like factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, and firm strategy/rivalry interact to create competitive advantage for nations in specific industries. It provides detailed explanations of each of Porter's four determinants of competitive advantage and how they influence industry success. Overall, the document analyzes Porter's Diamond Theory and its key factors for understanding what gives nations competitive advantages in certain industries on the global stage.
The document discusses competitive advantages of internationally operating companies through examining business strategies and case studies. It analyzes how identifying target audiences, delivering high quality products at appropriate prices, and differentiating oneself from competitors can provide advantages. Case studies look at how innovation, marketing and customer service give US textile firms advantages over others. Implementing standards like ISO 9000 and 14000 as well as having strong business ethics and leadership can also help companies gain competitive advantages globally.
Competitive Profile Matrix of Selected Drug Stores at Jaen, Nueva Ecija, Phil...IJAEMSJORNAL
To evaluate the Critical Success Factors and establish the Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) of the drugstore business is the main objective of this study. This paper aims to critically appraise the importance of a company's competitive advantage and its role in formulating a company's strategy. It is a descriptive and conceptual analysis based on a literature review emphasizing strategic success tools such as Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM), for producing factors of achieving competitiveness in the fiercely competitive market. This research was conducted for three months from September 2019 to November 2019. The research method used was a descriptive approach using a scholarly–made questionnaire based on related literature and studies. The respondents of the study were the three (3) selected drug stores located at Jaen, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Findings have shown that the drug store owner–respondents strongly agreed that products offer, financial strategy and location as strategic success factors. Furthermore, the respondents also agreed that company reputation, people or employee motivation and promotional strategy werealso factors for the company to be successful. 7. Company B has the highest total when it comes to its Competitive Profile Matrix compare to Company A and C because of the good location and company reputation.
The degree of intense competition in banking industry of Bangladesh is going to manifold in the current decade. The competition goes not only to capture market share but also to differentiate in offerings and services. The paper has empirically examined the relationship between implementing SWOT analysis and achieving competitive advantage in the sample banks. The study covered six banks i.e., three govt. and three private commercial banks operating in Chittagong district of Bangladesh. The samples consisted of bank branch executives taking six executives of each branch of the study areas. The technique of purposive sampling was used to select the sample respondents where the questionnaire consisted of 12 items that measure the dimensions of competitive advantage and 13 items that represent the process of SWOT analysis. The result of study showed significant correlation between SWOT analysis and dimensions of competitive advantage i.e., speed, quality, flexibility, and cost-benefit. The Co-efficient of Correlation is 0.69. Again, the competitive advantage is a strategic goal and it is a dependent variable. The paper identified that the good performance of a bank was dependent on internal as well as external variables and it was related to achieve a competitive advantage in the sample banks. Thus, for achieving competitive advantage in competitive market, the sample banks may take care of carrying out SWOT analysis on a continuous basis for facing its threats and weaknesses as well as creating opportunities and strengths. The study suggested some strategies for increasing its strengths, opening new opportunities, on one hand and overcoming weaknesses; and resisting threats through choosing areas of improvement like delivery of banking services to the customers at minimum cost, prompt one stop service, flexibility and adaptability in offering competitive banking products, IT based infra-structural facilities, building leadership skills and personality development of bank executives through training on a continuous basis, for sample banks in particular and banking industry of Bangladesh in general.
THE EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT-Strategic Management chpter 3zikrullah bahrun
The document provides details of a group presentation on performing an external audit. It includes the group members' names and student IDs. It then discusses the purpose and process of an external audit, including gathering information on key external factors such as economic, social, cultural, political, and technological forces. It also explains tools for external analysis such as Porter's Five Forces model and how to develop an EFE matrix to evaluate external factors that present opportunities and threats.
Opportunity and Threat of External EnvironmentNoonamsom
The document discusses analyzing an organization's external environment. It defines the external environment and different types of external factors that can influence an organization. These include the general environment, industry environment, and competitor environment. The document provides details on how to analyze each of these environments, including using Porter's Five Forces model to analyze the industry environment. It also discusses using SWOT analysis to understand an organization's opportunities and threats in the external environment. The overall aim is to help organizations understand external factors they don't control but must adapt to in order to survive and grow.
Managing market competitive strategy successfully an empirical testing of suIAEME Publication
This document summarizes a study that examines the impact of differentiation strategies of Malaysian manufacturing companies on customer satisfaction. It discusses measurements of differentiation strategies, including product, personnel, and price differentiation. It also discusses measurements of customer satisfaction, including product quality, features, design, and delivery. The document reports on reliability testing of the differentiation and customer satisfaction measurements, which showed satisfactory levels of reliability based on Cronbach's alpha coefficients.
The purpose of this study is to examine the conceptual relationship of market orientation, leadership styles and mixed method research in improving performances in quasi-government organizations. The work conducted by scholars and practitioners in the field of marketing reflect little or no effort developed a working framework to better understand the marketing phenomenon.
Dynamic capabilities link with firm performance evidence from aNghiên Cứu Định Lượng
This document summarizes a study examining the relationships between dynamic capabilities, resources, and firm performance using data from a Vietnamese IT company. The study developed a model linking marketing capability, entrepreneurial orientation, innovation capability, firm reputation, and firm performance. A survey was conducted of managers in the company across its domestic and international markets. The results found that marketing capability positively influences innovation capability and firm performance. Entrepreneurial orientation positively influences marketing capability, firm reputation, and firm performance. Innovation capability positively influences firm performance, while firm reputation positively influences firm performance. The findings provide insights into how capabilities influence performance in a developing market context like Vietnam.
Collaborative and Competitive Actions within Highly Concentrated Industries: ...inventionjournals
This paper focuses on the antecedents of the range of competitive actions taken by firms under game-theoretic circumstances and conditions. Game-theoretic conditions exist in presence of a zero-sum competitive environment where competitors lack information about their competitors’ capabilities, capacities, and intentions. In this study, the Iranian cement industry has been selected as since it represents a highly concentrated industry setting with limited potential for growth and a fierce internal competition. The findings of this qualitative study shed light onto the antecedents and logic of decisions leading to competitive actions such as acquisitions, divestments, buyouts, and new investments during a ten-year period, 1997-2007.
Impact of Blue Ocean Strategy on Organizational Performance: A literature rev...IOSRJBM
This study is based on the pros and cons of the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) that offers users a framework for creating uncontested market space and diverts the views from the current competition to the creation of innovative value and demand. The main objective of the study is to show the overall scenario of BOS and its impact on organizational performance. The study includes the history of BOS, comparison with Red Ocean Strategy (ROS), relevance of applying BOS, Applications, Critics, Findings, Recommendations and Conclusion. The Findings of the study tries to show the ultimate results of applying the BOS and the recommendations urge some precautions to apply BOS. The result found that BOS positively affects the organization performance if applied in organizations. Overall, the study is effective to decide the adoption of BOS within the organization. The recommendation for the organization is to do an in-depth analysis on BOS before implementation to see the suitability considering the company size, industry condition, and adaptability.
Analysing the external environment of business (i.e. general, competitive) milesweaver
The document provides an overview of a student appointment with Dr. Miles Weaver to discuss strategic management. It includes objectives for the lecture on identifying major external influences on organizations and analyzing tools like PESTLE analysis and Porter's Five Forces model. Key concepts that will be covered are environmental scanning, analyzing the internal and external environment, defining strategic intent and formulating strategies.
This document provides an overview of analyzing a company's external environment from a strategic perspective. It discusses the key components of situational analysis including the macroenvironment and microenvironment. It outlines seven questions to consider when analyzing an industry's competitive environment, including the dominant economic traits, competitive forces, drivers of change, success factors, and attractiveness. Several models are presented for assessing the five competitive forces of rivalry, potential entry, substitutes, supplier power, and buyer power. Factors that influence the strength of each competitive force are also discussed.
Ijrdm final revised tarnovskya elg burt march4Usman Shahid
This document discusses the relationship between corporate branding and market driving strategies. It argues that corporate brands play an important role in market driving by defining a company's vision, values and culture. Strong corporate brands guide employee behaviors and relationships with stakeholders to create value for customers in a way that can drive market change. The document uses the case of IKEA to illustrate how a company's global corporate brand values can support its local market driving activities in a new market like Russia.
This document provides an outline and overview of key concepts from Chapter 3 of the textbook "Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases Arab World Edition". The chapter discusses performing an external assessment, which involves identifying opportunities and threats in a firm's external environment. It covers various forces in the external environment, including economic, social, political, technological, industry and competitive forces. Models for analyzing the external environment include Porter's Five Forces framework and the External Factor Evaluation matrix. The chapter emphasizes the importance of gathering competitive intelligence and understanding rivals' strengths and weaknesses.
This document is from a marketing textbook and covers several topics:
- It outlines learning outcomes on analyzing the internal and external marketing environment.
- It provides a case study on an Indian company and asks what measures it could take to adapt.
- It defines and describes the three types of marketing environments: internal, external, and performance.
- It goes into detail about analyzing the various external factors like political, economic, sociocultural, technological, legal, and ecological environments.
The document discusses Porter's five forces model for analyzing industry competition. It describes the five competitive forces as the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitute products, the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, and rivalry among existing competitors. It explains that analyzing these forces can help companies understand the industry and make strategic decisions.
Multinational channel strategy and customer value in an emerging economyfredrickaila
This document summarizes a study that examined how the distribution strategy of a multinational beverage company (Coca-Cola) impacted customer value in Western Kenya. The study surveyed Coca-Cola distributors to understand their perceptions. It found that most distributors were located near major urban areas like Kisumu and Kericho for proximity to the plant and high consumption. The study also assessed the relationship between order cycle time, stock availability, and sales. It concluded that reducing order cycle times to one day for stock replenishment could increase customer value.
Critical analysis of competitive strategies on performance andOddillia Nabwire
This document summarizes a study on the competitive strategies adopted by Middle Level Colleges in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study aimed to identify the strategies used, determine if they enhanced performance and market positioning, and identify challenges. It reviewed literature on competitive strategy and Porter's generic strategies of differentiation, cost leadership, and focus. Data was collected through questionnaires from 20 colleges. Key findings were that colleges apply various strategies to compete, but challenges are unique to each environment and cannot be generalized. Recommendations included supporting e-learning and exploring new funding.
This paper’s objective is to present the importance of the strategic planning in business management. Speaking of strategic planning is always speaking in general terms and how to fix paths of behavior will necessarily affect deeply and significantly in the future evolution of the company or organization that adopts it. Today we think of the organization as part of an environment and in terms of options or choices based on what you have, of its surroundings and the opportunities or pathways that can lead to achieving the objective, (Garrido, 2009). For this work the method used was a bibliographical review of relevant articles from a range of authors was conducted. The conclusions were that the be properly analyzed and adapted to the precise conditions and characteristics of the small business or, more generally, to any type of business for which the planning is intended. Strategic planning brings multiple benefits (which exceed its disadvantages) if applied in the right way, however, there are inherent risks, which can be overcome with proper monitoring and control.
This document summarizes a research paper that examines the relationship between Porter's generic strategies (low-cost strategy, differentiation strategy, and focus strategy) and firm performance. The researchers conducted a study using questionnaires from 113 firms in Kosovo. They found that pursuing a differentiation strategy provides higher firm performance compared to the other two strategies. A low-cost strategy and focus strategy also had a positive impact on firm performance but to a lesser extent than differentiation. The document provides an overview of Porter's generic strategies and literature discussing how each strategy can impact firm performance if successfully implemented.
Idiosyncratic Effect of Corporate Solvency Management Strategies on Corporate...IOSR Journals
The study identifies and evaluates the association among corporate solvency management strategies and the corporate performance valuation in Chemical industry of Pakistan. The study uses purposive sampling or judgmental sampling for selecting 30 sample companies from the sector; covering 10 years financial statements data ranging from year 2002 to 2011. Balanced panel data is taken for the purpose of study. Levin, Lin & Chu test is used to check the stationarity of data whereas White Test is used to check the heteroskedasticity of data. Panel Least square technique with fixed effects is used to generalize the relationship between studied variables. The study observed that the performance of the chemical sector in terms of market to book value is affected by internal firm and industry specific factors related to solvency management strategic decisions. Findings of the study provide with the overview of historic performance and the potential performance of the selected sector to help policy makers including finance, economics and industry experts for creating value through the idiosyncratic resources.
This document discusses Porter's Diamond Theory of national competitive advantage. It explains that Porter's theory analyzes how factors like factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, and firm strategy/rivalry interact to create competitive advantage for nations in specific industries. It provides detailed explanations of each of Porter's four determinants of competitive advantage and how they influence industry success. Overall, the document analyzes Porter's Diamond Theory and its key factors for understanding what gives nations competitive advantages in certain industries on the global stage.
The document discusses competitive advantages of internationally operating companies through examining business strategies and case studies. It analyzes how identifying target audiences, delivering high quality products at appropriate prices, and differentiating oneself from competitors can provide advantages. Case studies look at how innovation, marketing and customer service give US textile firms advantages over others. Implementing standards like ISO 9000 and 14000 as well as having strong business ethics and leadership can also help companies gain competitive advantages globally.
Competitive Profile Matrix of Selected Drug Stores at Jaen, Nueva Ecija, Phil...IJAEMSJORNAL
To evaluate the Critical Success Factors and establish the Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) of the drugstore business is the main objective of this study. This paper aims to critically appraise the importance of a company's competitive advantage and its role in formulating a company's strategy. It is a descriptive and conceptual analysis based on a literature review emphasizing strategic success tools such as Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM), for producing factors of achieving competitiveness in the fiercely competitive market. This research was conducted for three months from September 2019 to November 2019. The research method used was a descriptive approach using a scholarly–made questionnaire based on related literature and studies. The respondents of the study were the three (3) selected drug stores located at Jaen, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Findings have shown that the drug store owner–respondents strongly agreed that products offer, financial strategy and location as strategic success factors. Furthermore, the respondents also agreed that company reputation, people or employee motivation and promotional strategy werealso factors for the company to be successful. 7. Company B has the highest total when it comes to its Competitive Profile Matrix compare to Company A and C because of the good location and company reputation.
The degree of intense competition in banking industry of Bangladesh is going to manifold in the current decade. The competition goes not only to capture market share but also to differentiate in offerings and services. The paper has empirically examined the relationship between implementing SWOT analysis and achieving competitive advantage in the sample banks. The study covered six banks i.e., three govt. and three private commercial banks operating in Chittagong district of Bangladesh. The samples consisted of bank branch executives taking six executives of each branch of the study areas. The technique of purposive sampling was used to select the sample respondents where the questionnaire consisted of 12 items that measure the dimensions of competitive advantage and 13 items that represent the process of SWOT analysis. The result of study showed significant correlation between SWOT analysis and dimensions of competitive advantage i.e., speed, quality, flexibility, and cost-benefit. The Co-efficient of Correlation is 0.69. Again, the competitive advantage is a strategic goal and it is a dependent variable. The paper identified that the good performance of a bank was dependent on internal as well as external variables and it was related to achieve a competitive advantage in the sample banks. Thus, for achieving competitive advantage in competitive market, the sample banks may take care of carrying out SWOT analysis on a continuous basis for facing its threats and weaknesses as well as creating opportunities and strengths. The study suggested some strategies for increasing its strengths, opening new opportunities, on one hand and overcoming weaknesses; and resisting threats through choosing areas of improvement like delivery of banking services to the customers at minimum cost, prompt one stop service, flexibility and adaptability in offering competitive banking products, IT based infra-structural facilities, building leadership skills and personality development of bank executives through training on a continuous basis, for sample banks in particular and banking industry of Bangladesh in general.
THE EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT-Strategic Management chpter 3zikrullah bahrun
The document provides details of a group presentation on performing an external audit. It includes the group members' names and student IDs. It then discusses the purpose and process of an external audit, including gathering information on key external factors such as economic, social, cultural, political, and technological forces. It also explains tools for external analysis such as Porter's Five Forces model and how to develop an EFE matrix to evaluate external factors that present opportunities and threats.
Opportunity and Threat of External EnvironmentNoonamsom
The document discusses analyzing an organization's external environment. It defines the external environment and different types of external factors that can influence an organization. These include the general environment, industry environment, and competitor environment. The document provides details on how to analyze each of these environments, including using Porter's Five Forces model to analyze the industry environment. It also discusses using SWOT analysis to understand an organization's opportunities and threats in the external environment. The overall aim is to help organizations understand external factors they don't control but must adapt to in order to survive and grow.
Managing market competitive strategy successfully an empirical testing of suIAEME Publication
This document summarizes a study that examines the impact of differentiation strategies of Malaysian manufacturing companies on customer satisfaction. It discusses measurements of differentiation strategies, including product, personnel, and price differentiation. It also discusses measurements of customer satisfaction, including product quality, features, design, and delivery. The document reports on reliability testing of the differentiation and customer satisfaction measurements, which showed satisfactory levels of reliability based on Cronbach's alpha coefficients.
The purpose of this study is to examine the conceptual relationship of market orientation, leadership styles and mixed method research in improving performances in quasi-government organizations. The work conducted by scholars and practitioners in the field of marketing reflect little or no effort developed a working framework to better understand the marketing phenomenon.
Dynamic capabilities link with firm performance evidence from aNghiên Cứu Định Lượng
This document summarizes a study examining the relationships between dynamic capabilities, resources, and firm performance using data from a Vietnamese IT company. The study developed a model linking marketing capability, entrepreneurial orientation, innovation capability, firm reputation, and firm performance. A survey was conducted of managers in the company across its domestic and international markets. The results found that marketing capability positively influences innovation capability and firm performance. Entrepreneurial orientation positively influences marketing capability, firm reputation, and firm performance. Innovation capability positively influences firm performance, while firm reputation positively influences firm performance. The findings provide insights into how capabilities influence performance in a developing market context like Vietnam.
Collaborative and Competitive Actions within Highly Concentrated Industries: ...inventionjournals
This paper focuses on the antecedents of the range of competitive actions taken by firms under game-theoretic circumstances and conditions. Game-theoretic conditions exist in presence of a zero-sum competitive environment where competitors lack information about their competitors’ capabilities, capacities, and intentions. In this study, the Iranian cement industry has been selected as since it represents a highly concentrated industry setting with limited potential for growth and a fierce internal competition. The findings of this qualitative study shed light onto the antecedents and logic of decisions leading to competitive actions such as acquisitions, divestments, buyouts, and new investments during a ten-year period, 1997-2007.
Impact of Blue Ocean Strategy on Organizational Performance: A literature rev...IOSRJBM
This study is based on the pros and cons of the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) that offers users a framework for creating uncontested market space and diverts the views from the current competition to the creation of innovative value and demand. The main objective of the study is to show the overall scenario of BOS and its impact on organizational performance. The study includes the history of BOS, comparison with Red Ocean Strategy (ROS), relevance of applying BOS, Applications, Critics, Findings, Recommendations and Conclusion. The Findings of the study tries to show the ultimate results of applying the BOS and the recommendations urge some precautions to apply BOS. The result found that BOS positively affects the organization performance if applied in organizations. Overall, the study is effective to decide the adoption of BOS within the organization. The recommendation for the organization is to do an in-depth analysis on BOS before implementation to see the suitability considering the company size, industry condition, and adaptability.
Analysing the external environment of business (i.e. general, competitive) milesweaver
The document provides an overview of a student appointment with Dr. Miles Weaver to discuss strategic management. It includes objectives for the lecture on identifying major external influences on organizations and analyzing tools like PESTLE analysis and Porter's Five Forces model. Key concepts that will be covered are environmental scanning, analyzing the internal and external environment, defining strategic intent and formulating strategies.
This document provides an overview of analyzing a company's external environment from a strategic perspective. It discusses the key components of situational analysis including the macroenvironment and microenvironment. It outlines seven questions to consider when analyzing an industry's competitive environment, including the dominant economic traits, competitive forces, drivers of change, success factors, and attractiveness. Several models are presented for assessing the five competitive forces of rivalry, potential entry, substitutes, supplier power, and buyer power. Factors that influence the strength of each competitive force are also discussed.
Ijrdm final revised tarnovskya elg burt march4Usman Shahid
This document discusses the relationship between corporate branding and market driving strategies. It argues that corporate brands play an important role in market driving by defining a company's vision, values and culture. Strong corporate brands guide employee behaviors and relationships with stakeholders to create value for customers in a way that can drive market change. The document uses the case of IKEA to illustrate how a company's global corporate brand values can support its local market driving activities in a new market like Russia.
This document provides an outline and overview of key concepts from Chapter 3 of the textbook "Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases Arab World Edition". The chapter discusses performing an external assessment, which involves identifying opportunities and threats in a firm's external environment. It covers various forces in the external environment, including economic, social, political, technological, industry and competitive forces. Models for analyzing the external environment include Porter's Five Forces framework and the External Factor Evaluation matrix. The chapter emphasizes the importance of gathering competitive intelligence and understanding rivals' strengths and weaknesses.
This document is from a marketing textbook and covers several topics:
- It outlines learning outcomes on analyzing the internal and external marketing environment.
- It provides a case study on an Indian company and asks what measures it could take to adapt.
- It defines and describes the three types of marketing environments: internal, external, and performance.
- It goes into detail about analyzing the various external factors like political, economic, sociocultural, technological, legal, and ecological environments.
The document discusses Porter's five forces model for analyzing industry competition. It describes the five competitive forces as the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitute products, the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, and rivalry among existing competitors. It explains that analyzing these forces can help companies understand the industry and make strategic decisions.
Multinational channel strategy and customer value in an emerging economyfredrickaila
This document summarizes a study that examined how the distribution strategy of a multinational beverage company (Coca-Cola) impacted customer value in Western Kenya. The study surveyed Coca-Cola distributors to understand their perceptions. It found that most distributors were located near major urban areas like Kisumu and Kericho for proximity to the plant and high consumption. The study also assessed the relationship between order cycle time, stock availability, and sales. It concluded that reducing order cycle times to one day for stock replenishment could increase customer value.
Critical analysis of competitive strategies on performance andOddillia Nabwire
This document summarizes a study on the competitive strategies adopted by Middle Level Colleges in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study aimed to identify the strategies used, determine if they enhanced performance and market positioning, and identify challenges. It reviewed literature on competitive strategy and Porter's generic strategies of differentiation, cost leadership, and focus. Data was collected through questionnaires from 20 colleges. Key findings were that colleges apply various strategies to compete, but challenges are unique to each environment and cannot be generalized. Recommendations included supporting e-learning and exploring new funding.
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This document summarizes a research paper that examines the relationship between Porter's generic strategies (low-cost strategy, differentiation strategy, and focus strategy) and firm performance. The researchers conducted a study using questionnaires from 113 firms in Kosovo. They found that pursuing a differentiation strategy provides higher firm performance compared to the other two strategies. A low-cost strategy and focus strategy also had a positive impact on firm performance but to a lesser extent than differentiation. The document provides an overview of Porter's generic strategies and literature discussing how each strategy can impact firm performance if successfully implemented.
This document summarizes a research paper that investigated the relationship between Porter's generic strategies (low-cost strategy, differentiation strategy, and focus strategy) and firm performance. The researchers administered questionnaires to 113 firms in Kosovo and used statistical analysis methods like t-tests, correlation analysis, and regression analysis to test the hypotheses. The results suggest that pursuing a differentiation strategy provides higher firm performance compared to the other two strategies, though low-cost and focus strategies also have a positive impact on performance. The document provides background on Porter's generic strategies and defines each one, discussing how they can potentially impact firm performance based on prior literature.
This document discusses developing competitive marketing strategies and positioning by considering stakeholder perspectives. It defines stakeholders as any group or individual that can affect or is affected by a company's actions, including customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, and society. The document outlines how understanding stakeholder interests and translating them into effective strategies is challenging for companies. It also discusses different stakeholder impacts, classifications, and how to manage relationships with stakeholders to help achieve marketing goals and competitive positioning.
This document discusses developing competitive marketing strategies and positioning by considering stakeholder perspectives. It defines stakeholders as any group or individual that can affect or is affected by a company's actions, including customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, and society. The document outlines how understanding stakeholder interests and translating them into effective strategies is challenging for companies. It also discusses different stakeholder impacts, classifications, and how to manage relationships with stakeholders to help inform competitive strategies and positioning.
This study examines the relationship between strategic direction and performance of small and medium manufacturing firms in Thika Sub-County, Kenya. A survey was conducted of 115 firms to understand the emphasis placed on strategic direction during strategy implementation and its impact on firm performance. The study found a positive but insignificant relationship between strategic direction and firm performance. While strategic direction on its own did not significantly impact performance, it is often embedded in other key factors like leadership, structure, human resources and technology that do influence performance. For manufacturing firms to enhance performance and competitiveness, their strategic direction in terms of vision, mission and objectives must be clearly understood and supported by all stakeholders involved in strategy implementation.
The Role of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategy in Achievin.docxoreo10
The Role of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategy in Achieving Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Innovative and entrepreneurial organizations develop a strategy that can effectively lead to the commercialization of the new and novel products or services in the marketplace with a sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic management and entrepreneurship are dynamic processes that are intended to enhance organizational performance (Kuratko & Audretsch, 2009).
Strategic management focuses on how competitive positioning can create advantages for organizations that, in turn, enhance performance (Porter, 1980, 1996) and achieve sustained competitive advantage. Strategic planning requires top management to focus beyond the current external environment and envisage the organization’s market position in the short, medium, and long term. It necessitates the ability to evaluate the resources and core competencies in terms of how they can be utilized to create new sources of value.
Innovation and entrepreneurship are the key to successfully developing competitive advantages. The challenge is to develop innovation and entrepreneurship as a core competence of the organization. In a global competitive economy, the most successful strategies are those that are integrated with innovative and entrepreneurial activities that offer superior value and create wealth. Strategy and strategic management define the direction of the organization and how well it is achieved. Management needs to develop a strategy that focuses on the best ways for the organization to create and sustain a competitive advantage while simultaneously identifying and developing new opportunities. Innovation and entrepreneurship are focused on searching for new opportunities that will create value for the organization, customers, and stakeholders. Strategy is focused on sustaining competitive advantage and achieving above-average returns. Simultaneously embracing entrepreneurial philosophies, an entrepreneurial climate, and entrepreneurial strategic behaviors increases the likelihood an organization will identify and use its unique capabilities as a pathway to increasing its performance (Ireland, Covin, & Kuratko, 2009). Therefore, the integration of innovation and entrepreneurship for opportunity identification and development and a strategy for sustaining competitive advantage are necessary for value and wealth creation. Organizations that can develop competitive advantages today, while using innovation and entrepreneurship to cultivate tomorrow’s advantages, increase the chance of survival and growth in the long term.
Integration of Innovation and Entrepreneurship With Strategy
The integration of innovation and entrepreneurship with strategy can be defined as a vision directed strategic analysis with a core focus on innovative and entrepreneurial behaviors that continuously develop the organization through the identification and development of innovative and entrepreneurial opportuni ...
Mid term (apple inc keeping the ‘i’ in innovation)Christian Tobing
This document is a case study on Apple Inc. and keeping innovation at the core of its business strategy. It discusses Apple's strategic management process, including analyzing external opportunities and threats, formulating strategies, and implementing actions to achieve competitiveness and above-average returns. The case examines how Apple continues innovating through new products and technologies to maintain its competitive advantage.
The Effect of Change Management on Operational Excellence in Electrical and E...oon fok yew
This document summarizes a study that investigates the relationship between change management and operational excellence in the electrical and electronics industry in Malaysia. The study uses a survey of over 100 organizations to analyze how factors of change management like transformational leadership, human resource practices, and cultural involvement relate to achieving operational excellence. The findings suggest these change management factors have a significant positive relationship with operational excellence. This adds to the understanding of both change management and operational management, and provides practical implications for manufacturing strategies and managing organizational change in the industry.
Strategic Cost and Activating Competitive Advantageijtsrd
This study aimed to identify the Role of Strategic Costs (SCs) in Activating Competitive Advantage (Field Study in the Paints Companies - Khartoum State). The study tested two hypotheses which are: There is a significant relation between (SCs) and the Activating of the Competitive Advantage in the Sudanese Paints Companies in Khartoum State, there is a significant relation between (SCs) and the reduction of production costs in the Sudanese Paints Companies in Khartoum State. Researchers distributed (40) questionnaire forms among some of the workers in the field selected randomly (33) Forms were collected as 83%. Statistical package of social sciences programmer (SPSS) used for analyzing data. The study reached some findings from which: the strategic costs contribute in reducing costs during the products design stage, the companies has awareness in analyzing the competitive advantage situation to the competitors costs structure, the paints companies in Khartoum work to improve its operations and products continuously to decrease costs, Some of the study recommended to: there is necessity in applying the strategic cost methods together to activate the competitive advantage continuously , to do more studies in all the Sudanese industrial companies to the benefit of adopting the strategic cost in decreasing costs and to support the competitive advantage. Dr. Abubkr Ahmed Elhadi Abdelraheem | Dr. Badreldin Elhadi Ahmed Serajeldin | Aldouma Abdallah Abdalrahman Jedo"Strategic Cost and Activating Competitive Advantage" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-1 | Issue-4 , June 2017, URL: http://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd147.pdf http://www.ijtsrd.com/management/accounting-and-finance/147/strategic-cost-and-activating-competitive-advantage/dr-abubkr-ahmed-elhadi-abdelraheem
The Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies and Activities Employed By the...iosrjce
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) playa an increasingly important role in business success
today, and economic, political, and social factors are shaping CSR strategies around the world. Approached
strategically, CSR has the potential to generate opportunity, innovation and competitive advantage for
organizations while solving pressing social problems. The study explored the effectiveness of CSR strategies on
organizational performance by ascertaining whether responsibility towards primary stakeholders influences the
financial and non-financial performance of commercial banks. The author focused on the Equity Bank in Kenya.
Content analysis of the Bank’s financial reports between the years 2006 and 2012 was done to ascertain the
relationship between CSR and performance of the Bank. The establishment of EGF, a fully fledged subsidiary of
Equity Bank, to handle all aspects of social responsibility for the Bank is a clear attestation of how important
and serious the institution considers CSR in their day-to-day operations. The categorization of the CSR
strategies into thematic areas showed that, to the Eank, social responsibility is not just a philanthropic deed to
society but a strategic tool for furtherance of business objectives, including stakeholder relationships. The study
recommended the need for organizations to be more inclusive and participatory among all the stakeholders at
all levels of implementation as well as further research to determine the level at which CSR impacts on
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VARIED DIMENSIONS IMPACTING STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING PROCESS IN OIL AND GAS ...IAEME Publication
Nowadays, businesses have shifted their focus from product orientation to
strategic orientation as they understood to recognize the importance of strategic
approach and management in order to penetrate international markets. This is
because entering foreign markets require strategic planning and proactive market
analysis of both internal and external business environments for successful
penetration and long-term sustainability. This becomes more apparent in the case of
Oil and Gas companies as the industry is highly volatile with fewer products and more
areas to gain a competitive edge. Thus, the focus of this study is to identify the varied
Dimensions which Impacts Strategic Decision making process in Oil and Gas
Industries of UAE
VARIED DIMENSIONS IMPACTING STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING PROCESS IN OIL AND GAS ...IAEME Publication
Nowadays, businesses have shifted their focus from product orientation to strategic orientation as they understood to recognize the importance of strategic approach and management in order to penetrate international markets. This is
because entering foreign markets require strategic planning and proactive market analysis of both internal and external business environments for successful penetration and long-term sustainability. This becomes more apparent in the case of
Oil and Gas companies as the industry is highly volatile with fewer products and more areas to gain a competitive edge. Thus, the focus of this study is to identify the varied Dimensions which Impacts Strategic Decision making process in Oil and Gas Industries of UAE In order to understand and examine the research problem of the study, both primary and secondary data collections were undertaken. The primary data for the
study was collected from 85 senior managers of 15 major
Oil/Gas companies operating in UAE, (EPCs, FEED Contractors and End users) . The samples had been
analysed with the ANOVA to test the hypothesis of the study. The ANOVA analysis between the responses of participants were calculated to understand the varied Dimensions Impacting Strategic Decision making process in Oil and Gas industries of UAE. Globalization and Technological advancement have made imperative the need for a strategic approach in businesses, in order to remain competitive and sustainable in the long run. Thus, organisations need to pay attention to the importance of evaluation, implementation, and advancement of strategies while implementing decisions for business profitability and sustainability. International business poses new challenges everytime especially in the verticals of Oil/Gas industires, which in turn initiated managers and necessitated them to analyse, evaluate, implement their
strategies in a proactive manner to gain a competitive edge over rival firms
Marketing capabilities and innovation-based strategies for environmental sustainability: An exploratory investigation of B2B firms by
Babu John Mariadoss a,1, Patriya Silpakit Tansuhaj a,1, Nacef Mouri
ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH VALUE CHAINijmvsc
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The Changing Environment Organizations are now operating in a high.docxmamanda2
The Changing Environment Organizations are now operating in a highly competitive environment that can be characterized in terms of increasing risk, limited ability to forecast, fluid organizational and industry boundaries, new structures and systems that permit and create change, and more diverse customer demands and expectations. No organization is isolated from the external environment, and there is continuous pressure to adapt and change if they are to survive and grow. The external environment includes everything outside the organization, including the political, economic, social, technological, regulatory, competitive, supplier, and customer environments. The level and pace of change is significantly greater than ever before, which has important implications for organizations and how they are managed. Collectively, changes in the environment create important consequences for the development and management of products, markets, and organizational capabilities. As external environments become more complex, dynamic, and turbulent, it also means that there are alternative opportunities. The rapid pace of change is emerging from new markets, technologies, economic conditions, demographic patterns, globalization, and the knowledge economy. Organizations now need to be more innovative than ever. While these changes eliminate some innovations and entrepreneurial activities, they open up opportunities for others. New markets mean new opportunities, and new technologies create new competencies. Some organizations aim to protect themselves against external threats and changing conditions. Others embrace the potential opportunities that can be found as a result of the threat. In today's environment, to sustain competitive advantage, organizations need to recognize that customer groupings are more differentiated and competition has intensified. Change in one area such as technological advancement and development has resulted in changes in other areas such as more intensified competition as customers have access to a much broader and diverse group of companies to buy goods. For example, originally Google was a search engine; currently it has the world's leading mobile platform in Android and provides a strong alternative to Facebook in Google+. Amazon originally sold books; now it sells services competing with Apple iOS devices and Android. Apple originally sold computers and MP3 players; now it sells phones and tablets, dominating the market with the iPhone and the launch of the iPhone 4S, which introduced a new approach to search technology with Siri, its voice-activated search and task-completion service built in. Apple's iPhone 4S Siri voice search has intensified competition for Google. More recently, Apple launched the iPhone 5 and iPad mini, which emphasizes the significant pace of innovation necessary in the technology industry to stay competitive. Facebook provided the most disruptive web platform since Google's search engine. With 1.06 billi.
Relationships among Structural Adaptations, Strategy Implementationa and Perf...Prof. Peter Kihara
This document examines the relationships between structural adaptations, strategy implementation, and performance of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Thika Sub-County, Kenya. It finds that structural adaptations, formalization, and specialization are positively and significantly related to SME performance, while centralization is positively but insignificantly related. The study used a mixed research design and questionnaire to collect primary data from 115 SMEs, analyzing the data using correlation and regression. It concludes that formalization and specialization are key determinants of superior performance for SMEs, while centralization does not necessarily contribute to better performance in the dynamic SME environment in Kenya.
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Critical analysis of competitive strategies on performance and
1. European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
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Critical Analysis of Competitive Strategies on Performance and
Market Positioning: A Case Study of Middle Level Colleges, in
Mombasa County.
Dr. Enock Gongera 1*
Oddillia Nabwire Okoth2
1. Dean Post Graduate Studies, Mount Kenya University, P.O. BOX 342-00100 Thika Main Campus, Kenya
2. School of Business and Public Management, Mount Kenya University
P.O. BOX 42702-80100 Mombasa Coast Center, Kenya
* E-mail of corresponding author: gongera_enock@yahoo.co.uk
Abstract
Today, service organizations are shifting their focus from “transactional exchange” to “relational exchange” for
developing mutually satisfying relationship with customers. Extended relationships are reported to have a significant
impact on transaction cost and profitability, and customer lifetime value. Serving the customers, in true sense, is the
need of the hour as the customer was, is and will remain the central focus of all organizational activities. An
institution’s competitive behavior is an important area for any manager, director, principal, and policy makers.
Among the explanations of firms' behavior is Michael Porter's Generic model. The researcher has presented this
model in comparison with Porter’s five competitive forces of the industry. In the researchers’ comparative discussion,
the use of Porter's model to evaluate firms' competitive behavior is supported. The major aims of the study was to
identify and analyze the competitive strategies adopted by the Middle Level Colleges in Mombasa County, and
whether they enhance performance and help in attaining market position. And lastly to determine the challenges
faced by these colleges when implementing competitive strategies. In this study the target population encompassed
colleges located in Mombasa County amounting to 33% of the total population of 62 MLCs The focus has been on 6
public and 14 private colleges that offer both university and non university courses. A semi-structured questionnaire
consisting of closed and open-ended questions was used to collect data using the drop and pick method. The data
collected was processed by first editing, coding, classifying and tabulation. The researcher analyzed the data
processing with the aid of Microsoft excel 2007-integrated package and the SPSS software. Some recommendations
that the study made includes the imposition of manager’s originality and creativity. Constant improvement, what the
Japanese call Kaizen, is the only way a firm would sustain its long term competitive advantage and success. It is
necessary for managers/ directors to develop strategies having unique details and deviations from the studied
approaches to obtain superior performance.
Keywords: Competitive behavior, Competitive strategies, Generic models.
1. Introduction
Traditionally, the primary role or objective of any business corporation has been to make profits and to serve the
interest of its owners. However, as a result of rapid environmental changes, the society has become restless about its
life and the quality of it. Middle Level Colleges in recent years have emerged under increasing pressure to redefine
their role in society. Environmental changes shape opportunities and challenges facing organizations. Organizations
need to adjust to these changes to remain successful in future. For firms to succeed they need to strategize their plans.
The environment can be relatively stable or turbulent and has affected many organizations. Environmental changes
affecting organizations include competition, globalization, political and legal factors, changes in consumer tastes and
ecological factors. The major aims of the study were to identify and analyze the competitive strategies adopted by the
Middle Level Colleges in Mombasa County, and whether they enhance performance and help in attaining market
position. And lastly to determine the challenges faced by these colleges when implementing competitive strategies.
To become competitive, institutions are becoming more aggressive in exploiting opportunities and dealing with
threats. However, an organization’s strength may not always bring success.
Different challenges have different approaches. Competition will determine how appropriate a firm’s activities will
contribute to its performance, such as a cohesive culture, innovations or a good implementation (Porter, 1998). Every
institution that competes in an industry has a competitive strategy. The strategy may have been developed through a
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planning process or may come up through the activities of the various functional departments of the organization
(Porter, 1980). For a strategy to be successful, it must align well with the environment in which the organization is
set in. There are several Middle Level Colleges, both public and private that offer national and international diploma
awards in a wide field of professions. Middle Level Colleges play a significant role in providing tertiary education in
Mombasa County. This has led to stiff competition among these colleges and the government sponsored ones. The
competition has made it necessary for these colleges to apply the key competitive strategies to market their programs
and gain competitive edge. Tertiary institutions in the recent past in Mombasa County have witnessed rapid growth
resulting in the scramble of available student clientele and their ever changing needs.
The success and survival of the colleges in the current business environment has depended on the extent to which
they are able to learn, adapt and change (Karinga, 2012). Increase in competition has greatly affected the colleges.
This increase in competition has resulted in competitors introducing low costs, shifts towards quality, changed
demands and needs of customers and lack of finance. The increase in competition has posed a challenge for the
colleges which in turn forces the colleges to change their strategies by deciding to come up with new and different
strategies. Some past studies have been carried out on Middle Level Colleges in Kenya by Mwakundia (2005), and
Kitoto (2005), focused on competitive strategies applied by commercial colleges in Nairobi and competitive
strategies adopted in Kenya respectively. This study therefore sought to fill the gap by conducting a research at
critically analyzing the competitive strategies adopted by the Middle Level Colleges, in Mombasa County, and
establishing how these competitive strategies affect their overall performance and market positioning.
2. The concept of Competitive Strategy
The concept of strategy is a multi-dimensional concept that can be applied in all fields of study and life. Strategy has
been defined variously by different authors. (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2005 pp 9) defined strategy as “the
direction and scope of an organization over the longtime, which achieves advantage in a changing environment
through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholders’ expectations.” Pearce
and Robinson (1991) defined strategy as a company’s game plan. No goal can achieved without a proper planning.
Planning is the process of setting goals and choosing the means to achieve them. Plans help managers have a clear
idea of what they need to organize (Stoner, et al, 2003). The essence of formulating strategy is relating a company to
its environment (Porter, 1998). The industry in which a firm competes is the key aspect of the firm’s environment.
Porter further argues that the competitive rule of the game as well as the strategies potentially available to the firm
has been strongly influence by the industry structure. All firms are therefore affected by outside forces and for them
to succeed; they have to strategize their plans in a way that will enable them deal with the five basic competitive
forces. What is important to know is that strategy defines a college’s purpose and the obligations of the organization
to its stakeholders, deals with organizational competitive advantage by positioning the organization in the
environment and defines the business of the organization its product or market scope.
2.1 Porters Generic Competitive Strategies
Three of the most widely read books on competitive analysis in the 1980s were Michael Porter's Competitive
Strategy, Competitive Advantage, and Competitive Advantage of Nations. In his various books, Porter developed
three generic strategies that, he argues, can be used singly or in combination to create a defendable position and to
outperform competitors, whether they are within an industry or across nations. Porter states that the strategies are
generic because they are applicable to a large variety of situations and contexts. The strategies are overall cost
leadership; differentiation; and focus on a particular market niche. Porter's strategies imply different organizational
arrangements, control procedures, and incentive systems. In addition to prompting sharing, Porter stresses the need
for firms to "transfer" skills and expertise among autonomous business units effectively in order to gain competitive
advantage. Depending upon factors such as type of industry, size of firm, and nature of competition, various
strategies could yield advantages in cost leadership, differentiation, and focus.
An institution's relative position within its industry determines whether an industry’s profitability is above or below
the industry average. The fundamental basis of above average profitability in the long run is sustainable competitive
advantage. It provides a framework for the competitive strategies that are quite fundamental in competition. In
Porter’s view the notion underlying the concept of generic strategies is that competitive advantage is the heart of any
strategy and achieving competitive advantage requires a firm to make a choice.
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2.1.1 Strategy – Differentiation
Differentiating the product or service, requires a firm to create something about its product or service that is
perceived as unique throughout the industry. Whether the features are real or just in the mind of the customer,
customers must perceive the product as having desirable features not commonly found in competing products. The
customers also must be relatively price-insensitive. Adding product features means that the production or distribution
costs of a differentiated product may be somewhat higher than the price of a generic, non-differentiated product.
Customers must be willing to pay more than the marginal cost of adding the differentiating feature if a differentiation
strategy is to succeed.
2.1.2 Strategy - Cost Leadership
Overall cost leadership requires firms to develop policies aimed at becoming and remaining the lowest-cost producer
and/or distributor in the industry. Institute strategies aimed at controlling costs include construction of efficient-scale
facilities, tight control of costs and overhead, avoidance of marginal customer accounts, minimization of operating
expenses, reduction of input costs, tight control of labor costs, and lower distribution costs. The low-cost leader gains
competitive advantage by getting its costs of production or distribution lower than those of the other firms in its
market.
2.1.3 Strategy - Focus
The final generic strategy, focusing (also called niche or segmentation strategy), involves concentrating on a
particular customer, product line, geographical area, channel of distribution, stage in the production process, or
market niche. The underlying premise of the focus strategy is that a firm is better able to serve a limited segment
more efficiently than competitors can serve a broader range of customers. Firms using a focus strategy simply apply
a cost leader or differentiation strategy to a segment of the larger market. Firms may thus be able to differentiate
themselves based on meeting customer needs, or they may be able to achieve lower costs within limited markets.
Focus strategies are most effective when customers have distinctive preferences or specialized needs. A focus
strategy is often appropriate for small, aggressive businesses that do not have the ability or resources to engage in a
nationwide marketing effort. Such a strategy may also be appropriate if the target market is too small to support a
large-scale operation. Many firms start small and expand into a national organization.
2.2 Re-engineering as a competitive strategy
Reengineering simply means the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes and seeks to
achieve improvements in cost, quality, speed, and service. It claims to reinvent the way that companies do business,
from first principles, by throwing out the view that companies should be organized into functions and departments to
perform tasks, and paying attention instead to processes. The essence of re-engineering is reversing the task
specialization and focusing instead on completing a total process with value to customers in one fell swoop.
2.3 The Concept of Strategic "Fit"
There has been a debate going on by two scholars of thought- Porter verses Hamel & Prahlad. Porter looks at
strategy as ‘”fit” while Hamel & Prahlad looks at it “stretch”. Strategic Fit and Strategic Stretch are two basic
frameworks that seem to inform the various models of development of strategic plans in organizations. Strategic fit is
one way of coming up with a strategy by seeking opportunities in the business environment and adapting resources
and competences so as to take advantage of the opportunities. On the other hand, strategic stretch is developing
strategy by leveraging the resources and competencies of an institution to provide competitive advantage and yield
new opportunities. Strategic fit looks at organizations as passive while Hamel & Prahlad looks at environment as
active. They are suggesting that firms try to influence the environment. Porter suggests that a firm should fit its
resources to the environment it is in. Institutions strive to satisfy customers needs, and in so doing they achieve their
basic corporate objectives of survival and profitability. Because of their concern for satisfying the customer’s needs,
the institutions choose their strategies carefully, in order to offer the products/services that are valued by their
customers. Directors have the responsibility of proposing corporate strategy, and the success of the strategy rests on
the commitment of the managers in carrying it out.
2.4 Empirical literature
This section of the chapter has visited studies that have been conducted in the area under research. Various studies
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have been done to determine the competitive strategies and challenges facing higher education institutions in Kenya.
The studies have pointed out that most colleges apply competitive strategies in order to survive in their industry
sector. But the challenges have not been conclusive enough to justify a generalization. A brief highlight of some of
these studies is hereby given to prove that competitive strategies are unique and highly sensitive to environmental
circumstances.
Mwakundia (2005) in his study of the competitive strategies applied by commercial colleges in Nairobi found out
that both general and specific training institution strategies are applied in this sector. Kitoto (2005) in her study on
competitive strategies adopted by universities in Kenya revealed that several external factors, some of them quite
closely related, affected the universities. Competition, increasing customer awareness, entry of substitute products
and many more challenges called upon the universities to develop strategies that could adequately respond to the
forces. The studies point out that training institutions apply competitive strategies and experience challenges which
are unique and specific hence cannot be generalized.
Kimondo, Njogu and Sakwa (2012) conducted a research that tried to analyze the Competitive Strategies Employed
by Private Universities in Kenya with a Case Study of Private Universities in Nairobi. The study discussed how
private universities have employed technology and innovation as a competitive strategy and how they have employed
differentiation to give them a competitive advantage.
Results arising from the research suggest that private universities have embraced technology, differentiated their
products and services and also products are leading in the market which has given them a competitive advantage
over the others. Some recommendation that the study made includes supporting electronic learning and virtual
schools which will enable each lecturer to participate in electronic learning and explore creative ways to fund
electronic learning opportunities, encourage broadband access by thoroughly evaluating existing technology
infrastructure, improve lecturer training, consider innovative budgeting and lastly strengthen leadership.
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research design
This study used a descriptive research design, according to Glass & Hopkins, (1984) descriptive research involves
gathering data that describe events and then organizes, tabulates, depicts, and describes the data collection. The study
seeks to identify the competitive strategies that colleges are adopting and the competitive challenges they are
experiencing in implementing the strategies towards market positioning and performance. Twenty Middle Level
Colleges were selected using convenience sampling technique, to which questionnaires were administered.
3.2 Research sample and Sampling design
As Stocker (1998) points out, a sample is used to obtain representatives information in respect of a population. The
researcher conveniently and purposively selected 20 units which are registered by the Ministry of Higher Education
Science and Technology. According to Kothari (2005) sampling design refers to the technique or procedure the
researcher adopted in selecting some sampling units from which inferences about the population are drawn. The
researcher subjectively selected the items that made a sample representative of the population. In this case, the
researcher used the information on the classification of the Colleges as a criterion in selecting the sample included in
the study.
3.3 Data processing and analysis
In order to ensure logical completeness and consistency of responses, data editing has been carried out each day by
the researcher. Identified mistakes and data gaps were rectified soonest possible. Once editing was done, it was
analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The qualitative data from secondary documents has been analyzed using
content analysis and logical analysis techniques. Quantitative data analysis has been done by the use of Microsoft
excel 2007-integrated package and the SPSS software. The technique for quantitative data analysis was frequency
distribution, variances, standard deviation and percentages, which has been used to determine the proportion of
respondents choosing the various responses. This has been done for each group of items relating to the research
questions. Tables, charts and graphs were used to ensure easy understanding of the analyses.
4. Findings
The findings of this research have brought to light a number of issues regarding the strategies adopted by the MLCs
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in Mombasa County the overall results show that most of the colleges are located within the Central Business
District, have been in operation for 10 years and above, have a population of below 500 students and have crafted
strategies that are focused on offering unique products that are generally valued by customers and thus following the
differentiation strategies
5. Conclusion and Recommendation
In Porter’s view (1985), competitive advantage is at the heart of a firm’s performance in competitive markets. Thus,
winning business strategies are grounded in sustainable competitive advantage. A company has competitive
advantage whenever it has an edge over rivals in securing customers and defending against competitive forces. There
are many sources of competitive advantage: making the highest – quality product, providing superior customer
service, achieving lower costs than rivals having a more convenient geographic location, designing a product that
performs better than competing brands, making a more reliable and longer lasting product and providing buyers more
value for the money (a combination of good quality, good service and acceptable price). To succeed in a building a
competitive advantage , a firm must try to provide what buyers will perceive as “ superior value” either a good
product at a low price or a “better” product that is worth paying for.
According to Porter (1985), the essence of formulating competitive strategy is relating a company to its environment.
The best strategy for a given firm is ultimately a unique construction reflecting its particular circumstance. From the
discussion in the previous chapters it can be realized that, generic business strategies and tactics are time- tested
approaches to managing companies in specific competitive market situations. As such they have become more
important foundations, which most managers regard as starting points for developing their strategy/ tactics in an
industry. However, to make these strategies truly successful, managers must interpose their own originality and
creativity. This is because most managers, including rivals, expect these strategies, and thus, to catch rivals unaware,
a somewhat new approach must be taken. Consequently, it is necessary for managers to develop strategies having
unique details and deviations from the studied approaches to obtain superior performance.
Additionally, firms must continuously strive to impose their tactics as well as their competitive position and
advantages, because it is only through constant improvement that one stays ahead of competitors that are both
copying and improving themselves in order for them to sustain its long term competitive advantage and success in a
given industry. The study focused on the analysis of competitive strategies on performance and market positioning.
The study will provide a useful basis upon which further studies in the industry could be conducted. There is need
to undertake similar studies in different higher learning institutions to ascertain how different sectors deal with the
competitive strategies. The study also contributes to the existing literature in the area of strategies that academicians
could use as a basis of further research.
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ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online)
Vol 4, No.17, 2012
76
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