Competitive strategies adopted by Zetech college to cope with competition among middle level colleges in Kenya

Abstract

Many businesses today operate under very turbulent and dynamic environments. The intensity of business rivalry and the turbulent changes facing them coupled with emergence of more matured, better informed and more discriminating customers have pushed the boundaries of organizations to compete at the highest level with the primary focus of becoming the dominant player in the market in which they operate. Competition occurs because the resources are scarce, opportunities are rare and the dominant players in the market are many. Competition poses many challenges to any business and managers must formulate strategies to counter those challenges and strive to attain a competitive edge over their rivals in all areas of operation. In order to attain and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage, organizations regularly develop competitive strategies. The most commonly used competitive strategies are the porter’s generic competitive strategies. This research was based on a case study of Zetech College. Zetech College has been in operation for the last thirteen years and has experienced extensive growth over the years. The study had two objectives. The first objective of the study was to determine the challenges of competition faced by Zetech College and the second to establish the competitive strategies adopted by the college to cope with competition affecting middle level colleges in Kenya. The study established that indeed Zetech College faced several challenges from competition. It was also established that the college adopted several strategies to cope with the competition. The adopted strategies were very effective leading to the phenomenal growth of the institution. The study recommends that companies should adopt a competitive strategy that matches with their internal and external environments instead of blindly copying other company’s strategies. The study also recommends that a survey is done on middle level colleges to enable generalization of findings.