A Survey of Strategy Development Processes in Commercial Training Colleges in Nairobi

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to establish the strategy development processes used by commercial training colleges operating in Nairobi Central Business District and to identify the factors that influence strategy development among the commercial training colleges. The factors considered include number of competitors, possibility of new entrants, clients, services offered, ownership of college, competitor future goals, current. strategies and government regulation. The main thrust of the study was to establish the processes used by the commercial training colleges to come up with there strategies and how successfully they have implemented them to meet the existing challenges such as the high competition among the colleges. It's interesting to note that majority of these colleges offer similar courses i.e. Business Studies. The respondents included the commercial training colleges operating within the Nairobi Central Business District. A survey was carried out using a detailed Questionnaire which was completed by the administrators of the colleges. I managed to get 25 completed questionnaires from the Directors, Administrators and Principals of the various colleges. Results indicated that majority of the colleges consider strategic management as an important aspect in there operations. They formulate both mission and vision for there colleges. They are passionate in what they do and aspire to be

the best Education Institutions. However, they face challenges when trying to translate their vision and mission to tangible strategies. Further results showed that Although the commercial training colleges are keen on strategy development, very few have a planning department to take care of that responsibility instead they use random interactive meetings to come up with there strategies. Majority of the colleges don't focus on long term strategies instead they prefer short term strategies due to the rapid changes in ther operating environment. The study is in five parts. The first part contains an introduction to the study, objectives of the study and importance of the study. The second part provides theoretical framework of strategy development processes and also strategic management as applied in organizations. Part three gives details of research methodology and the results are presented in part four. The questionnaire and list of colleges used in this study is appended at the end of the paper. The Fifth part contains the summary, conclusion and recommendations of the study.