Strategies adopted by small and medium, manufacturers enterprises to cope with challenges of globalisation in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Globalization is a powerful force shaping economies, redefining national cultures, influencing flows of capital and labor and changing traditional ways of doing business. The need to develop multicultural multinational organizations to compete in the global marketplace effectively is the logical next step in the evolution of the global organization. Challenges for maintaining global competitiveness and industrial restructuring need to be analyzed on an urgent basis, therefore the study sought to answer the question what are the strategies adopted by small and medium manufacturer enterprises to cope with challenges of globalization in Nairobi, Kenya. The design of this research was descriptive survey research. The target population of the study was 145 small and medium manufacturing companies in Nairobi. The study adopted a simple random sampling technique to select a sample size of the study 56 out of 145 SMEs in manufacturing sector in Nairobi. The researcher developed a questionnaire that contained the questions which were both closed ended and also a few open ended. The collected data was thoroughly examined and checked for completeness and comprehensibility. The study further analysed the data using correlation to establish the relation between variables. The content analysis was used to analyse the respondents’ views. From the findings, the organization’s factors that influenced the operations included political, economic, social, technological, economical and legal factors. From the findings, the study revealed that small and medium manufacturing companies responded to global business in SMEs sector as they have been pushed by increasing globalization, heavy competition, newly empowered customers in new markets and fast-changing technologies that has been requiring the companies to respond to global business in SMEs sector. The study concluded that organizations need to have adaptability response strategies to globalization capabilities are able to decreased risk and uncertainty facing the organization due to globalization.