Competitive Strategies adopted by private primary schools in Nairobi under the 8-4-4 curriculum

Abstract

As many organizations seek to fight competition in the local market place, many of them have had to adopt different competitive strategies in order to attract and retain customers. This study was done to establish the competitive strategies adopted by private primary schools and the challenges they face while implementing them. The category of private schools that were studied are under the 8-4-4 curriculum. Data was collected in Nairobi from June to August 2007. A sample of 45 private primary schools were selected through systematic random sampling and 42 of them responded. The researcher used descriptive statistics to analyse the data and presented the findings using tables. The researcher established that differentiation strategies are the most widely applied in the education industry. Cost leadership and focus were the least used. The main challenges that hindered application of strategy was are limited access to funds and stringent government regulations. It was recommended that the private primary schools should develop aspects of integrated marketing especially branding and positioning in order to differentiate their service offers.