Competitive strategies adopted by the Kenya Institute of Management to cope with the challenges of competition in the higher education sector in Kenya

Abstract

The environment within which many businesses operate in the modern world is characterized by rapid changes within the internal and external environment with competition emerging to be one of the toughest challenges any business has to deal with. Competition comes in several forms but the basic underlying factor is that the competitors in any market are out to make profits through gaining market share and maintaining customer loyalty. Businesses must come up with dynamic and effective ways to ensure they stay afloat. Any typical business oriented organization is always either fighting for its market share or growing its market share. It is in the process of fighting for and/or growing the market share that a business faces challenges and seeks to have in place competitive strategies that would assure success within its market. This study set out to address two main objectives which were to determine the challenges of competition and to determine the competitive strategies adopted by The Kenya Institute of Management to address these challenges. The study took the form of a case study in which five senior managers who are responsible for strategy development and implementation were interviewed and their responses analyzed through content analysis. The study thus identified several challenges of competition including intense rivalry resulting from several competitors within the market, customer price sensitivity, financial constraints, legal challenges and product imitation amongst others. The study found that The Kenya Institute of Management had in place differentiation, product development and market development as their main competitive strategies. The findings of this study this study contribute to theory and knowledge by underlining the importance understanding the need to be aware of the competitive environment. This study can also be of great interest to managers in the higher education sector because it underscores the need for managers to understand their competitive environment so as to enable them develop and implement timely and appropriate competitive strategies that will ensure their survival within the industry. The study concluded that for an organization to survive in fiercely competitive environment, it must adapt dynamic competitive strategies suited to the prevailing market conditions in order for it to remain afloat.