Influence Of Strategic Agility On Competitive Capability Of Private Universities In Kenya

Abstract

In today’s fast changing and increasingly global business environment, hardly any company is safe from competition anymore. Nowadays, almost all companies operate in uncertain and dynamic competitive environments. The companies must nevertheless be able to compete in sustainable ways. In the early 1990s, the concept of agile manufacturing was devised to address those considerations. The private universities in Kenya face the challenges of fluctuating demand and stiff competition from public universities and also an upsurge in the number of private universities in the country. Strategic agility is the ability to continuously and adequately adjust and adapt in appropriate time the strategic direction in core business in relation to changing circumstances. Building strategic agility in firms is a way to manage unforeseen changes and risks faced by firms. This study adopted a cross-sectional research design based on the key areas of interest. The target population for this study was 24 private universities in Kenya. The study adopted a census approach collecting data from the administrators of all the private universities in Kenya. The researcher used a questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument to collect data on the effect of strategic agility on competitive capability of private universities in Kenya. The questions were designed to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Descriptive statistics was employed. The quantitative data was coded to enable the responses to be grouped into various categories. The organised data was interpreted in terms of averages and standard deviation to objectives using a computer packages SPSS (version 21) to analyze the research findings. The researcher found that private universities adopt change disposition as a strategic agility practise to a very great extent. The researcher also found out that change disposition influences competitive capability to a great extent. The study findings reveal that knowledge of appropriateness of change effort motivates employees to put their full effort in managing. The research also makes the conclusion that virtual integration competence enhances the ability of a firm and its value chain members to pursue new product initiatives. The research further concludes that fluid partnering allows for quick delivery of products in the market. The research concludes that various strategic agility variables have an influence on competitive capability of private universities.