Competitive Strategies and Performance of Public Secondary Schools in Hamisi Sub-county, Vihiga County, Kenya

Abstract

It is argued that competitive strategies cultivate a competitive advantage that propels a firm to excellent superior performance. This study focused on competitive strategies influencing performance in public secondary schools in Hamisi District, Vihiga County, Kenya. The study is anchored on game theory, strategic conflicts theory, resource based view and industrial organization theory and it sought to determine the correlation between competitive strategies and performance. The competitive strategies which were the independent variable included low cost, differentiation, focus, market penetration, market development, product development and diversification. Performance as a dependent variable included enrolment and retention, KCSE mean, revenue growth, assets’ growth, business processes, staff development, quality services and overall firm performance. A cross sectional descriptive survey design was utilized for the study. The population studied comprised the 47 public secondary schools in Hamisi Sub-County in Vihiga County, in which a census was taken. Data was captured by a structured questionnaire, and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to establish the linear relationship between the variables. The study revealed that Product development, differentiation and low cost influenced performance to a greater extent. Market development and diversification strategies affected performance to some extent, and market penetration and focus to the least extent. It was concluded that schools should adopt competitive strategies for improved performance. The recommendations for policy action highlighted on offering staff training and development on competitive strategies in the education sector and conducting further studies countrywide for credible generalizations. Based on the limitations of the study, areas for further research have been pointed out