THE EFFECT OF COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES ON PERFOMANCE OF PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA. A SURVEY OF PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NAIROBI

Authors

  • JANE NTHAMBI KENYA METHODIST UNIVERSITY

Keywords:

competitive strategies, Cost leadership, differentiation strategies

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to   analyze the effect of competitive strategies on performance of private primary schools in Kenya. A survey of private primary schools in Nairobi

Methodology: The research design for this study was explanatory research design. There are 350 private primary schools that are registered with Ministry of Education and also appear in the KNEC list. The study target population was 700 obtained from purposively targeting a Director and administrator from each school. A sample of 10% (70) was used.  The researcher used Statistical Package for social Sciences (SPSS) to do the data analysis. Regression analysis was used to demonstrate the relationship between the competitive strategies and the performance of private schools in Nairobi County.

Results: Cost leadership was found to affect level of performance in a positive manner. However, its effect was insignificant. Focus Competitive Strategies was found to positively affect level of performance. The relationship was positive and significant. Hence, employing focus strategies such as focusing on GCSE curriculum, focusing on students from the affluent class, focusing on students from middle class, international students and focusing on special subjects may improve school performance.   It can be concluded that use of differentiations strategies such as offering GCSE curriculum, e-learning, research and development, extra-curriculum activities (music and arts) improve performance.

 Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: T It is recommended that private primary schools should employ differentiation strategies as this would improve school performance.  Schools should employ focus strategies such as focusing on GCSE curriculum, focusing on students from the affluent class, focusing on students from middle class, international students and focusing on special subjects as doing so may improve school performance

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

JANE NTHAMBI, KENYA METHODIST UNIVERSITY

POST GRADUATE STUDENT

References

Ansoff, I. (1988). Corporate Strategy.2nd Edition. McGraw - Hill. New York.

Barney, J. B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 99-120.

Barney, J. B. (2001a). Is the resource-based "view" a useful perspective for strategic management research? Yes. Academy of Management Review, 26: 41-56.

Barney, J.B. (1986). Strategic factor markets: Expectations, luck, and business strategy. Management Science. Vol. 32, No. 10, pp. 1231-1241.

Barney, J.B. (2001b). Resource-based theories of competitive advantage: A ten-year retrospective on the resource-based view. Journal of Management, 27 (2001): pp. 643-650.

Barney, J.B. (2007). Gaining and sustaining competitive advantage, 3rd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Burden, R. and Proctor, T. (2000). Creating a sustainable competitive advantage through training. Team Performance Management, Vol. 6 No. 5/6, 2000, pp. 90-97.

Chen, Y(2013). The study of marketing strategies of higher education institutions in Taiwan under competitive market environment. Business and Information 2013

Christensen, C.M. (1997). The innovator's dilemma: When new technologies cause great firms to fail (1st Ed.). Harvard Business Press.

Conner, K.R. (1991). A historical comparison of resource-based theory and five schools of thought within industrial organization economics: Do we have a new theory of the firm? Journal of Management, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 121-154.

Coulter, M (2002).Strategic Management in Action (2nd edition).Prentice Hall. New Delhi.

Cousins, P.D. (2005). The alignment of appropriate firm and supply strategies for competitive advantage. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 25, No. 5, 2005, pp. 403-428.

Fahy, J. (2000). The resource-based view of the firm: some stumbling-blocks on the road to understanding sustainable competitive advantage. Journal of European Industrial Training, 24/2/3/4 [2000] 94-104.

Fahy, J., Farrelly, F. and Quester, P. (2004). Competitive advantage through sponsorship: A conceptual model and research propositions. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 38 No. 8, 2004, pp. 1013-1030.

Flint, G.D. and Van Fleet, D.D. (2005). A comparison and contrast of Strategic Management and Classical Economic concepts: Definitions, comparisons, and pursuit of advantages. Journal of Business Inquiry, 2005. Utah Valley State College, USA.

Flint, G.D. and Van Fleet, D.D. (2005). A comparison and contrast of Strategic Management and Classical Economic concepts: Definitions, comparisons, and pursuit of advantages. Journal of Business Inquiry, 2005.Utah Valley State College, USA.

Gibbons,S. Machin S., and Silva,O (2005). Competition, Choice and Primary School Performance. Retrieved from http://www.cepr.org/ meets/wkcn/ 3/3525/papers/ gibbons.pdf

Hamel, G. &Prahalad, C.K. (1995).Thinking differently. Business Quarterly, 59(4), 22-35.

Huang, H., Binney, W., & Hede,A (2011). Strategic marketing of educational institutions. Retrived from http://anzmac2010. org/proceedings/ pdf/ anzmac10 Final00468.pdf

King, A.W. (2007b). Disentangling interfirm and intrafirm causal ambiguity: A conceptual model of causal ambiguity and sustainable competitive advantage. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 32, No.1, 156-178.

Liao, S.H. and Hu, T.C. (2007). Knowledge transfer and competitive advantage on environmental uncertainty: An empirical study of the Taiwan semiconductor industry. Technovation, 27 (2007) 402-411.

Lin, B.W. (2003). Technology transfer as technological learning: a source of competitive advantage for firms with limited R&D resources. R&D Management, 33, 3, 2003. 327-341.

Ma, H. (1999a). Anatomy of competitive advantage: a SELECT framework. Management Decision, Vol. 37 No. 9, 1999, pp. 709-718.

Ma, H. (1999b). Creation and preemption for competitive advantage. Management Decision, Vol. 37 No. 3, 1999, pp. 259-267.

Ma, H. (2004). Toward global competitive advantage: Creation, competition, cooperation and co-option. Management Decision, Vol. 42 No. 7, 2004, pp. 907-924.

Ma, H. (2000). Competitive advantage and firm performance. Competitiveness Review, 2000,Vol. 10 Issue 2, p16, 17p.

Mills, J., Platts, K. and Bourne, M. (2003). Competence and resource architectures. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 23, No. 9, 2003, pp. 977 994.

Molina, M. A., Pino, I. B. & Rodriguez, A. C. (2004). Industry, management, capabilities and firms' competitiveness: an empirical contribution. Managerial and Decision Economics, 25, 265-281.

Moser, M (2005). School Size Matters: small school responses to the market. Retrieved from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/ educol/documents/143570.htm

Mugenda, A., AndMugenda, O. 2003. Readings in Research Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. African Centre for Technology Studies, Nairobi, Kenya

Newbert, S. L. (2007). Empirical research on the resource-based view of the firm: An

assessment and suggestions for future research. Strategic Management Journal, 28 (2), 121-146

Pearce,J and Robinson R. (2000). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation and control (7th Ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Peteraf, M.A. and Bergen, M.E. (2003). Scanning dynamic competitive landscapes: A market-based and resource-based framework. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 24, 2003, pp. 1027-1041.

Porter, M.E. (1991). Towards a dynamic theory of strategy. Strategic Management Journal, 12(8): 95-117, Winter 1991.

Porter, M. E. (1996). What is strategy? Harvard Business Review, November-December, 61-78. The value chain.

Porter, M.E (1980). Competitive strategy. The Free Press, New York

Porter, M.E. (1998). Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. Free Press.

Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R. (2006). Strategy and society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review, December 2006.

Porter, M.E. (1985). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance. Free Press, New York, NY.

Powell, T. C. (2001). Competitive advantage: Logical and philosophical considerations. Strategic Management Journal, 22(9), 875-888.

Price Waterhouse Coopers-PWC (2013). How can Canada's higher educational institutions stay competitive?. Retrieved from http://www.pwc.com/ca/en/ public-sector-government canada-higher-education-competition.jhtml

Raduan, C. R, Jegak, U., Haslinda, A., Alimin, I. I. (2009). Management, Strategic Management Theories and theLinkage with Organizational Competitive Advantage from theResource-Based View. European Journal of Social Sciences - Volume 11, Number 3 (2009) 402

Rothschild, W. E. (1984). Surprise and the competitive advantage.Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 4 Iss: 3, p.10-18.

Thompson, A. Strickland, J. (1998). Crafting and implementing strategy, texts and readings (10th Ed.). McGraw- Hill, New York.

Tuan, N. M. & Yoshi,T. (2010). Organizational Capabilities, Competitive Advantage

And Performance In Supporting Industries In Vietnam. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 15(1), 1-21.

Downloads

Published

2016-11-07

How to Cite

NTHAMBI, J. (2016). THE EFFECT OF COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES ON PERFOMANCE OF PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA. A SURVEY OF PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NAIROBI. African Journal of Education and Practice, 1(2), 53–73. Retrieved from https://iprjb.org/journals/index.php/AJEP/article/view/162

Issue

Section

Articles