Competitive strategies adopted by small and medium dairy processors in Nairobi County, Kenya

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue VII, July 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Competitive strategies adopted by small and medium dairy processors in Nairobi County, Kenya

Veronica Mwangangi, David Kabata (PhD), Jeketule Jacob Soko (PhD)
Tangaza University College

ABSTRACT
The dairy industry in Kenya plays an important role in the creation of employment and food security. It is one of the major drivers which the country is using to achieve the Sustainable Development goals and Kenya Vision 2030. The success of the sector however, is dependent on the ability of the different firms to improve performance through gaining a competitive edge that is sustainable. The main purpose of this study was to find out the competitive strategies used by small and medium dairy processors in Nairobi County. The study used a descriptive survey research design, and a census of the firms. Questionnaire was the key instrument of data collection. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The summarized information was presented using tables and charts. The study found out that the dairy enterprises had adopted the differentiation strategy more than the cost leadership, cost focus and differentiation focus strategies as represented by 32% of the respondents. It is recommended that a longitudinal and inferential study be carried out on a larger study population of the small and medium dairy firms, which extends beyond Nairobi County. The study recommended that a replication of the study be carried out using more objective measures of performance like profits. The conclusions made from the study findings may be used by managers of both existing firms and new entrants into the industry, who may need to make decisions on what competitive strategies may be suited to their business in order to position themselves in the industry and to improve performance.

Key Words: Competitive Strategies, Competitive advantage, Cost Leadership, Differentiation, Cost Focus, Differentiation Focus

BACKGROUND

Present day globalization has led to heightened competition among business firms (Kinyanjui et al., 2016), and created a business environment that is turbulent and highly competitive (Schwab, 2019). Consequently, firms are forced to find unique ways of creating and sustaining competitiveness for their survival (Laban and Deya, 2019). According to Omari et al., 2016), the desired competitiveness can be achieved by developing competitive strategies. To remain profitable, firms have therefore become more aggressive in developing the appropriate competitive strategies (Nyambane and Bett, 2018), and are paying a lot of attention to the quality of products, costs of production, and supply chains (International Trade Centre, 2019).
Competitive strategies are explained by Rono (2015) as the approaches that a firm takes to gain a desired market position and hence achieve a competitive advantage over its competitors. This is in agreement with Porter (1980) whose theory explains that the aim of competitive strategies is to give an enterprise profits which are above average. Safaricom (2019) equally posit that firms that adopt carefully selected competitive strategies usually have competitive advantage and hence improved performance. A business that adopts strategies that are difficult to replicate achieves competitive advantage and has higher chances of being more profitable than competitors (Abubakar and Mohammad, 2019). Consequently, a number of strategy profiles such as those of Parnell (2002), Hooley and Greenley (2005), Spanos and Lioukas (2001), Hayes and Schmenner (1978), White (2004), Miles and Snow (1978), and Porter (1980) among others have been advanced and emphirically tested (Atikiya, 2015; Mukhezakule and Tefera, 2019; KPMG, 2019).

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