Effects of generic competitive strategies on organizational performance in the manufacturing industry: a case of Bamburi cement limited, head office

Abstract

A strategy is integrated actions, decisions, or plans designed to set and achieve organizational long-term goals. It is necessary for the business to analyze their environment with a view to creating strategies that will set them apart from their competitors. This research focused on the effects of generic competitive strategies on organizational performance in the manufacturing industry a case of Bamburi Cement Limited. This study aimed at investigating how the generic strategies; cost leadership, products differentiation and market focus strategies affect organizational performance. A survey research design was used. Stratified and purposive sampling methods were used to select an appropriate sample population of all 61 managers from a population of 453 employees. Data was analyzed by use of descriptive measures. Correlation was used to determine the strength of the relations while regression analysis determined the relationship between the variables. The findings of the study revealed that, the cost leadership strategy had a weak effect on achieving organizational performance. Differentiation strategy proved to have a significant effect on organizational performance with high quality product of cement. Market focus was discovered to have a significant effect on organizational performance. The study recommends companies to appropriately embrace cost leadership strategy as it assists in achieving competitive prices to customers. Improvement of differentiation strategy was necessary to drive up sales.