Strategies Employed by the University of Nairobi to Sustain Competitive Advantage

Abstract

Today’s organizations operate in a very dynamic and highly competitive environment. Owing to shifting paradigms in the institutions of higher learning, the revolution in the information communication and technology, the world has turned into a global labor market. The shifting paradigms have compelled the university to re-access its strengths and weaknesses and respond appropriately by adjusting to the environment in order to align itself with the ever changing environment. Also, the ever changing dynamics of the external environment has led to increased competition for limited resources and market share. The emerging trends have imposed competitive challenges hence obligating the University of Nairobi to review its competitive strategies in order to maintain and further sustain its competitive advantage. The universities have been obligated to redefine their mission and constantly review their strategies in order to maintain sustainable competitive advantage. In embracing dynamism, the universities are required to produce holistic graduates with global skills. Development of strategies to counter emerging threats and exploitation of the new emerging opportunities has proved vital for survival of the university. The objective of this study was to examine the strategies adopted by the University of Nairobi to maintain sustainable competitive advantage. Sustainability of competitive advantage has been the key factor in ensuring that the university maintains its leadership position in the Higher Education Sector domain. In order to achieve the study objective using an interview guide, the researcher booked an interview appointment with carefully selected interviewees who are section heads in various units and therefore; key policy makers. The findings from this study will help other players to simulate and build relevant skills, improve conceptual knowledge and gain a better appreciation of business strategy and systems in order to improve on their performance. Case study research design was adopted with the help of an interview guide. The data was collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary data was collected from interviews and the secondary data was obtained from the strategic plan of 2013 - 2018. Content analysis was used for data analysis by interpreting the main concepts and contents relevant to research objectives. This study revealed the various strategies employed by UoN which was positively correlated by the findings to sustainable competitive advantage