| dc.description.abstract | In the recent past, the business environment has experienced an upsurge in
competition. Investors across industry have undertaken advantage of a liberalized
environment to move the competitive scales higher thereby increasing the number of
business participants in the market arena. The aviation industry which has hitherto
enjoyed a near monopoly especially by Kenya Airways has not been spared. Many
players have entered this industry including Five Forty Aviation Limited, Jetlink, Air
Kenya and many more others. Five Forty Aviation must thus come out not only to
defend its survival but also create a sustainable competitive advantage for itself. In its
quest to remain competitive Five Forty Aviation Limited has engaged highly skilled and
trained staff, increased advertisements and publicity, provided a wide range of services
to the clients in order to retain their loyalty and automated their business processes.
The study was conducted in the period between May-October 2009 with the objective of
determining the competitive strategies adopted by Five Forty Aviation Limited and the
challenges experienced in adoption of these strategies. The research was a case study
and data was collected using structured interview guides with questions sent out to
seven (7) heads of departments at Five Forty Aviation namely finance, information
system, human resources administration, ground handling, technical ,flight operations,
commercial and the chief executive officer. From the study it was found out that Five
Forty Aviation Limited uses more of Porters generic strategies of cost leadership,
differentiation and focus strategies. These were found to be more pronounced.
However, the major challenges facing implementation of these strategies were found to
be increased competition, meeting and maintaining international air transport
association requirements, imitation from other airlines, financial challenges and rapid
shifts in interest rates. The result of this project will be invaluable to the company, | en |
