| dc.description.abstract | For Kenya, integration into the global economy through economic liberalization, deregulation, and
democratization has been seen as the best way to overcome poverty, unemployment, dismal
economic growth and general decline in Economic development. Crucial to this process is the
development of a vibrant private sector being touted in every policy paper, in which the hitherto
eclipsed Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) plays pivotal role. This in Kenya can be likened
to the calling of a new order of things which Machiavelli noted thus, "there is nothing more
difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the
lead in the introduction of new order of things"
Most notably, in Kenya, SMEs development objectives have been linked to efforts aimed at
poverty alleviation, employment creation and increased economic growth mainly in the context of
shrinking job opportunities and formal economy as well as the dwindling international investors
and suspension of aid on which basis the tenets of energized economic growth was based by the
Government. Unfortunately, Globalisation and Liberalisation brought challenges that extrapolation
could not address and new factors had to be introduced into the process of management and as a
result many SMEs had to scale down their operations or fold up all together, the study revealed.
The study further revealed that, SMEs represent an element of competition and counters
monopolistic tendencies, provides. consumers with a broader menu of products and contributes to
competitive pricing. Managers in this sector are, beyond the overarching worries triggered by the
political instability, dilapidated infrastructure, slow pace of formulation and enactment of policies,
share some specific anxieties beyond their control or ignorance.
SMEs, the study revealed, continue to position themselves by leveraging their strengths by
formulating and implementing sound strategies despite hash environmental factors. It is therefore
possible, if SMEs policies are developed consciously and purposefully with little Government
attention they can claim their rightful role as engines of Economic development and help achieve
the millennium goals. This is witnessed by their continued supply of goods to the market that
compete with large industries despite the hash environmental conditions in which they operate and
seek to endure. Their potential should be used as an ingrained way of perceiving their economic
role.
The findings of this study suggest that performances of SMEs vary with choice of business strategy
they adopt and that the relationship between strategy types and the performance of SMEs is
moderated by environment. Therefore, Managers' understanding of the environment, which have
become an enduring myth, is of outmost importance. Environment affecting SMEs will need
constant review and analysis of its effect to the business if the business is to remain competitive,
fulfil its mission, attain its vision and post a notable bottom line-Performance! The novelty and
the speed of the developments in the environment call for real time continuous preoccupation with
the strategic issues throughout SMEs operations as no policies are well documented to guide them.
Those who pretend that the same kind of policy approach can be applied no matter what
environment are either naive or charlatans and their operations are doomed. To survive therefore, it
seems, SMEs must be able to quickly create, deploy, and implement breakthrough strategies that
help them to continually anticipate and meet current-and future challenges, maximize on the
performance and withstand any environmental adversity. The onus is therefore on SMEs to design
individual framework to follow and produce the expected results. | en |
