| dc.description.abstract | This research was undertaken to explore the factors that influence sustainable
growth of small and medium enterprises, and developed instruments that were used to
assess the conditions that need to be present in the business environment in order to
enhance the likelihood of successful and sustainable growth of the business. The
objectives of the study were to assess how marketing strategies used by managers
influence sustainable growth in SMEs, to assess how research strategies influence
sustainable growth in SME’s, to examine how competition influences the sustainable
growth in SMEs and to establish how changes in technology influence sustainable growth in SMEs in Nairobi.The descriptive research design was employed and data was collected mby means of questionnaires administered to 45 employees of Avery East Africa which was the case on study. Content analysis was also used. To achieve these objectives the researcher carried out a case of Avery EA Limited. Data was obtained from all the 45 employees from all departments in the organization. The findings indicated that there are necessary strategies to be adopted to ensure that the company remains in constant growth throughout its lifetime without stalling or slowing down which is the case with most SMEs that are lucky enough not to die after a short while. The marketing and research strategies are among the important factors of sustainable growth while competition, technological, political stability and market reforms are the other factors to be considered.
This study recommends the management should embrace the concept of innovation, cost leadership, marketing initiatives, and globalization and also to embrace customer
intimacy. Respondents strongly agreed that marketing initiatives have positively
impacted on the sustainable growth of the firm and that strategy to move from existing
market positions to new markets is equally important in determining the sustainability of
the firm’s growth. The study also found out that price reduction is a major factor in
sustainable growth in small and medium enterprises. The study further established that
sustainable growth at Avery is brought about by product differentiation and customer
intimacy. Similarly, a high value for innovation as one of the research strategies that
highly influence the sustainable growth and product development, competition within the
industry and technology all need to be considered when working towards keeping the
business growth consistent.This study recommends that the management should have a continuous and unending process of marketing initiatives and embrace globalization
including franchising and partnerships. The management should also come up with
research strategies and embrace innovation and product development to keep the
company an edge above the rest. | en |
