| dc.description.abstract | The environment in which the company operates is constantly changing and there is need for the organization to adapt in order to survive. The environment is highly dynamic and presents the firm with opportunities and threats. The general business environment has become very volatile, unpredictable and very competitive especially with the opening up of the east African market, many international organizations view Kenya as the business hub for the region. Coping with the competitive environment has called on firms to refine their strategies that match challenges to environment are required.
The objective of the study was to determine the challenges facing Grundfos Kenya and establish the strategic responses to the challenges in the external environment. To satisfy the research objective, the researcher used the case study method. This design was deemed appropriate as the researcher was looking for in-depth information on the strategic responses adapted by Grundfos Kenya to its external environment. Primary data was collected using a structured interview guide which was presented through face to face interview. The respondents were the departmental managers as the researcher was interested in the people who are involved in strategy development in the organization.
The result of the study indicated that there were a number of challenges in the political and legal, social and cultural, economical and technological environments. The researcher also found out that there were various industrial forces that affected the organization. These were local competition and rivalry among the industrial players, threats from the 'new entrants, threats of the substitutes, bargaining power of
the buyers and the suppliers. Various strategies were adopted by the company to adapt to these challenges and this included; market strategies, product development strategies, pricing methods strategy and community development as a strategy, human resources policies and customer service.
A number of limitations were faced. Foremost, the scope and depth of the study relied on the interview of the Grundfos managers of the various business units. A result of some bias might have been brought up by the sample itself. Since managers were the main focus of the study. In probing the respondent, the researcher might have left out certain variable that could have highlighted the dimension of strategic responses in a more exhaustive manner. It can however be said that the execution of the study was done with great care to minimize the these limitations
The study recommends that Grundfos Kenya ltd should use the strategy of coo petition and cross selling has to be encouraged. The firm should benchmark with other world class organization and not the local companies in the industry in terms of basic salaries and remunerations. Refocusing of the strategic action should be done where opportunities for differentiation, segmentation and competitive advantage have been identified.
The researcher suggests that future in-depth study could be done on a limited number of environmental factors with relevancy to competitive advantage of the firm. Since the company is planning to launch its strategic plan which focuses on realizing cost leadership in the market, it is therefore recommended that another study be carried out to find out the Grundfos market positioning with a view of achieving cost leadership. | en_US |
