| dc.description.abstract | Growth strategies are indispensable to the survival of private hospitals in Nairobi. These
hospitals invest their resources in growth strategies aimed at helping them deal with
organizational challenges of the 21st century. This study was focussed on establishing
the growth strategies that have been applied by private hospitals in Nairobi and also the
factors that influence the choice of these growth strategies. The data was collected
through a well-structured questionnaire targeting the top management of the private
hospitals who are responsible for crafting and implementing strategies. The data was
analysed and summarized in frequency distribution tables and various percentages,
means and standard deviations were computed. The findings indicated that the most
utilized growth strategy was product development whereby most hospitals were
committed in improving the quality of services and incorporating new features into the
existing products. The study also revealed that private hospitals in Nairobi used market
development, market penetration and diversification strategies. In addition, mergers and
acquisition were used by the hospitals but to a small extent. The findings on factors
influencing the choice of growth strategies indicated that the most important factor
affecting choice of growth strategies was the availability of resources. Also, vision and
mission of the institution of the hospitals were ranked as the second important factor in
influencing choice of growth strategies. Other factors that were considered important
included customer needs, competition, goals and objectives, the business environment,
shareholders influence, expected profits and economic stability. The study encountered
the limitations of respondents being very busy in their work schedules and this resulted
into delays in returning the questionnaires. The researcher had to do a lot of follow-ups.
Also, some respondents declined to provide information citing that growth strategies
were a sensitive issue that could be used by their competitors. In view of the findings of
the study, the researcher recommended that Private hospitals in Nairobi should allocate
more resources to research and development in order to continually improve on the
quality of their products also focus more on diversification strategies that would enable
them to increase their revenue base. In addition, the private hospitals in Nairobi should
venture into markets outside the country and tap on the customer base in the entire African market | en |
