| dc.description.abstract | Small and Medium Enterprises continuously operate in an environment where goods
and services are often produced and exchanged to meet the material and social needs
and advancement of living standards in a rapidly changing technological society.
Consequently, Small and Medium enterprises have to deliberately engage in strategic
planning in order to ensure, sustain their survival, meander and grow to their next
level in their life cycle of developments. Naturally, all businesses regardless of size
begin with a plan and ends with a plan. This plan is what management expertise
referred to as a strategy. A strategic plan whether reduced to a written form or
unwritten helps to guide the direction of the business in its charted journey to success.
The salient elements of strategic responses too must take into account and focus on
related policies, programmes and activities which deal with in an informed manner,
the emerging environmental and industry challenges accordingly. The objective of
this study was to primarily determine and document how ManHussein and Associates
Ltd – the subject of this study - have responded to the dynamics of changes in its own
environment. It also endeavoured in a fairly comprehensive manner to explore,
demonstrate and document the experiences of the Company in dealing with its
business environment in order to succeed. Basically, this study also adopted content
analysis in examining strategic responses to changing environmental forces impacting
on ManHussein and Associates Ltd. Upon completion, the study provided useful
information aimed at recognizing, understanding, and synethizing and intervening in
those aspects of environmental forces affecting significantly the bottom line of
Company to the Leadership and Management. The study adopted the PESTEL
framework to analyze and rates all the environmental conditions surrounding the
company and its responses. Specifically, the economic factors has been exemplary
and given a higher value than the other factors. A case study was adopted with an
interview guide as the study instruments. The findings show that the Company has
been influenced by various factors which were identified as being either supportive;
providing opportunities as well as enduring short and long term challenges. The
company’s product differentiation strategy has enabled it to better position itself to
respond to the changing environmental forces. A significant element of the Company
strategy adopted was the niche marketing strategy where the main focus of the
Company continued to invest deliberately in acceptable Shariah compliant
investments. ManHussein and Associates Ltd has also managed to be successful so far
in managing environmental challenges due to its open-minded attitude of the
management and its resourcefulness to aptly answer to these changes in a strategic
mode. The future of the business will depend on how well the company is able to
adjust their business operations to the prevailing volatile environment. However, the
company according to the findings of this study needs to do more on the physical and
political environment. Future research in my considered view should be conducted to
find out how the firm alters its strategies to improve its bottom line and in what ways
the strategic path chose has endeared the Company to its market place and offerings.
From this study, it is however, clear that from the outset, ManHussein and Associates
Ltd acknowledges and recognizes the fact that it is working in a dynamic environment
and doing nothing about it, is not an option. It also realized that for it to maintain
good performance and growth, it has to continually make changes so as to adapt to the
environment. The firm sees the need to delight its customers and shareholders by
satisfying their needs, creating market led shareholder value and exceeding their
expectations at all times. | en_US |
