Strategic Responses Adopted by Members of Kenya Motor Industry Association to the Changing Environment

Abstract

Kenya’s macro environment has undergone a number of changes. This has made firms to come up with strategies that would help them to be successful in this environment. The motor industry has also been affected by some of these changes like liberalization and globalization which have made the formal motor sector to come up with strategies that will adapt to the changing environment. The study objectives were to establish the environmental challenges facing the members of the Kenya Motor Industry Association and how they responded to these challenges. The study covered 16 members of the Kenya Motor Industry Association. Data was collected using questionnaires which were administered using drop and pick method. Personal interviews were conducted for clarification. Data is analysed using descriptive statistics, which involves mean scores used to show the average effect of the environment changes, the standard deviation used to check the variability from the mean and the mode has been used to evaluate the most popular strategy undertaken. The study found out that the motor industry faces a lot of challenges including economic, political, social-cultural and technological factors. The prevalent factors are currency fluctuation, inflation, changes in consumer buying patterns, import regulations and tax regimes. The industry focuses on particular clientele, market segments and differentiation in response to the changing environment mostly due to the competitive forces that exist in the environment. Depending on the age of the firms, different strategies are undertaken.