Competitive strategies adopted by the standard limited

Abstract

The research aimed at determining the competitive strategies adopted by the standard group limited in the face of challenges arising from the operating environment. The researcher noted that the increased level of competition in the media industry has over the last five years been so stiff with the entry of more players in the print and media industry in the country. With this intense level of competition, organization has had to come out with competitive strategies that are aimed to counter the challenges and propel the organization to greater heights. The research identified a number of strategies that have been employed by STGL namely; In response to its operating environment, TSGL has employed strategies like restructuring, IT, marketing and consumer education, leadership and culture change and staff recruitment, building and enhancing the capacity of employees through training and development programs and finally the organization has involved stakeholders in the development and implementation of competitive strategies to be taken by the organization as partners and reduce incidences of resistance. In trying to achieve the research objective, the researcher adopted a case study approach where seven members of staff were interviewed on the basis of an interview guide prepared. The study found out that TSGL has taken a deliberate move to adequately respond to the challenges it faces in its operating environment. The challenges that the firm faces included changing consumer tastes especially from the young customers, loss of key employees to rival firms, inflexible organizational structure that is slow in adapting to changes, inadequate resources and capacity in the organization and in some cases a leadership and management team that is not responsive enough to the demands of the market, especially level of competition present using its capabilities. Towards overcoming this challenges, the organizational responses take mclude; restructuring the organizational structure and operation, adoption of the state of the art IT infrastructure, marketing and consumer education, leadership and culture change, recruitment of competent staff, building and enhancing the capacity of employees through training and development programs and finally the organization has involved stakeholders in the development and implementation of competitive strategies to be taken by the organization as partners and reduce incidences of resistance. By taking the above steps TSGL has been able to increase its market share over the last five years as well as increase its profit margin and improve its public image as well.