| dc.description.abstract | Over the past few years, the general business environment has become more volatile,
unpredictable and highly competitive. Coping with the increasingly turbulent environment has pushed firms into rethinking their operational and strategic interventions. As Pearce and Robinson (1997) observed, the external environment exerts pressure on firms to be proactive and to formulate successful strategies that facilitate responses to anticipated, planned and actual changes in an increasingly dynamic and changing environment.
NMG has faced a number of challenges in the external environment since inception. The
objectives of this study were to establish the specific changes in the external environment which had affected NMG and find out the strategic responses the firm had employed to cope with them.
The research design used was a case study. The method was found suitable because it aimed at giving an in-depth account of how NMG is responding to changes in the external environment.
Primary data was collected through face to face interview with six respondents drawn from the organization’s top management.
The study found that the greatest challenge facing NMG was the digital growth that has seen viewers, readers and advertisers shift to the internet, shunning traditional media platforms such as newspapers. Competition and government regulation were also found to be significant factors threatening NMG’s survival and profitability. NMG has responded in a number of ways among them investing heavily in technology and online platforms. The other strategy involves forming strategic alliances with firms both in the media industry and without to draw synergies.
The study was not without limitations. Being a case study of NMG, some of the findings in
respect of NMG’s direct and indirect business rivals may not be exhaustive. In probing the
respondents, the researcher may have left out certain variables that could have highlighted the challenges in the external environment facing NMG and the strategic responses the organization has employed in a more exhaustive manner. The researcher also faced time constraints in collecting data from NMG’s senior managers through in-depth face to face interviews. This took a lot of time since the respondents were busy and did not have sufficient time to finish the interviews in one sitting.
The study was however not exhaustive and therefore recommends further research on on the challenges NMG is facing as it seeks to grown and maintain its market leadership position in the media industry among other areas. | en |
