| Popis: |
Availability of funding has been the key impediment in many organizations especially in provision of health services for private hospitals. To sustain performance and therefore their survival firms ought to employ competitive strategies. This research project sought to establish the effect of competitive strategies on performance of inpatient private hospitals in Mombasa County, Kenya. The general objective of the study was to establish the effects of competitive strategies on the performance of private inpatient hospitals in Mombasa County, Kenya. The specific objectives of this study were to examine the influence of cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy and focus strategy on the performance of private inpatient hospitals in Mombasa County. The study covered Private Hospitals in Mombasa County offering inpatient facilities. The study was also limited to the competitive strategies to the extent of influencing performance of these inpatient private hospitals. Theoretical review was based on three main theories, Porter’s five Forces model, RBV, the Dynamic Capabilities theory. The study employed a descriptive research design. The population for this study was 148 drawn from thirty-seven private hospitals in Mombasa County providing outpatient and inpatient services. The population of the research was all employees of the thirty-seven private inpatient hospitals in Mombasa County. The researcher used purposive sampling design in selecting 148 respondents drawn from these hospitals. The study made use of questionnaires in collecting primary data. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. focus strategy, differentiation strategy and cost leadership strategy were found to positively and significantly influence on performance. The study concludes that a cost leadership strategy that is successful entails offering services or/and products with low price, acceptable attributes and features, satisfactory quality and a large clients number since in lowering costs, scale is an enabler. Differentiation strategies are based on providing customers with something unique or different, making the hospitals service distinct from the competitors. A focus strategy aids in building strong associations within every target market since clients have a feeling that the hospitals brand particularly created something for them, hence over time builds loyalty. The study recommends that the hospitals should rely on economies of scale to achieve efficiency which translates into operational cost savings for the hospitals. The hospitals should have an idea of their expertise in their business operations by identifying their specific services or overall brand’s weaknesses and strengths. The hospitals should discover their threats, opportunities, weaknesses and Strengths to assist them knowing who to initially target and highlight the details of each prospective market. |
