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The Moderating Effect of Ethical Values in the Relationship between Competitive Strategies and Performance of Accredited Universities in Kenya

(International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2025-05-28) Wacuka, Cecilia, Gathitu; K’Obonyo, Peter; Machuki, Vincent N.; Njihia, James M.

Accredited universities in Kenya have experienced dynamic growth and challenges among them ethical concerns that touch on the quality, relevance of university curricula and capacity to pursue research effectively over years (GoK, 2019; World Bank, 2020). The objective of this study was to examine the influence of ethical values on the relationship between competitive strategies and performance of accredited universities in Kenya. The corresponding hypothesis stated that ethical values have no significant moderating influence on the relationship between competitive strategies and performance of accredited universities in Kenya. The study was anchored on the stakeholder’s theory and complemented by virtue ethics theory. The research was grounded on the positivist philosophy. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design targeting a population of 53 accredited universities in Kenya was applied. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires. The response rate from completed questionnaires was 66.6%. Data was analyzed using step wise regression analysis. Findings from this study were that ethical values did not moderate significantly the relationship between competitive strategies and performance of accredited universities in Kenya. Future research could include other respondents such as staff and students to eliminate single source bias to enrich the study. Other methods such as longitudinal design could offer richer data and greatly support the research design and the outcomes

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The Mediating Effect of Competitive Advantage on the Relationship between Competitive Strategies and Performance of Accredited Universities in Kenya

(African Journal of Emerging Issues (AJOEI), 2024-07) Wacuka, Cecilia, Gathitu; K’Obonyo, Peter; Machuki, Vincent, N.; Njihia, James, M

Research Objective: The objective of this research was to examine the mediating effect of competitive advantage in the relationship between competitive strategies and performance of accredited universities in Kenya. Research Methodology: The study was anchored on Industrial organization theory basing on structure conduct paradigm, advanced by Porter (1986). Positivism provided the philosophical foundation. The population of the research comprised 53 accredited universities in Kenya. This was a census survey. Descriptive cross-sectional research design was used. Primary data was collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. The respondents were academic registrars from both public and private accredited universities. Four path analysis model by Baron and Kenny’s (1986) was applied in the data analysis. Results and Findings: The research outcomes revealed that competitive advantage partially mediated the relationship between competitive strategies and performance of accredited universities in Kenya. Implication of the study: The study findings are useful to strategic management practitioners and managers from accredited universities in Kenya, policymakers in government as well as scholars and researchers Key words: Competitive strategies, competitive advantage and organizational performance

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The Joint Effect of Competitive Strategies, Competitive Advantage, Ethical Values, And Corporate Reputation on Performance of Accredited Universities in Kenya

(Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom, 2024-05-25) Wacuka, Cecilia, Gathitu; K’Obonyo, Peter; Machuki, Vincent, N.; Njihia, James, M.

The broad objective of the study was to determine the joint effect of competitive strategies, competitive advantage, ethical values and corporate reputation on performance of accredited universities in Kenya. The corresponding null hypothesis stated that the joint effect of competitive strategies, competitive advantage, ethical values and corporate reputation on performance of accredited universities in Kenya is not significantly different from the independent effects of predictor variables. This study was anchored on Industrial (Economics) organization theory, Stakeholders’ theory, Resource-based theory and Virtue’s ethics theory. Descriptive cross-sectional survey was used. The population of the study comprised 53 accredited universities. To collect data, semi structured questionnaires were used due to the covid-19 situation while a few were dropped and picked back. Data analysis used regression models. Findings from the test of hypotheses showed that the joint effect of competitive strategies, competitive advantage, ethical values and corporate reputation on performance is significantly different from the independent effects of predictor variables. The significant findings implied that the null hypothesis was rejected. The study outcomes contributed to theory, policy and management practice. The four theories validated outcomes of the study. Policy makers in the Ministry of higher education, Commission for University Education and university managers were recommended to establish a policy framework that observes ethical practices; quality programs and reliable training and research and adoption of competitive strategies such a market penetration, strategic alliances, product development focus strategy, differentiation and cost leadership in that order. A single respondent who was deemed to introduce bias in choosing suitable responses was said to limit the study. Questionnaires reduced subjectivism in statement responses. Longitudinal design for generalizability of results was suggested for future studies Keywords: Competitive strategies, competitive advantage, ethical values, corporate reputation and performance of accredited universities in Kenya.

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Competitive Strategies and Performance of Accredited Universities in Kenya

(Stratford Peer Reviewed Journals and Book Publishing, 2024-07) Cecilia, Wacuka, Gathitu; K’Obonyo, Peter; Machuki, Vincent, N.; Njihia, James, M.

Universities in Kenya, with the mandate of developing Kenya’s human resource, have received increasing attention due to rising concerns regarding their competitiveness for sustained performance. These concerns have been triggered by environmental shocks such as the recent covid-19 pandemic which caused disruptions in the global market, the Russia-Ukraine conflict that affected the country’s dollar liquidity and in turn causing runaway inflation, global oil price shocks, extreme weather conditions that caused drought in most of the arid and semi-arid areas, declines in real gross domestic product and severe hardship facing Kenya’s government’s capacity to fund university education. Against this backdrop, a conceptual model was developed whose main objective was to determine the effect of competitive strategies on performance of accredited universities in Kenya. The corresponding hypothesis stated that competitive strategies have no significant effect on the performance of accredited universities in Kenya. The implications of performance on competitive strategies were anchored on the Industrial Organization (IO) Economics theory as propounded by Mason (1939), advanced by Bain (1968) and adopted by Porter (1985). The theory was based on the structure-conduct-paradigm (SCP), which postulated that the structure of a market and/or industry impacted the “conduct” of businesses, which then impacted their performance. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design targeting a population of 53 accredited universities in Kenya was used. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires. The response rate from completed questionnaires was 66.6%. Data was analysed using multiple linear regression analysis. The findings from the analyzed data showed competitive strategies that had significant influence on performance of accredited universities in Kenya namely; market penetration, strategic alliances, focus strategy, differentiation and cost leadership, in that order. Future research could include other respondents such as staff and students to eliminate single source bias to enrich the study. Other methods such as longitudinal design could offer richer data and greatly support the research design and the outcomes. Key words: Competitive strategies, Competitive advantage and Performance of Accredited Universities in Kenya.

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Competitive Strategies and Performance of Accredited Universities in Kenya: Moderating Role of Corporate Reputation

(A Quarterly publication of the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business and Management Sciences (FBMS) University of Nairobi, 2024-09-30) Wacuka, Cecilia, Gathitu; K’Obonyo, Peter; Machuki, Vincent, N.; Njhia, James, M.

The objective of this study was to examine the moderating effect of corporate reputation on the relationship between competitive strategies and performance of accredited universities in Kenya. The corresponding null hypothesis stated that corporate reputation has no significant moderating effect on the relationship between competitive strategies and the performance of accredited universities in Kenya. Corporate reputation was measured using its six dimensions, namely, quality programs, quality services, quality management, quality leadership and capacity to attract and retain talented staff. The study was guided by two theories, namely, Industrial Organization (IO) and Resource based theory. The study was conducted using a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. Primary data was collected using a semi structured questionnaire which was administered to academic registrars from 53 accredited universities in Kenya. The response rate was 66.6%. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarize and make inference from the research findings. The moderating effect of corporate reputation was tested using step wise regression method advanced by Baron and Kenny (1986). The study concluded that corporate reputation did not moderate the relationship between competitive strategies and performance of accredited universities in Kenya. However, descriptive statistics on measures of corporate reputation had an average mean score of 3.99 which indicates that managers in accredited universities agreed to a great extent on the importance of applying corporate reputation measures. Thus, emphasis on four measures whose mean scores ranged from, 4.031 to 4.156, above the average means score was recommended, namely, quality programs or quality services, strong management and leadership, capacity to attract and retain talented staff, benchmarking academic program/services with other highly rated universities and the perception that accredited universities are reliable institutions for academic training and research. Future research could explore different functional forms or non-linear relationships between variables since corporate reputation did not have sufficient evidence to conclude a significant linear relationship between competitive strategies and performance of accredited universities Key words: competitive strategies, corporate reputation and performance of accredited universities in Kenya.