Abstract: The study aims at determining the competitive strategies employed and performance of Unilever Tea Kenya Limited (UTKL). Competitive strategies encompass the overall organizational moves and approaches, which a firm possesses and is undertaking as a means of attracting buyers while withstanding competitive pressure and improving its market position. The environment of the tea industry in Kenya is characterized by intense competition with a great number of industry players all competing for the same customers. The high number of industry players has resulted in shrinking and fragmentation of market share for all the companies and in order to guarantee their continued survival and relevance in the current market, companies, including Unilever Tea Kenya Ltd, have had to adopt competitive strategies to ensure that they protect and grow their market share, thereby improving their performance. Specifically, this study set out to establish the competitive strategies adopted by UTKL; the effect of these competitive strategies on the overall company performance of UTKL and; to identify challenges that face strategy implementation in the company. The most suitable study design adopted was a case study design where by the unit of study was the company Unilever Tea Kenya Limited. Primary data was collected through an interview whereby 5 top managers at the company were targeted. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. This study shows that Unilever Tea Kenya Limited has adopted a mix of strategies that ranges from Porter’s generic strategies, Ansoff’s strategy and grand strategies. It is apparent that the strategies UTKL has adopted have helped the company to deliver a significant positive shift in performance of the company despite the turbulent times. This included more volumes, higher quality of tea, lowering of customer complaints, and timely delivery of orders and lower costs of production. Although the degree of success associated with the strategies was not studied, it is recommended that this area needs to be investigated further. It was recommended that there is need to study the implications of the increasing competition drawn from other factory agglomerations that serve the small scale farmers. UTKL should put more efforts and focus on sensitizing its employees on the importance of competitive strategy which assists in gaining competitive advantage and impact positively on the business performance.
Keywords: cost leadership strategy, niche marketing, focus strategies branding strategies and performance.
Title: Competitive Strategies Employed and Performance of Tea Growers in the Western Zone of Kenya; A Case Study of Unilever Tea Kenya Limited
Author: Mercy Nyaboke Onderi, Dr. Jane Queen Omwenga
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
Vol. 10, Issue 4, October 2022 - December 2022
Page No: 113-130
Research Publish Journals
Website: www.researchpublish.com
Published Date: 08-October-2022
