MST-Department of Business Administration

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Browsing MST-Department of Business Administration by Author "Aberi, Lorna"

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    Competitive Strategies and Organizational Performance of Five-Star Hotels in Nairobi City County, Kenya
    (Kenyatta University, 2025-05) Aberi, Lorna
    The hospitality sector has been significantly impacted by increasing complexity and dynamism, continuous technological advancements, the influx of new competitors, and most recently, the global Covid-19 pandemic. Organizational performance reflects a company’s ability to achieve its goals through a commitment to learning, operational excellence, and a strong focus on both customers and employees. While various studies have explored the role of competitive strategies in industries such as telecommunications, limited empirical research has focused on the hospitality sector particularly five-star hotels in Nairobi. This study seeks to bridge that gap by examining the relationship between competitive strategies namely cost leadership, differentiation, and focus and hotel performance outcomes. The primary aim is to assess how these strategies influence the effectiveness of five-star hotels in Nairobi. Specifically, the study investigates the relationship between cost leadership tactics and hotel performance, the impact of product/service differentiation, and the role of focus strategies in addressing current and future challenges. The research is grounded in the Resource-Based View (RBV), Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies, and the SERVQUAL Model. A descriptive research design was adopted, targeting five-star hotels in Nairobi, two of which were forced to close during the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. A simple random sampling method was used, and structured questionnaires were administered to collect primary data. Findings indicate that cost leadership had the greatest influence, driven by long-term supplier partnerships that reduced operational expenses. Product differentiation through innovative services and technology had a moderate effect on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Focus strategies, such as tiered pricing models, showed a positive but weaker influence. Collectively, these strategies improved hotel performance, measured by customer satisfaction, market share, staff engagement, and service efficiency. Policy recommendations include promoting strategic procurement with local suppliers, mandating continuous professional development for hotel leaders, and offering tax incentives to encourage technological innovation. Additionally, establishing standardized quality assurance frameworks and inclusive pricing models is essential. From a managerial perspective, hotel operators should formalize supplier agreements, invest in innovation, adopt data-driven segmentation strategies, and strengthen loyalty programs. Leadership development and performance monitoring tools such as KPIs and balanced scorecards are vital for sustaining competitiveness. Future research should extend to other geographic regions or tourism sub-sectors, such as air travel, to test the generalizability of these findings and support the development of globally competitive strategies.