Mohamed, Rukia Ali2021-02-252021-02-252020-06http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/21646A Research Project Submitted to the School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Business Administration (Strategic Management) of Kenyatta University, June 2020The competitive business environment has forced organizations to engage in complex business decisions which require competitive strategies. Competitive strategies gives a strong influence towards firms’ success. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of competitive strategies on the performance of SMEs in Mombasa County. The total population involved a total 19708 SMEs. Due to the big size of the target population a sample size of 202 SMEs was used for the study. The study was guided by four objectives; to establish the effect of Cost leadership strategy on the performance of small and medium enterprises in Mombasa County, to determine the effect of Differentiation strategy on the performance of small and medium enterprises in Mombasa County, to establish the effect of focus strategy on the performance of small and medium enterprises in Mombasa County and to determine the effect of product innovation on the performance of small and medium enterprises in Mombasa County. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS and descriptive and inferential statistics was conducted. The results are presented using charts, tables and graphs. Multivariate regression model and path analysis technique was used to show the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The findings revealed that the competitive strategies adopted by this study positively and significantly affect the performance of SMEs in Mombasa County. Based on the findings this study concluded that competitive strategies adopted all positively and significantly influence the performance of SMEs in Mombasa County. The study hence recommended that the managements of SMEs in Mombasa should consider adopting competitive strategies as a way of increasing their competitiveness and improving their performance since this study found that these competitive strategies positively and significantly influence performance.enCompetitive StrategiesSmessMombasa CountyThesis