Influence of Generic Planning Strategies on Competitiveness of Private universities

The growth in number of universities in Kenya, (MOE, 2016), coupled with the belief that a degree qualification guarantee good job and better bargaining power in the career advancement, witnessed an exponential growth in students' enrollment. The skyrocketed enrollment affected the already over-stretched academic resources. The scenario rendered the public university sector inadequate to meet the demand for university education. This contributed to a thriving private university education in Kenya, prompting a fertile ground for a stiff competition for student attraction. Lately, the new trend and reforms in the education sector continue to affect Kenyan universities as evidenced by the decline in students' enrollment in some universities. The researcher realizes that, the existing studies relate competitiveness with performance. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the influence of market focus planning strategies, institutional characteristic as planning strategies on competitiveness of private universities in Nairobi County, Kenya. Resource Based Theory, Competitive Advantage Theory and Generic Framework Theory guided this study.