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The purpose of this paper is to establish the extent to which Porter’s five competitive forces (PFCF) framework, among other factors drive the choice of response strategies adopted by public universities in Kenya.

The study design was descriptive and utilized a cross-sectional survey of all the public universities in Kenya by administering a structured questionnaire to the top management team. Additional primary data were collected through observations and interviews. Secondary data were also collected in order to corroborate the data collected from the primary sources.

PFCF framework influenced the choice of response strategies adopted by the public universities “to a great extent”, the most influence being the threat from new entrants. The influence of the choice of response strategies by PFCF framework was independent of the age and category of the universities. Pressure from stakeholders, changes in government policies and regulations, reforms in higher education, unethical response strategies by some universities and university location also influenced the choice of response strategies.

The study collected data from the top management team only; however, other stakeholders could have given additional information not reported here. Further, the research only considered public universities and not all higher education institutions (HEIs) in Kenya, and was cross-sectional, hence generalization and application of the results over a long time, respectively, may be limited.

The value of this study lies in HEIs achieving a competitive advantage and shaping strategic policy direction in the face of changing environment and global commodification of higher education.

Current public universities in Kenya have adopted a business-like approach in their operations in view of changing environment and have adopted coping strategies. Therefore, understanding the factors that influence the choice of response strategies is important for improvement of quality, efficiency and effectiveness as well as in policy formulation and serve as a guide to strategic management.

Key forces shaping higher education drive institutions to make strategic choices to locate themselves in niches where they can make use of their resources effectively and efficiently. However, the concepts of strategy and strategic positioning in higher education are contested issues due to the nature and complexity of the sector and the university. As an industry facing increasing pressure toward marketization and competition, this study calls for an analysis of higher education, as an industry, in a more business-oriented framework. This chapter makes a contribution to scholarly research in higher education by applying Porter’s five forces framework to medical education. In doing so, it provides a foundational perspective on the competitive landscape, its environment, its organizations, and the groups and individuals that make up the higher and medical education sector.

Medical education is an evidence-driven professional field that operates in an increasingly regulated environment as compared to other fields within universities. The purpose of this paper is to establish the extent to which Porter’s five competitive forces framework (Porter, 2008) can drive the management of medical schools in Australia.

Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with over 20 staff from 6 case study Australian medical schools, this paper explores Australian medical education, by looking at the current policy context, structure and interactions between organizations within the system.

The findings provide evidence that environmental forces affect the nature of competition in medical education, and that competitive advantage can be gained by medical schools from a sustained analysis of the industry in which they operate in. Consequently, it is possible to apply a pre-dominantly profit-oriented framework to higher education.

As an industry facing increasing pressure toward marketization and competition, the findings provide sufficient evidence that an analysis of higher education as an industry is possible.

The findings provide evidence that strategic leadership and management in higher education should encompass greater levels of delegation and decision making at all levels. Effective leadership should focus on creating an inspiring vision of the future through a sustained analysis of the industry in which they operate.

The study has made a key contribution through an industry analysis of Australian medical education, which provide important implications for leadership and management in higher education. The study is of significant value to researchers as well as senior management in higher education.

Strategy valuation is not merely a measurement technique that is applied after the strategy formulation process is completed. Its real power lies in the way it can be integrated throughout the strategy formulation effort.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges that small firms in the UK clothing manufacturing sector encounter. It has been suggested that small manufacturers' main problems are based on an inadequate information‐sharing structure. This research will explore the strategic significance of information to effective supply chain decisions in small garment‐manufacturing firms.

The paper is designed to employ Porter's five forces to explain the key factors influencing competition in the UK garment manufacturing industry and the relationship of information technology as a facilitator of shared information. In‐depth interviews and observations are conducted in a multiple case approach.

Empirical evidence shows that the slow and inefficient reaction of small garment manufacturers to competitive pressures is associated with inaccurate and untimely information sharing among trading partners.

The methodological approach justified the particularity, the specificity, and the boundedness required in case studies and demonstrates the depth of thoroughness and authentic explanations. It might, however, be useful to obtain a broader and wider sampling frame in any future research.

A successful supply chain will have implications for the upstream and downstream managers, who need to integrate their supply chains as part of a team that creates and adds value to the garments that end up in the hands of the consumers.

This paper has been able to stimulate concerns and interests in owner/managers of small garment manufacturers with special reference to their information needs. The evidence obtained demonstrated the overriding need for structured information strategies that will encourage the efficient flow of accurate and timely information across their supply chains.

As part of the business strategy in a competitive environment, for an organization to induct information technology (IT) appropriately, business process reengineering (BPR) must be conducted. We propose a process that incorporates both management information systems and strategic management concepts for the IT induction. First, we develop a business competition strategy based on Porter’s five competitive forces; second, using concepts developed in the field of information systems the business processes are reengineered to improve effectiveness and efficiency; and finally, IT strategy is developed to achieve these goals. A real‐life case in the food service industry is used to illustrate this process.

The application service provider (ASP) industry is a fairly young entry into the IT and automatic identification and data capture industries. There are various types of ASPs: EASP (Enterprise ASP) provides enterprise‐class software and applications such as CRM (customer relationship management) and e‐procurement and B2B (business‐to‐business) exchanges; FSP (full‐service provider) provides full service systems integration and IT management services in addition to ASP service; and VASP (vertical ASP) which targets a vertical industry such as a financial services industry. Strategy experts predict that those ASP companies that will not only survive, but will thrive, are those companies that become “business solutions partners” with their customers. ASPs become such partners through enhancing a company’s value. Using Porter’s generic value chain and cost analysis concepts in the development of competitive advantage, this paper examines and models the nature of how ASPs add their own value to a company’s overall competitive strategy by reducing costs within the company’s value chain.

A large body of literature emerged in the early 1980s which addressed the competitive implications of private investments in information systems (IS) at the level of individual firms. Provides a summary of the existing literature in this area which is based mostly on Porter′s work, as well as other disparate IS strategy literature. Discusses the limitations of the existing literature, and puts forward the stakeholder approach to strategic management because it is seen to offer a more complete basis for analysing the impact of information systems and interorganizational systems at the firm, industry and societal levels.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the business strategy of an energy company, identify the shortcomings in its existing strategy and provide recommendations to streamline a strategic direction.

The paper applies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis, five forces model and competitive positioning analysis.

The company needs to evolve its management strategy from an engineering focus to a customer and competitive focus.

The paper demonstrates that a real firm can apply traditional conceptual business models and successfully modify its business strategy to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage, better front-line customer service and newer product development initiatives.

The main customers for this company being the residential consumers, the focus on the front-line customer service will benefit the customers and the community in general.

The paper applies existing methodologies for strategy analysis to the business challenges faced by an energy company. The method can be used to find shortcomings in a current strategy, to identify the right fit between competitive strategy and operational competency and to provide a clear direction for the company.