Evans Ojiambo Onditi, Ph.D

ABSTRACT

The objective of the study was to establish the influence of competitive intensity on the market orientation of private security firms in Mombasa County. The study targeted private security firms that are members of the Kenya Security Industry Association (KSIA) and they were 52 firms which have operations in Mombasa. A cross-sectional research design was adopted and a census of the target population was done. Thirty seven (37) firms responded leading to a 74% response rate. Data was collected from key informants using a semi-structured questionnaire and data analysis was done using simple regression analysis. The results indicated that competitive intensity explained 30.3% of the variation in the market orientation of the private security firms. The results also indicated that the influence of competitive intensity on the market orientation of private security firms as significant (P = 0.000). The regression coefficients indicated that competitive intensity positively and significantly influenced the market orientation of the private security firms (t = 3.904, β = 0.598, P = 0.000). Therefore, based on these results, the study rejected the null hypothesis H₁ which stated that competitive intensity has no significant influence on market orientation. The study concluded that competitive intensity in the private security industry positively and significantly affects the market orientation of private security firms in Mombasa County. The study recommended that competitive intensity in the industry should serve as a motivation for business firms to aggressively utilize competitive strategies that offer competitive advantages over rival firms. This is because in a fiercely competitive environment, only the firms that adopt unique competitive strategies have a better chance of achieving business success.

KEY WORDS: Competitive Intensity, Market orientation, Private security firms, Mombasa County.