Influence of differentiation strategy on firm performance in the shipping industry in Kenya.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.68050/JAMS.2026.372Keywords:
shipping lines, diffrentiation, focus diffrentiation, hybrid diffrentiation.Abstract
The purpose of this Differentiation is the capability of a firm to produce some product lines or many variations in a line. Many firms operating in a globalized economy at one point need to have this strategy so that they can be able to grow and have a competitive edge study is to examine how differentiation strategy influences firm performance in the shipping industry. The study is based on theoretical review of Michael porter and Bowmans generic clock hose work in understanding differentiation is globally appreciated by many scholars. The researcher used mixed research design including qualitative research design and quantitative research. The total population of this study involves 76 shipping lines, shipping agencies and cargo consolidators. The target respondents under this study are the firms that have been operational for more than five years in the industry from the date of incorporation including shipping lines, shipping agencies, cargo consolidators and top management of Kenya Maritime Authority. the study used SPSS version 27 to do data analysis. The findings show that well differentiated companies are able to cope better and perform better in changing business environment. Shipping industry is largely influenced by external factors to the firm. The researcher concludes that differentiation strategy chosen can directly influence the performance of firms operating in the shipping industry.
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