ABSTRACT
The interaction between the firm and its environment determines how the established goals and objectives are to be attained. Through aligning to the changing environment, organizations are able to come up with products and services that meet the changing customer needs hence be competitive and post better performance. Pension funds are very instrumental in the mobilization of the funds from employees and employers. Despite this crucial role, the county pension funds in Kenya are grappling with the challenges that predominantly arise from the low morale of the employee, decline in efficiency, lower fund level profitability and lack of customer satisfaction. There has been a decline in the County Pension Fund performance based on the financial reports hence the need towards examining the effectiveness of the corporate strategies. The study strived to establish response strategies and their influence on County Pension Fund’s performance. Specifically, the study looked at product diversification, strategic alliances, employee training and development and differentiation and how they influence performance at County Pension Fund, Kenya. The Porter’s Five Forces Model, Resource Based View and Dynamic Capability Theory provided were the theories through which the study was anchored. The design to be adopted by the study was descriptive and a total of 250 staff of the County Pension Fund was targeted. Proportionate Stratified random sampling was utilised in the determination of the sample size where a total of 30% of respondents was selected. This was equivalent to 73 respondents as the study sample size. Data was gathered with the aid of questionnaires and the analysis was done using means, standard deviations as well as regression. Prior to analysis the test for reliability and validity was done with the cronbach’s alpha being the basis. Cronbach Alpha Coefficients were above 0.7 indicating that all the questionnaire were reliable and therefore accurate responses could be drawn from them The research instrument was found to be reliable and valid. Presentation of results was conducted with the help of figures and tables. Ethical considerations were also adhered to in every step of the study. The study established that product diversification has a positive and significant effect on performance of county pension fund, strategic alliance has a positive and significant effect on performance of county pension fund, employees training and development have a positive and significant effect on performance of county pension fund, product differentiation has a positive and significant effect on performance of county pension fund. The study concludes that product diversification, strategic alliance, employee training and development and differentiation strategy had a positive and significant effect on performance of county pension fund. The study recommended that the County Pension Fund should take advantage of the existing financial liberations in many areas, to diversify into fresh markets while liaising with the county governments in a bid to increase the number of product lines. With regard to employee training and development, the research suggests that the organization's leadership inculcate a practice of constant evaluation of the knowledge gaps of organization's employees in order to equip them early enough with the required knowledge. Additionally the organization should consider entering into more strategic alliances mainly with companies that have a hedge in terms of technology. Finally, in a bid to take advantage of the benefits of differentiation strategies, the organization needs to constantly augment its services by periodically identify the needs of its clients and potential clients and come up with product features to suit them.
