Generic Strategies and Effect on Customer Satisfaction at Kenya Power in Nakuru County

Understanding competition, studying customer needs, evaluating strength and weakness of an organization are important aspects of customer satisfaction strategy. Recent reforms in Energy sector coupled with increasing competition have driven electricity utilities to implement competitive strategies to thrive in a competitive industry. According to Michael Porter, competitive strategy is devised in 3 types; Cost leadership, Differentiation and Market focus. The objective of this research was to evaluate competitive strategies and effect on customer satisfaction at Kenya Power Nakuru County. The study employed a descriptive survey research design in collecting data from respondents. Specifically, this study sought to evaluate competitive strategies that have been implemented, their effectiveness and recommendations. The study involved review of pertinent literature, review of relevant theories and actual data collection and analysis. The population target is 134,740 customers drawn from Kenya Power domestic customer category. A sample size of 97 drawn from sectors in Nakuru County; Lanet, Molo, Naivasha, Nakuru Town, Njoro and Subukia. During pilot study, 10 questionnaires were issued two weeks before the actual study to a group of customers who did not take part in the actual study. 81 customers participated in the study, an 84% response rate, a closed ended questionnaire was used. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics (means, percentages and frequencies) and inferential statistics (correlations and parametric tests such as Pearson correlation). The analysis of the data was performed with the aid of SPSS and Ms Excel and the findings presented in the form of tables and figures. The findings will assist Kenya Power management and other public utilities in carrying out SWOT analysis within their organization and improve competitive strategies for sustainable performance in the competitive industry. Two variables (market focus and differentiation) had a greater influence on customer satisfaction. The respondents were satisfied with Kenya Power products and services to a moderate level. Market focus strategy contributed the most level of satisfaction, followed by differentiation strategy, and lastly cost leadership strategy, cumulatively the generic strategies contributed to 63.9% of customer satisfaction. Future studies should establish the remaining 39.1% factors that influence customer satisfaction in the domestic customer category. A further study aiming at validating the conceptual model could be carried out in other services sectors in the Kenyan economy and public utilities