Abstract:
Liberalization and commercialization of the education sector has paved the way for the opening of
many private colleges. This has therefore impacted on the state of competition in these training
institutions. For private colleges to survive the already existing stiff competition it has become
necessary for them to develop competitive strategies to enable them achieve competitive advantage
over their rivals. The general objective of the study was to establish the competitiveness of private
colleges in Mombasa using Porter’s Five Forces. Porters five forces were the specific objectives of
the study and they include the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitutes products, the
bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers and the role of competitive rivalry.
The study was a quantitative research which used survey design to evaluate the state of
competitiveness in private colleges in Mombasa. The population of study encompassed 35 colleges
which were drawn from the colleges’ registration list from the Ministry of Education. Data was
collected using questionnaires and reported using descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Regression
Analysis. SPSS programme was used to analyze the data. It was found out that the threat of new
entrants influences competitiveness at a mean of 2.39, which is a great extent. Threat of substitutes
influences competitiveness at a mean of 2.42, which is a great extent. Bargaining power of suppliers
influences competitiveness at a mean of 2.42, which is a great extent. The bargaining power of
buyers influences competitiveness at a mean of 2.29, which is a great extent. Competitive rivalry
influences competitiveness at a mean of 2.27, which is a great extent. Competitive strategies were
also found to be used by the colleges though to a very low extent.
