MARKET ENTRY STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS IN KENYA

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between market entry strategies and
organisational performance of multinational corporations in Kenya. The specific objective is to
establish the relationship between market entry strategies and organisational performance of
multinational companies in Kenya. The study employed descriptive cross-sectional research
design. The study established that market entry strategies explained 43.1% of the variance in
organizational performance of multinational companies measured using financial performance
parameters and 52.5% of the variance in organizational performance measured using nonfinancial
parameters. The hypothesis that there is a significant relationship between market entry
strategies and organisational performance was therefore supported. The study recommends that
multinational corporations should carry out research on the market entry strategies before
venturing into international market. This will ensure that they use the appropriate market entry
strategy to enhance their performance. The study also recommended that the management evaluate
the factors influencing the choice of market entry modes in order to choose the best alternative.
The results makes a contribution to theory development, policy and marketing practice in relation
to the effect of market entry strategy and organisation performance The limitation of the study is
that it used top management as the respondents, may be if other cadre of employees were studied
they could have contributed to more exhaustive results for generalization, this however did not
compromise on study results. Therefore, the study suggests that there is room for further research
incorporating a large population approach, using longitudinal designs and using group discussion
to get more information from the respondents.