Influence of Horizontal Diversification on Sustainable Organizational Performance of Chartered Private Universities in Kenya

Globalization, unfavorable economic conditions, fierce industry competition and evolving needs of the modern clientele have revolutionalised Higher Education worldwide. Private universities have been forced to rethink their strategies. This study was anchored on diversification strategy, a key component of Ansoff's Matrix. The sustainability of private universities in Kenya is threatened by stiff industry competition. The current study explored horizontal diversification as a key strategy private university may adopt to realize sustainable organizational performance. The study adopted a cross sectional survey design involving the total population of the 21 private universities in Kenya. The study adopted primary data using structured research questionnaires. The data collected was quantitative and were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study used Analysis of variance (ANOVA) to establish the relationship between the variables while correlation and regression analyses was used to test hypotheses and the relationships between the variables. The inferential results revealed that there is direct relationship between horizontal diversification and sustainable organizational performance of private universities in Kenya. Further, the study established a statistically significant positive effect of horizontal diversification strategies sustainable organizational performance of private universities in Kenya. The study recommended that the university should offer specialized/professional courses which attracts more students, increase the number of academic programs to increase student numbers, form private partnerships with small/medium scale and corporate firms and the university should have unique innovative programs that promote student attraction.