Strategic Management and Institutional Performance: The Mediating Influence of Generic Strategies in Zambia

Higher Education Institutions have joined the corporate world in adopting strategies in order to enhance their performance. This study sought to explore the mediating effect of Porter’s generic strategies on the relationship between internal resources and university performance in Zambia. The target population was 499 students from 4 universities. Data was collected via self-administered questionnaires. The study used SPSS version 27 and PROCESS macro version 4.2 to analyze data. The results indicate that differentiation strategy has both a direct and an indirect effect on university performance, while focus strategy has a limited indirect effect on university performance. The study also reveals that cost leadership has no effect direct or indirect on university performance. The implications of the study are that universities should embrace differentiation and focus strategies in their planning to enhance their performance