Attaining Market Competitiveness through the Judo Strategy: The Success Case of the Easy Coach Bus Company in Kenya

Abstract

The judo strategy provides business managers with the techniques to beat stronger opponents- a key challenge faced by businesses of all ages and sizes, ranging from tiny start-ups to established giants seeking to expand beyond their operational bases. Hence, the judo strategy helps an underdog firm that would otherwise be pessimistic with the presence of stronger competitors to perceive their competitors’ inherent advantages as strategic liabilities and thus compete more effectively by employing creativity in movement, balance and leverage in ways that prevent giants from taking full advantage of their superior strengths. This study examines how a relatively small market entrant in the public transport sector in Kenya, Easy Coach, effectively utilized the judo strategy and ultimately outsmarted an entrenched and much stronger market competitor- the Akamba Bus Company. The results of the qualitative research offer invaluable insights to business managers on the effective implementation of judo strategy to attain market competitiveness. Finally, propositions for further research are suggested.

Key Words: Judo Strategy, Market Competitiveness, Public Transport Services