Kyungu, Hellen Mwende2024-01-222019-02-052024-01-222019-02-05https://repo.pacuniversity.ac.ke/handle/123456789/1761.2Competitive strategy is an important area of strategy that stems from the understanding of the influence of competition and industry attractiveness on the performance of the firm. Learning how organizations use competitive strategies as a tool for success has been a core issue in strategic management .A firm’s competitive strategies are what make it better than the competition. Competitive strategies can be applied in businesses, employees and even countries. The central objective of the study was to investigate the effects of generic strategies on the performance of Public universities operating within Nairobi County. The specific objectives included; to establish the effects of differentiation strategies on performance of Public universities operating within Nairobi County, to find out the effects of cost leadership strategies on performance of Public universities operating within Nairobi County, to examine the effects of focus strategies on performance in Public universities operating within Nairobi County. The study was based on Michael Porters generic business strategies theory, that includes; Differentiation, Cost leadership and Focus strategies. The study used a cross sectional descriptive survey research design. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The sample target population of the study was 150 from the administrative section of the universities. The response rate was 80% and the data was summarized by use of SPSS version 24. Data collection from primary sources was done using semi structured questionnaires and was analyzed using descriptive statistics that used standard deviation and mean and inferential statistics that used regression analysis. The findings rejected all the hypotheses and showed a significant association between the independent variables and dependent variable. Hence the conclusion that generic competitive strategies; differentiation, focus and cost leadership have a significant positive effect on performance. The conclusions are best suited to inform decisions of policy makers. Future studies should be carried out on competitive strategies in other counties in Kenya.enThesis