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STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY COMMERCIAL BANKS IN KENYA TO GAIN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE BY TIMOTHY MATONYI MUSAU A RESEARCH PROJECTSUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI NOVEMBER, 2015 DECLARATION I, the undersigned, declare that this project is my original work and that it has not been presented in any other university or institution for academic credit. Signature……………………..Date……………………. TIMOTHY MATONYI MUSAU REG NO: D61/62209/2013 SUPERVISOR This research project has been submitted for examination with my approval as the university supervisor. Signature………………........Date……………........... PROF. EVANS AOSA School of Business University of Nairobi ii DEDICATION I dedicate this research project to my parents Boniface Musau Kally and Elizabeth Mariro Musau for the sacrifices they have made to support my education throughout my life. It is because of the academic foundation laid from those sacrifices that I have managed to pursue my education further. I love you both and may God Almighty continue to shower you with everlasting blessings. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My deepest appreciation goes to my supervisor, Prof. Evans Aosa, who encouraged me to explore my topic in depth and breadth. His supervision was indispensable and without his genuine guidance, this project would not have come to success. I am most indebted to my family for the relentless support both financially and morally, they have been good mentors during this period and inspiration to pursue up to this level. To my friend Karen Kajuju Njilu thank you so much for your tremendous support. I appreciate you most sincerely, together with entire staff of Kenya Commercial bank especially Kariobangi and Kisumu branches for their immense support. I owe immense gratitude to my lecturers who continuously and exhaustively invested in my education for the past three years. Lastly but not the least I would wish to thank my colleagues with whom we shared a lot of good and hard times. Above all to the almighty God who has given me the strength throughout my life and has seen me to where I am today and who I am. His grace and mercies have been sufficient and I give him all glory and honour. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION......................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION............................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................x CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION .......................................................................1 1.1 Background of the Study ...................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Concept of Strategy ..................................................................................... 2 1.1.2 Concept of Competitive Advantage ............................................................. 3 1.1.3 Strategy and Competitive Advantage ........................................................... 4 1.1.4 The Banking Industry in Kenya ................................................................... 4 1.2 Research Problem ................................................................................................ 6 1.3 Research Objectives ............................................................................................. 8 1.4 Value of the Study ............................................................................................... 8 1.5 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER TWO : LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................10 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Theoretical Foundation of the Study .................................................................. 10 2.2.1 Resource Based Theory ............................................................................. 10 2.2.2 Game theory.............................................................................................. 11 2.2.3 The Profit-Maximizing and Competition-Based Theory ............................ 12 2.2.4 Resource Dependence Theory ................................................................... 12 2.2.5 Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies .................................................... 13 2.3 Competitive Strategy ......................................................................................... 14 2.4 Porter's Generic Strategy .................................................................................... 14 2.5 Strategic Alliance Strategy ................................................................................. 16 2.6 Diversification strategy ...................................................................................... 17 2.7 Mergers and Acquisition Strategy ...................................................................... 17 2.8 Strategy and Competitive Advantage ................................................................. 18 2.9 Empirical Studiesand Knowledge Gaps .............................................................. 20 2.10 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................ 21 v CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................22 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 22 3.2 Research Design ................................................................................................ 22 3.3 Population of the study ...................................................................................... 22 3.4 Data Collection .................................................................................................. 23 3.5 Data Analysis .................................................................................................... 23 3.6 Chapter Summary .............................................................................................. 24 CHAPTER FOUR : DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .........25 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 25 4.2 Instrument Return Rate ...................................................................................... 25 4.3 Analysis of General Information ........................................................................ 25 4.3.1 Distribution of the respondent by gender ................................................... 25 4.3.2 Distribution by the Number of Years Worked at the Bank ......................... 26 4.3.3 Distribution by the Years of the Bank’s operation in Kenya ...................... 27 4.3.4 Distribution by bank Ownership Category of the Respondents’ ................. 28 4.4 Strategies Adopted by the Banks to Gain Competitive Advantage ...................... 29 4.4.1 Strategies adopted by banks ...................................................................... 29 4.4.2 Other competitive Strategies ..................................................................... 31 4.4.3 Limitations of pursuing Competitive Strategies ......................................... 31 4.4.4 Benefits of Adoption of Competitive strategies ......................................... 32 4.4.5 Results of competitive strategies Adopted By commercial Banks .............. 32 4.4.6 Cost leadership strategy............................................................................. 33 4.4.7 Differentiation ........................................................................................... 34 4.4.8 Focus Strategy........................................................................................... 35 4.4.9 Strategic Alliance Strategy ........................................................................ 36 4.4.10 Diversification Strategy ........................................................................... 37 4.4.11 Merger and Acquisition ........................................................................... 38 4.5 Discussion ......................................................................................................... 40 4.5.1 Relationship of Study Results with Theory ................................................ 40 4.5.2 Relationship of Results with Other Previous Studies ................................. 42 4.6 Chapter Summary .............................................................................................. 43 vi CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY,CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 44 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 44 5.2 Summary of Findings ......................................................................................... 44 5.3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................