A Case of Airtel Uganda Ltd by Emmanue
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COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES AND MARKET PERFORMANCE IN THE MOBILE TELECOM INDUSTRY OF UGANDA: A CASE OF AIRTEL UGANDA LTD BY EMMANUEL MUNYAMBABAZI 15/MBA/OO/KLA/WKD/0133 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER’S DEGREE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION OF UGANDA MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE JANUARY, 2018 1 DECLARATION I, Emmanuel Munyambabazi, declare to the best of my knowledge that, this dissertation is my original piece of work and has never been submitted to any other Institution for any academic ward before. Signed ……………………………. Date………………… EMMANUEL MUNYAMBABAZI i APPROVAL This study was conducted under our supervision and the dissertation has been submitted for award of a Master’s degree in business administration of Uganda Management Institute with our approval as the student’s supervisors. Signed…………………..……………. Date………….……………….. Dr. Godfrey Mugurusi Signed……………………..…………… Date……………….….……….. Mr. Benedict Mugerwa ii DEDICATION I , Munyambabazi Emmanuel, strongly dedicate this research work to my family members comprising of my Madam; Jane Kamagaju, Daughter; Amilia Ahumuza, Sons : Asaph Iriho, Apollo Turinayo and Allan Tuyisenge for their future reference and readership in their unlimited struggle of studies ahead. The same dedication goes to the late Ntabajana Ezekiel family, offshoots and grand children who are interested in further studies for motivation and encouragement. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my mentors and facilitators at Uganda Management Institute, Kampala who have all the time enthused and inspired me into the study mindset ever since I entered the gates of the Institute. Much tribute goes to Dr. Godfrey Mugurusi and Mr. Benedict Mugerwa who have been handy in giving guidance, supervision and follow through criticisms on the journey to perfection of my research work. I cannot forget to thank Mr. Chris Mayanja, a consultant facilitator at the same Institute whose private and unilateral guidance has been considered invaluable in this work piece. It is equally my appreciation of the role played by Isaac Kalembe of Uganda communications commission (UCC) and the very members of staff of Airtel Uganda Ltd and other related community who volunteered and participated to avail every opportunity in the provision of information that aided in the contextualization ,collection and analysis of data in this research work. I would wish also to profoundly thank my wife and children whose presence around me and support kept on a nudging hand in the scholarly direction giving momentum till the end of course accomplishment throughout. My other tribute goes to the MBA13 fraternity class and course-mates at Uganda Management Institute who have morale-boosted me during the entire life of discussions and progress in the academic readership which eventually neutralized and softened many hard nuts in the course accomplishment to the end. May the almighty God reward all of them abundantly. iv LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS FY: Financial Year IT : Information technology ITU : International telecommunications Union MTN: Mobile Telephone network PPPP: Product, Price, Place, Promotion RBT : Resource based theory SIVA: Solution, Information, Value and Accessibility. SPSS : Statistical Package for the Social Sciences TIC : Technological innovation capability UCC: Uganda Communication Commission UP& TC: Uganda Post & Telecommunications Corporation URA : Uganda revenue Authority USA: United States of America UTL : Uganda Telecom Limited v ABSTRACT The study investigated the relationship between competitive strategies and market performance in Uganda’s mobile telecom industry with a particular emphasis on Airtel Uganda Ltd. Specifically, the study examined how competitive advantage strategies, market mix strategies and internal company capabilities affect market performance of Airtel Uganda Ltd. The study focused on competitive strategies undertaken by mobile telecom companies with a special attention to Airtel Uganda Ltd through a conceptual framework and the extent to which those competitive advantage strategies (independent variables) determine the level of market performance (dependent variables) in the overall industry. Additionally, the literature review that was unbundled in chapter two was basically to avoid issues of duplication yet appreciating the role played by my predecessors in this area of research. The study was a cross sectional research design which used Questionnaires and interview guides to collect data. Whereas qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis, quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statics. The study found out that there was a strong relationship between competitive strategies like competitive advantage, marketing mix and internal company capability strategies adopted by Airtel Uganda Ltd on one hand and market performance on the other hand like Sales and asset turnovers and tax revenue output to government of Uganda. The study thus recommended that relaxation and slackening of effort on any new developments in superior branding, product introductions, and cost leadership should be avoided since the occurrence of such pause upends momentum and progress to the advantage of strong rivals. Vigilance over its innovations and other strategies conceived and implemented should not only be optimum but total. Once there is any rollout of new products and innovations, the agile marketing efforts should not only be torrential but also consistently steadfast without any pause. Where there is any deficit in skill and capability in the company, succession planning, good leadership, retraining, benchmarking of resource allocation and of any best practice from highly successful entities on the world map should be encouraged and galvanized. TABLE OF CONTENTS vi DECLARATION............................................................................................................................ i APPROVAL .................................................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION.............................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iv LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS ...............................................................................v ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background to the Study ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2.1 Historical background ..................................................................................................... 1 1.2.2 Theoretical Background ................................................................................................. 5 1.2.3 Conceptual Background ................................................................................................. 9 1.2.4 Contextual Background ................................................................................................ 12 1.3 Problem Statement .............................................................................................................. 16 1.4 Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 17 1.5 Specific Objectives .............................................................................................................. 17 1.6 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 18 vii 1.7 Research Hypothesis ........................................................................................................... 18 1.8 Scope of the Study............................................................................................................... 18 1.8.1 Content Scope ............................................................................................................... 19 1.8.2 Geographical Scope ...................................................................................................... 19 1.8.3 Time Scope ................................................................................................................... 19 1.9 Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................................... 19 1.10 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................ 21 1.11 Justification of the Study ..................................................................................................