A Case of Bidco Africa by Caroli
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FACTORS INFLUENCING SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE FAST-MOVING CONSUMER GOODS SECTOR: A CASE OF BIDCO AFRICA BY CAROLINE N. WANJOHI UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY SUMMER 2017 FACTORS INFLUENCING SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS SECTOR: A CASE OF BIDCO AFRICA BY CAROLINE N. WANJOHI A Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY-AFRICA SUMMER 2017 ii STUDENT’S DECLARATION I, the undersigned declare that this is my original work and has not been submitted to any other university or college institution except the United States International University- Africa in Nairobi for academic credit. Signed: ____________________________ Date: __________________________ Caroline Nyambura Wanjohi (ID 644032) This project has been submitted for examination with my approval as the appointed supervisor. Signed: ____________________________ Date: ____________________________ Dr. Kefah Njenga Signed: ____________________________ Date: ____________________________ Dean, Chandaria School of Business iii COPYRIGHT © 2017 Caroline Nyambura Wanjohi All rights reserved No part of this project may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without the permission of the copyright owner. Except for brief quotation in critical reviews of articles. iv ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate Factors influencing Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods sector: A case of Bidco Africa. The study was to be guided by the following research objectives: To find out if Advertising helps FMCG companies to attain a sustainable competitive advantage in the industry; To identify if Packaging is a contributing factor for a sustainable competitive advantage to be met; To examine if Branding leads to the attainment of a sustainable competitive advantage. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The sampling technique was the systematic random sampling, whereby every 4th case of the respondents was selected for inclusion in the sample. A sample size of 30 respondents was considered for the study. The study implemented primary data collection and the pre-testing of the questionnaire was done using a small sample of 30 respondents. Quantitative data was collected, coded and entered into the computer for analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistical methods such as mean, frequency, percentages were used. In addition, regression analysis was also used. The study found that BIDCO brand in terms of quality assurance, taste and odor, and manufacturer’s reputation was likely to positively contribute to the company sustainable competitive advantage. This was because these were the intangible aspects that the majority of the customers used to differentiate BIDCO products with the rest of the FMCG players. It is concluded that the three factors (advertising, packaging and branding) significantly influenced the sustainable competitive advantage of BIDCO. More specifically, advertising contributed the most to the sustainable competitive advantage of BIDCO followed by packaging and branding respectively. The most significant factor influencing sustainable competitive advantage at BIDCO is advertising, followed by packaging and branding respectively. The study recommends that the management of BIDCO should segment their customers and use the specific channel of communication to advertise to respective segments. BIDCO management should continuously study customer tastes and preferences to inform their packaging. BIDCO management should also allocate adequate resources to drive their brand in the FMCG sector. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to extend special thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Kefah Njenga whose constant input and support has made this research project a reality. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Joseph Ngugi for his introduction to Business Research Methods and setting me on the path of appreciating research. Finally, I wish to thank most sincerely the respondents for their co-operation and whose responses made this research such a success. vi DEDICATION I dedicate this study to all those who desire the need for self improvement in whatever phase of life they may be in. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS STUDENT’S DECLARATION ................................................................................ iii COPYRIGHT .............................................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................... vi DEDICATION............................................................................................................ vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ viii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................... 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of the Problem..................................................................................1 1.2 Statement of the Problem .....................................................................................6 1.3 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................8 1.4 Specific Objectives ...............................................................................................8 1.5 Significance of the Study .....................................................................................8 1.6 Scope of the Study................................................................................................9 1.7 Definition of Terms ............................................................................................10 1.8 Chapter Summary ...............................................................................................11 CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................... 12 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 12 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................12 2.2 Advertising as a catalyst to the attainment of Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the FMCG industry ............................................................................12 2.3 Packaging as a contributing factor to Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the FMCG industry ........................................................................................................17 2.5 Chapter Summary ...............................................................................................26 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................... 27 3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................................... 27 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................27 viii 3.2 Research Design .................................................................................................27 3.3 Population and Sampling Design .......................................................................28 3.4 Data Collection Methods ....................................................................................29 3.5 Research Procedures ..........................................................................................30 3.6 Data Analysis Methods ......................................................................................30 3.7 Chapter Summary ...............................................................................................32 CHAPTER FOUR ...................................................................................................... 33 4.0 RESULTS AND FINDINGS ............................................................................... 33 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................33 4.2 General Information ...........................................................................................33 4.3 Advertising and sustainable competitive advantage ..........................................36 4.4 Packaging and sustainable competitive advantage.............................................39 4.5 Branding and sustainable competitive advantage ..............................................42 4.6 Inferential Statistics ............................................................................................44 4.7 Chapter Summary ...............................................................................................46 CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................................................