Strategies Adopted For Competitive Advantage By Importation And Marketing Oil Firms In Kenya

Abstract

A competitive strategy aims at gaining and maintaining competitive advantage over business rivals. For a firm to formulate appropriate strategies that will enable it respond effectively to environmental competitive pressures, it is prudent that the firm understands the underlying sources of the competitive pressure in its industry. The purpose of this study was to determine the strategies adopted by oil marketing firms in Kenya to remain competitive. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. The population of this study was the oil-marketing companies in Kenya. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 35 CEOs, business development managers and the marketing managers of oil arketing firms. The data obtained from the respondents was analyzed through descriptive data analyzing techniques by employing a social science software program. The study found that majority (54%) of the respondents indicated that there was a high practice of proper capacity utilization; storage facilities, blending and filling plants; 71% indicated that there was a high strategic location of storage, filling and loading facilities. A significant number (84%) indicated that there was consistent product availability. A ignificant number (79%) of respondents also indicated that there was high use of high equipment and facility reliability. A significant number (76%) indicated that their oil firms used segmented markets as a method of competitive advantage. A significant number (75%) of the participants indicated that there was high investment in local network expansion by increasing number of stations. The study concluded that the strategies adopted by the oil firms included the cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, focus strategy and market expansion strategy. The researcher also concluded that cost leadership and focus strategies were the most widely used competitive strategies. The researcher also concluded that the cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy and focus strategy were effective in enhancing the competitiveness of the oil firms. The researcher recommended that the firms should focus on adopting cost leadership strategies to ensure that that their profit margin increases