Sources of sustainable competitive advantage among milk processing companies in Kenya
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Date
2011-11Author
Bogecho, George Monari
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The study sought to achieve three objectives: to determine the sources of sustainable
competitive advantage; to establish the strategies for achieving sustainable competitive
advantage and to determine the challenges of gaining and sustaining a Sustainable
Competitive Advantage among milk processing companies in Kenya.
A census survey was conducted to facilitate the achievement of the study objectives. The
population of interest comprised of all milk processing companies in Kenya. There were
a total of 23 milk processing companies in Kenya at the time of the study (e- Dairy
Systems Directory 2009/2010). The study made use of primary data which were largely
quantitative. These data were collected using semi-structured questionnaire. The respondents
were Corporate Planning/Strategy Managers, Commercial Managers and/ or National Sales and
Marketing Managers of the targeted companies. Analysis of data was guided by the
objectives of the study. The study used descriptive statistics to analyze the data due to
the descriptive nature of the data that were collected. The data analyzed were presented in
tabular form for ease of interpretation and reporting.
The study found out that of the 18 milk processing companies in Kenya that completed
and returned the questionnaires, 77.8% had been in operation for more than five years
while 11.1% and 5.65% had been in operation for less than three years and between 3 to
5 years respectively. It was also established that 66.7% were privately owned, 27.8%
were both foreign and locally owned while 5.6% were government owned. The results
further indicated that 61.1% operated within Kenya, 27.8% operated within East Africa
region and 11.1% operated beyond East Africa. On the formulation of strategies to
counter competition, 94.4% responded in the positive while 5.6% responded in the
negative.
The study concludes that the milk processing companies in Kenya employ a combination
of sources of sustainable competitive advantage to stay competitive in the turbulent
business environment. There is no single source of sustainable competitive advantage that
could be used universally in the dairy industry to achieve the desired objectives among all
milk processing companies in Kenya.The sources include effective leadership,
continuous learning, highly motivated and loyal employees, superior products or
customer service, business networks and coalitions, superior skills/capabilities and high
level of customer service quality. Further the study concludes that the milk processing
companies in Kenya have employed various strategies for sustainable competitive
advantage. The strategies include product development, product differentiation, market
development, cost leadership and related diversification. Others are strategic alliance,
unrelated diversification and cooperation / tacit collusion strategies.
The study recommends that milk processing companies in Kenya need to employ a
variety of sources of sustainable competitive advantage which complement each other to
achieve sustainability in the competitive business environment. The sources include
effective leadership, continuous learning, highly motivated and loyal employees and
superior skills/capabilities of personnel.
Sponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
School of business