The value chain analysis in Telkom Kenya
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Date
2010-10Author
Otieno, Antony Odhiambo
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
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The objectives of this study were to determine the value chain activities that constitute
the value chain in Telkom Kenya and also to establish Key factors influencing the value
chain activities in Telkom Kenya. Value chain analysis is undertaken in order to understand the behavior of costs & the sources of differentiation (Shank and
Govindearajan, 1993). In the telecommunication industry differentiation is achieved by
creating a perception amongst targeted customers that the services offered as a whole are
unique in some important way, usually by being of higher quality. The appeal for
differentiation is strong for telecommunication firms, for which image & perception of
quality are important. This perception allows the firms to charge higher service fees, so as
to outperform the competition in revenues without reducing costs significantly.
According to Porter (1980), the business of a firm can best be described as a value chain
in which total revenues minus total costs of all activities undertaken to develop & market
a product or service yields value. Firms in the Telco industry have a similar internal value
chain, which includes activities such as marketing and contract management, service
provisioning, network infrastructure operations, equipment procurement, service
development, billing, developing co-operative agreements and providing customer
service.
The research design used for this study is that of the value addition process in an dynamic
telecommunications environment. The principal advantage of such a research method is
that it can collect a great deal of data about strategic value proposition choices that Telco
firms have made with reference to the external environment. The data analysis method is
qualitative. Data presentation is in the content that was analyzed from in-depth
interviews.
Firms that undertake value chain management practices seriously in their organization
often aim to improve their performance in terms of, for example, higher profits, better
responsiveness to the market, and long-term competitive advantage.
Citation
MBA ThesisSponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
School of Business, University of Nairobi