Strategic Capabilities for Competitive Advantage at British American Tobacco, Kenya

Abstract

The global business environment is highly challenging and complex, requiring firms to acquire strategic capabilities that offer a competitive advantage over their rivals. Strategic capabilities are the ability of an organization to harness all its skills and resources aimed at gaining competitive advantage, survival, and improved value over time. The objective of this study was to determine strategic capabilities for competitive advantage at British American Tobacco Kenya. The theoretical foundation of this research was anchored on the Dynamic Capabilities Theory (DCT) and was complimented by the Resource-Based theory. To achieve the objective, the study used a case study research design where primary data was collected and secondary data sources which were used to validate primary data. The findings showed that adoption of strategic capabilities affected the competitive advantage of the company. Technology, market information, resources, skills, and knowledge were found to have significantly contributed to market share, revenues, improved product brand, or sustainability. Generally, the study recommends to BAT top policy makers and those in managerial positions to adopt innovative technology processes as leverage towards enhancing BAT’s strategic capabilities for competitive advantage. Specifically, the study recommends that BAT’s top management should leverage technological capability to promote its internationalization as it enables the company to form of strategic partnerships, invest in R&D, resource sharing, technology transfer, and achieve economies of scale. The study further recommends that management should continuously train its staff to seamlessly adopt technological capability by developing tacit knowledge, skills, and their competencies as a rule, since to increase exports, BAT should invest in greater technological capabilities. The study further recommends that BAT Kenya should collaborate with the government to first formulate policies that can be used to effectively enforce regulations and anti-dumping measures to enable to continuously leverage their capabilities for competitive advantage. It also recommends that BAT Kenya should realign its policies to involve consumer producers in tackling the problem of dumping counterfeit products and further develop a policy framework of enhancing sustainable practices to ensure that counterfeit products are not bought or purchased by the consumers.