Strategies Adopted by Carrefour Limited to Achieve Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Abstract
Organizations operate in a turbulent and dynamic environment that bring about various
challenges and increased competition. As a result of intense competition and increased
challenges, organizations need to adopt new strategies to stay competitive. The purpose of
the study was to explore strategies adopted by Carrefour Limited to achieve sustainable
competitive advantage in Kenya. This research was guided by Porter's theory of
competitive advantage and the resource-based view. The research made use of a qualitative
research design. A Case study was utilized since the study’s focus was a single
organization. Data was collected using interview guides with open ended questions that
facilitated collection of more information. The collected data was subjected to an analysis
using content analysis. This enabled the researcher draw realistic comparisons and make
inferences. The study established that Carrefour had adopted the following cost cutting
measures: elimination of non-critical company undertakings by merging various
departments, leveraging on their personnel to be effective and industrious, reduced the
number of staffed employees, capitalizing on merchandisers and reduced the number of
outsourced parties. The retail store has participated in immense research and design
because it operates in different geographical areas with different cultures, tastes and
preferences. The study concluded that cost leadership was the primary strategy being
implemented while differentiation and focus were implemented as their secondary
strategies. The research also concluded that cost leadership influenced competitive
advantage to a greater degree. It is of importance for Carrefour to invest in growth
competencies, resources, research and technology because so as to keep evolving in order
to guarantee sustainable advantage. The study concluded from the findings that the
company had attained economies of scale and its service design is tailored to meet customer
needs. The retail store undertook research and design in order to understand customer needs
in terms of quality and preference. The study’s limitations were due to the scope of the
study which was limited since other industry players were not included in the study. There
were other challenges like misunderstanding of the interview questions and delayed
responsiveness from the respondents. The respondents could not share some information
in depth due to the company’s stringent policies and fear that information will be shared to
their rivals. The study recommends that Carrefour should deploy a variety of competitive
advantage strategies that complement each other in the quest to attain competitive
advantage besides the generic strategies The researcher also recommends Carrefour to
considers both its internal and external environmental factors as they are critical in
determining strategic choices since this will dictate the capabilities and the potential of a
firm. By focusing excessively on external factors, a company becomes reactive rather than
proactive.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- School of Business [1411]
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