| dc.description.abstract | The choice of a competitive strategy is critical for the survival and success of any
company. According to Thompson, Strickland and Gamble (2008), the main objective
of competitive strategy is to knock the socks off rivals companies by doing a better
job of satisfying buyer needs and preferences. Organization’s ability to increase its
profits is dependent on its ability to outwit, out bluff and out maneuvers its rivals. To
achieve this it needs the concept of game theory which deals with the process of
competitive interaction and also required is the concept of strategic conflict model
which portrays competition as war between rival firms. The research study had only
one objective which was to determine the competitive strategies adopted by Bank of
India, Kenya. The research was a case study and involved use of primary data. The
data was collected through interview guides, whereby interview appointments were
done with various managers whose positions and roles gave them the ability to
respond effectively to most of the questions. The findings were analyzed by use of
content analysis. The study showed that the bank used and emphasized on the
application of focus/ market niche strategy to a large extend. It also uses to some
extend differentiation, cost leadership and market penetration strategies to
compliment the focus strategy. The bank had also started to apply market
development to enable it catch up with the stiff competition in the banking industry.
The researcher recommended that the bank should take full advantage of the strategies
it has advantage over rivals like focus strategy and also to give full budget allocation
to those strategies so as to rip full benefits out of them. Bank of India, Kenya was also
able to blend the mix of Porter’ generic strategies and Ansoff growth strategies as the
two sets of strategies showed to be beneficial as they complement each other. In
carrying out the study, three major constraints were faced; time constraints,
centralized decision making at the bank’s head office in Mumbai, hence not the right
decision makers were interviewed and the scope of the study as this was a case study. | en |
