| dc.description.abstract | The need to have public institutions that are well managed cannot be overemphasized.
Well functioning retirement benefit schemes that deliver quality services consistent with
customer preferences while managing fiscal resources prudently is considered critical to
the citizenry, and Kenya's and World Bank's mission of poverty alleviation and the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. All over the world governments are
realizing the important part played by retirement benefit schemes in alleviating old age
poverty and are increasingly investing heavily in them. This paper explores the
competitive strategies adopted by the Local Authorities Provident Fund (LAPFUND),
Kenya and the challenges faced in adopting the strategies. Competitive strategy refers to
creating and maintaining a competitive advantage in each and every area of business
aimed at maintaining a competitive edge in the market. The case study sought to
investigate the experience and an in-depth understanding of competitive strategies at
LAPFUND. It had the objective of determining the competitive strategies adopted by the
company and the challenges faced in adoption of the strategies. This study used primary
data. The data was obtained from personal interviews guided with pre-prepared interview
guide consisting of open ended questions. The primary data collected was qualitatively
analysed to determine the factors that favoured the success of the strategies adopted by
the company. The research findings indicate that the Local Authorities Provident Fund
has not taken a blind adherence to one strategic approach, but rather consistently adopted
a combination of all the three generic competitive strategies i.e. overall cost leadership,
differentiation and focus. Adoption of low-cost strategy meant that LAPFUND was in a
stronger position to resist all the competitive forces, outperform its rivals and erect
barriers to entry that helped to protect the organization’s long term position. Other
strategic choices like strategic alliances and outsourcing have also been adopted. The
findings indicate that the Fund has faced various challenges in the adoption of these
strategies. These include the limited opportunities of sector growth where new entrants
are able to gain ground only at the expense of the Fund (zero-sum game), difficulties of
sustaining the low-cost strategy in the long run, the difficulties of achieving true and
meaningful differentiation, the risk of creating differences that customers don’t value,
amongst others. The paper concludes that regardless of the wide variety of variables and
industry situations faced by managers, there are in practice only a limited number of
strategic options. The author at the end has proposed some recommendations for strategic
approach in adopting the competitive strategies. There are also some suggestions made
for future areas of research in this field. | en |
