| dc.description.abstract | The business environment is ever changing; due to macroeconomic variables like technology, customer preference, competition among others. This has forced firms in the telecommunication industry to adjust themselves and accommodate changes in the external environment in order to meet the ever-changing needs of customers. The study sought to determine the influence of the competitive strategies used by Safaricom Limited to boost its market share. To achieve this goal, a case study was used for this study. This is because it provided very detailed information about a particular subject that it would not be possible to acquire through another type of experimentation. An interview guide was used for data collection purposes. The study used primary data since the nature of the data to be collected was qualitative. Primary data was collected by interviewing four departmental heads at Safaricom, these departments were namely: strategy and innovation, customer management, operations and marketing. Data was analyzed using content analysis. The use of this analysis method was important since it saved time and resources. The study found the most popular competitive strategies used by Safaricom to boost its market share are as follows: differentiation strategy, focus strategy, cost leadership strategy and market focus strategy. These strategies enabled Safaricom Limited to understand its customers‟ needs and develop solutions that add value to their lives. Further, adoption of modern technologies enabled Safaricom to achieve integration that created a platform to easily interact with their customers and thus increase access to their products and services. The limitation of this study is that it limited itself to Safaricom limited and thus the findings obtained in this study cannot be used for direct application in any other firm or sector but for comparative purposes only. The study recommends that a similar study should be conducted to investigate the influence of competitive strategies on the firm‟s market share in all the telecommunication firms in Kenya. This will give more detailed findings which will lead to more reliable and accurate conclusion that is based on solid facts. Due to the dynamic nature of technology, it would be interesting to carry out a similar study after a period of ten years since the external environment is very dynamic and also because of the nature of Telecommunication industry that prompt firms to keep on changing their strategies and tactics in order to effectively cope and accommodate the changing needs of their customers to meet their satisfaction. This will provide a base for comparison upon which reliable conclusion will be drawn. | en_US |
