Effect of Innovation Strategies on Competitive Advantage of Mwalimu National Sacco in Nairobi

Abstract

In the recent past financial market has become quite competitive. Firms within the financial industry have increased as they wrestle for the same market. Both commercial banks and deposit taking SACCOs have flooded the markets.The recent entry within the market is the communication companies such as Safaricom and Airtel that have come up with their own micro money lending applications to cater for small scale lenders.This has created immense pressure financial institutions as they strive to advance their market share.Deposit taking SACCOs as well as other financial institutions have resulted to innovations to remain afloat as well as surviving this highly competitive field.The study focuses on the effects of innovation strategies adopted by Mwalimu National Sacco on competitive advantage.The researcher adopted case study research design since the study is on one firm.The data collected was analysed using content analysis. Respondents were drawn from various departments in various managerial positions such as branch managers,departmental heads as well as general staff of Mwalimu National Sacco were interviewed .The results of the study shows that innovation strategies adopted by Mwalimu National Sacco resulted to sustainable competitive advantage,this measured by the SACCOs market dominance as well as updated products that respond to the needs of the customers.New products have been created and introduced for the last 5years, the findings of this study shows that MNS’s continued innovation has led to great performance both in expanded market share as well as the reduced cost of production which in turn leads to increased profit margin.