Strategies Adopted to Achieve a Sustainable Competitive Advantage by Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited

Abstract

A company must respond strategically to competition in order to achieve sustainable long-term profitability and a competitive advantage. This will involve the formulation and implementation of strategies that will be superior to competitors and that are sustainable. A strategy is about the direction in which an organisation is trying to get in the long-term and how it intends to get there competitively. The Kenyan banking industry has experienced tremendous growth in the past decade. The growth has led to increased competition as the banks strive to gain and retain their market share. New competition from the micro finance institutions and mobile banking from the Mpesa services has also changed the dynamics of the banking industry and the banks have had to change some of their strategies and formulate others that would give them a competitive edge over their rivals in the long run. In light of this, this study attempted to look at strategies that Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited has implemented in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. The study was guided by the following research objectives; to establish the competitive strategies that SCBK has adopted to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage and to identify challenges that SCBK has faced in its strategy implementation. Case study research design was adopted. This involved collection of in depth information for understanding of situations holistically and in context. The data was collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary data was collected from conducting interviews and direct observation whereas secondary data was collected from materials such as press releases and company website. Content data analysis was used to analyse the data obtained and this involved analysis and interpretation of the main concepts and contents relevant to the research objectives. The study revealed that strategies are positively correlated to sustainable competitive advantage. Organisation strategies are therefore important for its sustainability. The study also revealed that resource based view theory contributes a lot in strategy formulation as evidenced by the many different strategies that have been implemented in the banking industry such as mergers and acquisitions, initial public offers, branding and restructuring. However there were some limitations in conducting the study. Time constraint did not allow for more and broad research in more banks and for this reason the study concentrated on just one bank. Conducting interviews was also difficult due to the stringent bank’s policy and the fear of information being shared with competitors. Despite these challenges the validity of the findings emanating from this study was upheld. The study recommended more investment in research and development of strategies in the banking industry to enhance innovation and industry sustainability. The study also recommended that all the stakeholders should be involved in strategy formulation and implementation. A suggestion for areas of further research is on long term strategies that banks can utilise to remain competitive and grow the industry. This is because globalisation, rapid change in technology, converging of markets and of regulations, and change in consumer rights is changing the dynamics of the industry and therefore creating more threats.