Competitive Strategies and Performance of the Banking Industry in Kenya

Abstract

Corporations want to learn how to manipulate day after today’s possibilities as appropriately as they manipulate modern corporations. Competitive strategies employed by using firms of their operations vary widely. The present day operational set-up inside the banking enterprise in Kenya is a turbulent one and exceptionally aggressive marketplace situation. To ensure survival and sustainability inside the marketplace place banking industries in Kenya require adopting a competitive strategy. The general objective of this study was to establish the effect of competitive strategies and performance of the banking Industry. The specific objectives were: to establish the effects of differentiation strategies, cost leadership strategy, focus strategy and agency relationship on the performance of banking industry in Kenya. The study was guided by the following theories: Resource Based View Theory of the firm, Strategic Balancing Theory and Michael Porter Competitive Analysis Model The study adopted a descriptive survey approach. The target population was 330 respondents and the sample size was 132 respondents. This study concluded that Equity Bank has adopted the cost leadership strategy generally by lowering the overall cost in comparison to other players in the industry. Also the study concludes with the differentiation strategy, the unique attributes or perceptions of uniqueness and characteristics of a bank’s product other than cost provide value to customers and that bank has come up with products that are differentiated from of its competitors. The bank also uses differentiation, whereby it strive to be unique in the products they offer and market penetration strategies. Equity Bank embraces focus strategy by laying their focus on a type of market or population in order to keep the competition steady. Agency relationship strategy has led to accessibility of financial service to many customer in remote areas and hence an increase in effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery. The study recommends that the banking industry in Kenya should adopt cost leadership strategy as it has been found to have a positive significant effect on performance. Cost leadership strategy will give the bank flexibility when dealing with powerful customers. The bank should embrace a focus strategy in order to gain a competitive advantage by aiming at attending to specific small niches that require special features or prices. Equity bank should establish good relationship with the agents and more so increase the number of agents in estates and in the rural areas. This can be done by reducing the requirements of becoming a bank agent