Strategies for developing sustainable competitive advantage at glaxosmithkline Kenya limited.

Abstract

With the changing operating .environment, a more pronounced transformation of the business landscape lies ahead. Strategy becomes vital to the adaptation of the business to the changing business environment. The pharmaceutical industry in Kenya has undergone numerous changes since being liberalized in the early 1990s. There has been an influx of many pharmaceutical companies into the market, either as direct investments or through franchise holders. The product range within the industry has widened greatly to meet the ever increasing consumer needs. The industry has been characterized by many changes and an increasingly turbulent environment. The configuration of competitive forces such as intensity of competition, new entrants, substitute products and supplier and buyer power have transformed the environment a great deal, creating the need for firms to change their competitive positions.

The study investigated strategies for developing sustainable competitive advantage at Glaxosmithkline pharmaceuticals in Kenya. It was based on the premise that the very numerous and significant changes in the business environment have led to totally different responses to environmental challenges by firms, and as a result there was need for a study to update the existing knowledge about competitive strategy and the new environment in the pharmaceutical industry in Kenya because the political, legal, economic and trading environments have undergone numerous changes, ushering in new challenges for businesses.

As this was a case study focusing on GlaxoSmithKline, primary data was collected by way of an interview guide that facilitated probing for greater detail. The target population was mainly top management of GlaxoSmithKline as they were in a position to expound the strategic issues facing the company. The study established that some of the strategies being applied at GSK include collaborative strategies, target marketing, offensive strategies and human resource management among others. Though there is no uniform approach to sustainable competitive advantage, GSK is continuously searching for strategies to reap the accrued benefits. This has helped the company stay at the top by exploiting the opportunities and confronting the challenges that arise.

The study concludes that organizations operate both within an internal and external environment. The external environment consists of all conditions and forces that affect its strategic option and define its competitive situation. A dynamic environment therefore means firms have to compete more intensely. An organization therefore needs to align itself with its environment by making strategies to achieve advantage and easily defend the position in its market.