Competitive Strategies Adopted by Bank of India, Kenya

Abstract

The choice of a competitive strategy is critical for the survival and success of any company. According to Thompson, Strickland and Gamble (2008), the main objective of competitive strategy is to knock the socks off rivals companies by doing a better

job of satisfying buyer needs and preferences. Organization’s ability to increase its profits is dependent on its ability to outwit, out bluff and out maneuvers its rivals. To achieve this it needs the concept of game theory which deals with the process of competitive interaction and also required is the concept of strategic conflict model which portrays competition as war between rival firms. The research study had only one objective which was to determine the competitive strategies adopted by Bank of India, Kenya. The research was a case study and involved use of primary data. The data was collected through interview guides, whereby interview appointments were done with various managers whose positions and roles gave them the ability to respond effectively to most of the questions. The findings were analyzed by use of content analysis. The study showed that the bank used and emphasized on the application of focus/ market niche strategy to a large extend. It also uses to some extend differentiation, cost leadership and market penetration strategies to compliment the focus strategy. The bank had also started to apply market development to enable it catch up with the stiff competition in the banking industry. The researcher recommended that the bank should take full advantage of the strategies it has advantage over rivals like focus strategy and also to give full budget allocation to those strategies so as to rip full benefits out of them. Bank of India, Kenya was also able to blend the mix of Porter’ generic strategies and Ansoff growth strategies as the two sets of strategies showed to be beneficial as they complement each other. In carrying out the study, three major constraints were faced; time constraints, centralized decision making at the bank’s head office in Mumbai, hence not the right decision makers were interviewed and the scope of the study as this was a case study.