Competitive strategies adopted by Equity Bank Limited

Abstract

When determining competitive advantages and crafting coping strategies, the firm needs to understand the competitive environment it is operating in. This helps it place itself in the strongest position possible and to best make use of its resources and core competencies. This research proposal investigated the competitive strategies adopted by Equity Bank in order to gain competitive advantage in the industry. The case study method was used in handling this research problem. Yin (1984) observes that Case study research excels at bringing us to an understanding of a complex issue or object and can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous research. Case studies emphasize detailed contextual analysis of a limited number of events or conditions and their relationships. The data for the research was mainly from both primary and secondary data. The primary data included in-depth interviews, using an interview guide with senior managers at Equity Bank Ltd. These included the CEO, Operations and Customer Service Manager, Head of Finance, Corporate Strategy Manager and Company Secretary, Marketing Manager, IT Manager, Human Resource and Administration Manager and General Manager Credit. The main tool applied was content analysis. This was necessitated by the fact that this case study will involve study of a single sector and a firm participating in that sector. From the research, the researcher concluded that the challenges experienced by commercial banks in their operations are increased number of competitors in the industry. The competitors make it difficult to achieve competitive advantage because they imitate the services, products, and huge financial requirements. The researcher can therefore highly recommend strategic issue management as a process of specifying the organization's objectives, developing policies and plans and for the company to achieve this, strategic issue management should be highly implemented in the organization.