Expansion Strategies Used by Standard Chartered Bank to Enhance Competitive Advantage in East African Market

Abstract

The banking industry within East African Community has come under immense competition as more and more commercial banks set foot in the region. Both international and pan African banks have established themselves within the region making the banking industry very competitive. Standard Chartered Bank is one of the multinational banks operating within the region with its headquarters in Nairobi Kenya. In order to remain competitive, the Bank has initiated several strategies in order to efficiently serve the EAC market. The purpose of this study was to determine the expansion strategies used by Standard Chartered Bank to enhance competitive advantage in the East African Community Market. The study adopted Case study research design since the focus was on one organization. The researcher conducted interviews with middle level management team and hub managers at Standard Chartered Bank because of their involvement in competitive strategy formulation. Content analysis was used to analyze the data collected from the respondents since it was qualitative in nature. The study established that Standard Chartered Bank had embarked on an expansion strategy in the East African region through subsidiaries and branch networks and that the bank has used technology to facilitate the expansion programme. It was also established that the strategy had enhanced the competitiveness of the bank within the region through increased sales and profitability. The study recommends that the bank should continuously invest in technological improvement to maintain the competitive advantage and also seek other expansion strategies like forming strategic alliances with local banks.