MBA Theses and Dissertations (2016)
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Browsing MBA Theses and Dissertations (2016) by Subject "Competitive advantage"
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- ItemBig data dimensions’ contribution to competitive advantage of firms in Kenya’s Communication Service Provider industry(Strathmore University, 2016-05) Nsubuga, Alan LuleResearch has been done and thesis have been written in the field of competitive advantage by prominent authors such as Michael E. Porter, Allan Afuah, Douglas Laney, to name but a few, albeit nothing yet has been done to cover how the various dimensions of big data contribute to competitive advantage in Communication service provider (CSP) industry. Competitive advantage as defined by Michael E. Porter has two forms, namely, lower cost and differentiation. Competition through limit pricing in today’s competitive Kenyan market is only yielding low margin revenues and Communication service providers are keenly looking inside their organizations for new ways to differentiate themselves from their rivals. One way to gain competitive advantage, has been to utilize an already existing resource (big data) that is continually being collected in their systems. In this thesis, we evaluated how each big data dimension contributes to competitive advantage of a CSP by either bringing down cost or leading to differentiation of a CSP against its rivals. To achieve that, the study explored a couple of objectives, firstly, it determined the existence of dimensions of big data in the Communication service provider. Then, evaluated each dimension of big data and its contribution in gaining competitive advantage and finally, evaluated the benefits of big data and its analysis for CSP in Kenya. To answer the research questions that emerged from the study, a survey was carried out through oral interviews and questionnaires given to correspondents in the business analytics and finance, marketing and information technology departments of various CSPs. The data collected was then analyzed through the deployment of inferential statistics, factor analysis and principal component analysis, these methods of analysis were used to make an inference with regards to which dimension has the highest explanatory power on competitive advantage among CSPs. The study, through analysis found that volume was the big data dimension with the highest explanatory power on competitive advantage for a CSP in Kenya.
- ItemThe effect of loyalty programs on customer patronage of supermarkets in Nairobi County(Strathmore University, 2016) Wathigo, PeterCustomer loyalty programs are a common strategy adopted in business to increase customer value and achieve competitive advantage. This study sought to investigate the effect of loyalty programs on customer patronage of supermarkets in Nairobi County. The research sought: to analyze the effect of loyalty programs on consumer patronage of supermarkets; establish the influence of perceived value of loyalty programs on patronage behaviour and to determine the mediating role of supermarket’s service quality on loyalty program effects. Descriptive research design was used. Questionnaires were administered to a sample of 384 supermarket loyalty card holders from Nairobi County’s four administrative divisions namely: Nairobi West, Nairobi East, Nairobi North and Westlands. Stratified sampling technique was used. The sampling unit was all consumers with a supermarket loyalty card. Data was analyzed using Chi-square tests and hierarchical regression analysis. The results showed that after accounting for consumer demographics, convenient location and service quality, loyalty programs explained 5.7% of the variability in customer patronage of supermarkets to a statistically significant degree (p<.05). It was concluded that loyalty programs positively influenced patronage behaviour of consumers towards supermarkets in Kenya, although the degree of influence was relatively small. Perceived value of loyalty program rewards moderated patronage behavior of card holders to supermarkets. Generally, loyalty programs were not that important to card holder’s shopping experience although they conferred a sense of prestige as card holders felt special. Instead, convenient location was a more important store attribute that determined patronage behavior. It was recommended that supermarkets need to be more innovative at their rewards program offerings. Loyalty schemes should provide instant gratification to customers. Supermarkets should exploit the sense of prestige conferred by the loyalty cards through appropriate brand positioning strategies. Supermarkets that do not enjoy strong brand identity should reallocate resources away from loyalty schemes to improving store attributes such as speed of service and staff responsiveness as well as location convenience. Further studies could focus on the contribution of loyalty schemes to the operational efficiencies of supermarkets in Kenya.