The Role of Product Differentiation Strategies on Competitiveness of Banking Industry Ethiopia : In Case Study of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
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Date
2022-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Banking Industry is the growing Industry in Ethiopia which has stiff competition. Telecommunication Industry is also entering the market. For the long run survival of the Banking industry, strategies on how to operate in this dynamic environment are of vital important. Commercial banks in Ethiopia have come to realize that in order to provide value and win customers, there is a need to quickly and accurately identify changes in customer needs, design and develop more complex products which would satisfy those needs, provide higher levels of customer support and service. The study sought to fill the existing knowledge gap by establish influence of product differentiation strategies in achieving competitive advantage in commercial bank of Ethiopia. This research adopted a descriptive survey research design. The target population of this study was 574 supervisor staffs working at commercial bank of Ethiopia. The study adopted random sampling which was used to select the sample size of 254 respondents. The study used a semi structured questionnaire to collect primary data. The questionnaire was made of close ended items. Descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviation and frequency distribution were used to analyze the data. Data presentation was done by the use of bar charts and graphs, and frequency tables to ease understanding and interpretation of the data. Regression analysis helped the study establish the statistical significance of influence of product differentiation in achieving competitive advantage in commercial banks. Findings show that, there is significance relationship between variables (cost, market, distribution channel and product process differential) to competitive advantage, hence product differentiation strategy has a positive contribution to competitive advantage. Some of the recommendations are that commercial banks should adopt effective process of delivering financial product such as through agency banking, mobile phone banking, use of RTGS and internet banking distribution channels, POS payment & international gateway payments, use of retail network (branches) ATM and mobile banking distribution channels.
Keywords: Product Cost Differentiation, Market, Process, Distribution, Strategy Competitive Advantage