Elisha Chepchieng Kiplagat

Masters of Business Administration (MBA)

1. Dr. Kadian Wanyonyi Wanyama
2. Dr. Robert W. Egesa

ABSTRACT

At microeconomic level, performance is the direct result of managing various economic resources and of their efficient use within operational, investment and financing activities. To optimize economic results, a special attention should be given to the proper grounding of managerial decisions. These should be based on complex information regarding the evolution of all types of activities within the company. Several SACCOs today are facing a myriad of challenges that have threatened their competitive positions. Recently, SACCOs has been engaged in many corrupt deals since the beginning of the new millennium. The purpose of this study will be to investigate strategic positioning and profitability of Savings and Credit Co-operative societies in Western Kenya. The study will be guided by the following objectives: to examine the effects of branding strategy on profitability of SACCOs; to establish the effects of pricing strategy on profitability of SACCOs; to determine the effects of customer service on profitability of SACCOs and to determine the effects of technological capabilities on profitability of SACCOs. The study is anchored on the conceptual framework. The study will employ a descriptive survey and correlational research designs. The target population of the research will be 6,575 members from the 200 selected SACCOs in Western Region. The sample size of 109 employees from 200 selected SACCOs will be obtained using coefficient of variation. The board members, staff from SACCOs and officials from the Ministry of Co-Operatives will also be targeted. Stratified sampling, simple random and purposive sampling techniques will be to select the respondents. The questionnaires will be the main instruments for collecting of the primary data. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics will be used to analyze the data collected. Data analyzed will be presented in frequency tables, pie charts and bar graphs. The findings of the study will be important to the SACCO movement and its stakeholders especially in enhancing performance of the SACCOs. The information from the study will also be significant to researchers as it will form a basis for further study on the strategic positioning and how it affects the profitability of the SACCOs.