BUILDING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH STRATEGIC FORMULATION: PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS FOR MOBILE TELEPHONE NETWORK (MTN) UGANDA
Lugga David Joseph - MBA Candidate, School of Business, Economics and Tourism, Kenyatta University, Kenya, Kenya
Anne W. Muchemi (PhD) - Lecturer, School of Business, Economics and Tourism, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
The telecommunications industry continues to experience heightened competition, rapid technological changes, evolving customer expectations, and increasing regulatory requirements that demand strategic responses from market players. In Uganda, telecommunication firms are under pressure to sustain subscriber growth, improve customer retention, and enhance revenue generation amid a dynamic business environment. Despite MTN Uganda maintaining its position as a market leader, the company has experienced performance challenges reflected in declining average revenue per user, increasing customer churn rates, and fluctuations in subscriber growth. These challenges have renewed interest in understanding the strategic factors that influence organizational performance. This study examined the effect of strategy formulation on the performance of MTN Uganda. The study is anchored on the Resource-Based View Theory and supported by Systems Theory. An explanatory research design was adopted, targeting managerial employees, departmental heads, regional managers, and directors at MTN Uganda. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings established that strategy formulation significantly influences organizational performance by enhancing strategic direction, improving resource allocation, strengthening environmental responsiveness, and facilitating competitive positioning. The study concludes that effective strategy formulation enables organizations to build sustainable competitive advantage through proactive adaptation to environmental changes and alignment of organizational resources with strategic objectives. The study recommends that MTN Uganda institutionalize participatory strategy formulation processes, strengthen environmental scanning mechanisms, and continuously review strategic priorities to sustain superior organizational performance. The findings contribute to strategic management literature and provide practical insights for telecommunication firms operating in highly competitive markets.