Competitive strategy and performance in Southern Ghana

Abstract

There is a dearth of academic work investigating the effectiveness of competitive strategies in retail organisations in emerging nations, particularly within sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigates the relationship between business strategy and performance in business enterprises in Southern Ghana. Data from 184 firms in Accra, Tema and Kumasi suggest that – in terms of both financial and operating performance – Ghanaian retailers employing a combination of cost leadership and differentiation strategies outperformed those adopting only one of the two pure strategies.