Influence of Firms’ Capability on Delivery of Quality Outsourced Ict Services in Kenyan Public Institutions Case Study of Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri)

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to establish the influence of firm’s capability on delivery of quality outsourced ICT services in Kenyan Public Institutions. This research focused on The Kenya Medical Research Institute branches in Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa. It was conducted between the month of May and September 2017. The specific objectives were to examine how the independent variables namely; IT capability, organizational capability and vendor management capability has on the delivery of quality outsourced ICT services in Kenyan Public Institutions. It further looked at the effect of intervening variables such as information sharing, communication quality and collaborative participation and their relationship with both the independent variables and the dependent variable. Study design: This study employed a mixed research design constituting both qualitative and quantitative type of research. Methodology: A mixed method constituting both qualitative and quantitative research design was used constituting both probability and non-probability sampling methods. The researcher used purposive sampling followed by stratified simple random sampling to select respondents for the study. A sample size of 95 respondents comprising of 22 ICT assistants, 15 ICT officers, 12 senior ICT officers, 9 ICT section leads, 2 ICT trainers, 2 ICT managers, 1 ICT director and 32 members from the management team were selected in line with Yamane’s (1967) formula. Questionnaires and interviews were used as the data collection instruments. Research findings: The research findings revealed that independent variables namely; IT capability, organization capability and vendor management capability contribute to the delivery of quality outsourced ICT services. Each of these factors had a positive and significant influence on the dependent variable. The research further revealed that the intervening variables (information sharing, communication quality and collaborative participation) have an influence which is either significant or insignificant on the relationships between independent variables and dependent variable. The findings may be useful to both public and private institutions within the country and beyond in embracing outsourcing of services