The effectiveness of business process outsourcing in Safaricom limited-Kenya

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of business process outsourcing in Safaricom Limited Kenya and how it can derive value out of the strategy. A content analysis was used in this study. This study was specific to employees at Safaricom limited who were divided into stratums of different levels of management and general staff.. Primary data was obtained to provide the needed input for the study.1 Data analysis was done through use of content analysis. The findings of the study showed that outsourcing could be used as a strategy of choice to gain competitive advantage and the respondents acknowledged that not all activities could be outsourced, thus the major task of the management is to make decision on which departments to outsource. According to the study, the main activities that Safaricom Limited could outsource were maintenance and operation, transmission, equipment hiring and network management. There was resistance to outsourcing of product development and customer service departments. With regards to values and benefits gained, cost cutting and revenue generation were the main values that could be gained while there was opposition with regards to improved product Development. Further the major challenges identified from the study include Formulation and quantifying service requirement. The major conclusions of the study as guided by the research questions were that there were very few option than outsourcing for Safaricom Limited .The respondent acknowledged, although it was also clear that not all activities could be outsourced, there was a general agreement that outsourcing decision should come from the board level. The major benefits, focus on strategy is the highest of the managers agreeing while freed up of internal resources, Areas that did not indicate positive response to outsourcing was mainly improved research and product development. The general outlook based on the study was outsourcing could be used as a strategy of choice to off load non-core function of Safaricom Limited to gain competitive advantage and enhancing its maintenance of the market leadership within the industry.