An Investigation of Business Value of E-business to Insurance Companies in Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the business value of e-business by insurance companies in Kenya. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: (i) to assess the extent of adoption of e- business by insurance companies in Kenya; (ii) to determine the factors influencing the implementation of e-business in the insurance sector in Kenya; and (iii) to estimate the financial benefit derived from adoption of e-business amongst insurance firms in Kenya. A descriptive research design was used to undertake the study. The population from which the study was undertaken was all the companies licensed to undertake insurance business in Kenya, whose number stood at 43 as at June 2010. A representative sample of 26 insurance companies, representing 60% the whole population was selected at random. Primary data was collected with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire. Content analysis was employed for data pertaining to the background of the respondents and Company while data pertaining to the objectives of the study was analyzed by employing descriptive statistics such as frequencies, mean and standard deviations. Descriptive statistics are used to describe the basic features of the data in a study. Findings of the study show that the factors influencing implementation of e-business in the insurance sector in Kenya are categorized into two - technological and managerial. The findings of study also indicate that all the respondent insurance companies had at least implemented some form of e-business solutions and the applications were used in a number of areas, including the following: finance, customer support, procurement, staff management, communication and money transfer and hence these solutions were of great business value to insurance companies in Kenya.