Challenges of Implementing Outsourcing Strategy at Eastern Produce Kenya Limited

Abstract

Organizations exist in an environment which is dynamic and highly unpredictable and hence the need to constantly update themselves with these changes. Owing to increased competition and operational costs, many organizations have chosen outsourcing as a strategy to gain and sustain competitive advantage. Like any other st rategy, the success of an outsourcing strategy depends on the ability of an organization to implement it. Eastern Produce Kenya limited uses outsourcing strategy to achieve cost reduction, focus on core functions as well as gain access to superior quality from suppliers. The objective of this research was to establish the challenges faced by Eastern Produce Company limited as it implements her outsourcing strategy and the measures the company has taken to counter the challenges. To achieve the stated object ives, a case study research design was used with the aid of an interview guide. The interviewees were middle and lower level managers responsible for strategy implementation. Content analysis was used to analyze both primary and secondary data. The finding s from the study were that, the major challenges encountered by Eastern Produce Kenya Limited as it sought to implement outsourcing included; a disconnect between strategy formulators and implementers, poor communication, bureaucracies, lack of adequate tr aining, lack of understanding by service providers and inadequate leadership. Other challenges included unsound reward systems, government policies and weather dependent issues. The study also sought to establish the measures taken to cope with the challen ges and found out that, training, effective communication, forward planning, bridging formulators - implementers gap and having clear targets were some of the key measures the company has put in place. Consequently, the study concluded that, organizations ar e faced with similar challenges in strategy implementation, but it is the ability of an organization to identify these challenges coupled with the measures that organizations put in place that determine the degree to which that organization realizes succes s. The study recommended that training and comparison with best practice would assist in ensuring the implementation process is smoother. The same research could be replicated in other industry players to validate the findings.