Strategies adopted by AON corporation to gain competitive advantage in Kenya

Abstract

From earlier than forty years ago scholars have asserted that serious managers of business organization needed to give serious thought concerning the role strategy could have on firms’ competitive abilities and the benefits realizable through firms' performance. Ever since that time, strategy and competitive advantage are increasingly becoming inseparable concepts. This study was therefore, designed with the objective of establishing the strategies adopted by AON Kenya to gain competitive advantage in Kenya. This was done through a case study on AON Kenya. The data were collected by interviewing the top management staff. Content analysis was used to analyze the responses to the interview questions. The interviews revealed that AON Kenya is the most successful insurance broker of the over 170 competitors in Kenya. The main source of the competitiveness is the mature and experienced team at AON, research and development and its strong business development team. However, AON Kenya finds the insurance and insurance brokerage market small and growing at a slow rate and with cut throat competition. A serious threat is building for there are new multinational insurance brokers venturing into the Kenyan market. Banks also provide a challenge for they have established insurance agencies in form of banc assurance. In response to the market environment, AON uses research and development, business development teams, value addition and client focus, lobbying, volume discounts, diversification, marketing and visibility campaign strategy, organizational structure and specialization, and strong global networks to keep ahead and maintain competitive advantage. The research recommends opening up of the Kenyan insurance market to improve its capacity and business space. Insurance companies should also improve their staff capacities to make the companies have internal drivers of competitive advantage