Business Continuity and Survival Strategies Applied by Downstream Petroleum Companies in Kenya

Abstract

Today the globalized nature of the business world, the ubiquity of technology use, the increasing variety of threats and risks faced by both organizations and nation states and global financial issues mean that as we move further into the 21st century the range and types of crisis events faced by organizations are likely to grow. Organizations wishing to remain competitive and successful must be protected, through increased resilience, to continue profitably in the event of any serious business interruption. The objective of the study was to establish the business continuity strategies adopted by downstream petroleum companies in Kenya. A census cross-sectional survey was adopted in this particular research so as to include all the oil companies’ views of such innate factors as a firm's business continuity strategy, with a target population of 71. In light of this therefore, a survey was deemed as the best design to fulfil the objective of the study. The study made use of primary data which was collected through a questionnaire by the researcher. The data obtained from the questionnaire was analysed using descriptive quantitative analysis. This method of analysis was adopted because of the quantitative nature of the response acquired. This study was guided by various theoretical and literature reviews. The study had a 69.0% response rate. The study found out competition, customer demands, market regulators, and corporate governance as the main factors affecting the business continuity approaches at the petroleum oil companies in Kenya. Staff turnover, loss of IT capacity and loss of skills brought about challenges on business continuity driver adoption. In light of the findings the study recommends that since most of the downstream oil companies in Kenya have been successful in the application of business continuity approaches so far, there is need to focus on how their expansion strategy is affecting their performance, and how product substitutes are affecting their competitive advantage. This will enable these companies to attain the full benefit of the application of business continuity strategies. Given the dynamic nature of the energy sector in the country in which the petroleum oil companies are operating, the study recommends strict adherence to sound business continuity strategies