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.