| dc.description.abstract | In the current rapidly changing competitive business environment, organizations
endeavors to outperform one another. Thus the company must deliver greater value to
customers or create a comparable value at lower cost or both in order to outperform
competitors. Cost is generated by performing particular activities, and cost advantages
arise from performing particular activity more efficiently than the competitor. Similarly,
differentiation arises from the choice of activities and how they are performed. To
enhance business processes performance with an objective of cost reduction and
satisfaction of customers, many organizations are turning to Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) strategy. East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) is one of
the organizations that have adopted BPO strategy as a move to gaining competitive
advantage. EAPCC is the oldest cement manufacturing company in Kenya with its
operations dating back to 1933. Over the years the market dominated by EAPCC has
been invaded by competition resulting to reduction of market share to 18% and adoption
of BPO strategy was to enable the organization regain its competitive advantage. The
implementation of BPO strategy at EAPCC has not been smooth and therefore the study
was to determine the challenges in the implementation of Business Process Outsourcing
strategy at East African Portland Cement Company Limited. The case study method was
adopted since it provides very detailed information about a particular subject that it
would not be possible to acquire through another method. The study used primary data
which was collected from the top management staff of EAPCC through face to face
interview. The data collected was then analyzed through content analysis method due to
its suitability to analyze data collected from Open-ended questions which are more
difficult to code. The study established that business operations that are outsourced by
East African Portland Cement Company are mining operation, security services, various
consultancy services, transportation of raw materials and cement, sales of cement in
Uganda, marketing, recruitments for senior position, printing services, garbage collection,
fumigation and cloud based PABX. The study also established that outsourcing at
EAPCC is driven by cost reduction, lack of internal expertise, quality of services, lack of
adequate infrastructure and the need to focus on core business. The study concludes that
the challenges facing the organization in implementation of business process outsourcing
strategy are selection of the right vendor, loss of control, resistance from staff and
leakage of information to other competitors. The implication of study is that East African
Portland Cement Company Ltd and other organizations practicing business process
outsourcing strategy or intending to adopt BPO strategy will use the study to benefit the
organization by formulating strategies to counter the challenges of BPO strategy and
enhance successful implementation of BPO. The policy makers will use the
recommendations from the study to formulate policies that will enhance business process
outsourcing strategy implementation in organization. The academicians would use that
the study as a basis upon which further studies on Business Process Outsourcing could be
researched. The study also serves as a source of reference for future scholars besides
providing areas of further research on BPO. | en_US |
