Strategic Agility Enablers and Performance of Insurance Brokerage Firms in Kenya

Abstract

Globalization has changed the face of the competitive arena that affected in many industries progressing from slow moving, stable oligopolies to hypercompetitive environments. Varied products to changing operational systems are hastily introduced by the many in the insurance industry trying to outperform the competitors. The objectives of this study were to: Determine the strategic agility enablers among insurance brokerage firms in Kenya and to establish the effect of strategic agility enablers on performance of insurance brokerage firms in Kenya. The study employed a descriptive research design and regression analysis. The population comprised 193 insurance brokers operating in Kenya .The relevant data which was required for this research was gathered from primary sources, through the use of a semistructured questionnaire. The findings were presented using charts and tables. Descriptive statistics for the quantitative data included frequencies, percentages, mean scores and standard deviation. Data obtained from the questionnaires were processed through editing and coding and then entered into a computer for analysis using descriptive statistics with the assistance of Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22. The study found that formalization, skills and attitude, management commitment and support and digitized processes affect the performance of the insurance brokerage firms to a great extent. The study found that organisation structure, discontinuous innovation, human capital, management commitment and support, information technology integration and operational processes effectiveness affects the performance of insurance brokerage firms in Kenya. The study also found that discontinuous innovations such as experimentation with new ideas and exploration of new paradigms affect performance of insurance brokerage firms in Kenya. The study found that staff skills, attitudes, experience and competence are very significant in the performance of insurance brokerage firms. However, there is no teamwork among employees in the insurance brokerage firms. The study concludes that there is more emphasis on the quality (TQM) and supply chain coordination among the insurance brokerage firms in Kenya which greatly affect their performance. The study recommends that the management of insurance brokerage firms should put in place cost-effective measures for timely risk identification and effective risk mitigation so as to ensure that their financial performance is not impacted negatively. The study also recommends that insurance brokerage firms need to develop robust technology-enabled innovation strategies that define how a company sources and develops technology to help deliver compelling new products, services, customer experiences and business models while simultaneously creating barriers to entry. The insurance brokerage firms should adopt the use of IT in their service delivery in order to improve their efficiencies as the higher the level of usage, the more efficient firms become the more profitable it is. The study recommends that managers of insurance brokerage firms should put forward strategic plans to ensure that insurance claims complaint files are properly kept, monitored and handled for needs that may warrant its usefulness in the future.Insurance brokerage firms should integrate their departments, their key suppliers and payment system to make it easy for processing of documents which shall result into efficiency hence improved performance