Policy Interventions to Contemporary Challenges and the Performance of Insurance Companies in Kenya a Case Study of Jubilee Insurance Company

Abstract

The article sought to review the contemporary challenges and their policy interventions in the Kenyan insurance industry in terms of the external and internal challenges affecting the insurance business and which require leadership and managerial actions. The researcher reviewed the contemporary challenges and the performance of insurance companies in Kenya by looking at the external business environmental challenges and how they affect the management of Insurance companies. Secondly, the study considered how Kenyan insurance companies adapt and adjust their internal practices and processes to satisfy the changing customer expectations. The article goes further to review the critical policy issues which are required to address: changing consumer dynamics, enforce strict compliance with the stringent regulations, constant product innovations, and greater need for communication, technological disruptions, on-demand marketplace, and compensation. Using peer-reviewed literature and the published integrated annual reports of Jubilee Insurance Company Ltd; the study discussed and highlighted the policy interventions in relation to the demands of business and customers. Using Jubilee Insurance as a model insurance company in a case study, the researcher found that by combining performance driven behaviour and regular use of management control systems, Insurance Companies were able to post improved results. The Choice of Jubilee was driven by its size and stability among the Kenyan insurance companies. Jubilee has adopted an integrated reporting system which enabled the researcher to obtain the empirical information required from a secondary source. The researcher reviewed the data from the company‟s integrated annual reports for the ten years from 2007 to 2017. The study looked at the control systems, including informal and formal controls and subjected these controls to a more comprehensive analysis to establish the impact of management control systems and strategy on the insurance company performance. The study suggested further empirical research to find the linkage between the policy interventions to various challenges and the performance of the insurance companies in Kenya.