FACTORS INFLUENCING OUTSOURCING DECISION IN MANUFACTURING FIRMS

One of the growing phenomena among large manufacturing firms in Kenya is the adoption of outsourcing concept. The concept has brought in several opportunities and thus prompting high level of acceptance. This has had a huge impact on how manufacturing business is conducted leading to a reduction in operating costs. The overall objective of the study was to identify the factors that influence the decision to adopt outsourcing as a way of meeting objectives in manufacturing firms in Thika. The study was carried out using descriptive research design. The population of the study comprised of 74 middle and senior level managers in BAT in Thika. A sample of 32 managers was used for the study where stratified and simple method sampling was used to carry out the study. Stratified sampling was used to select different levels of managers. There will be three strata, namely: Finance/IT, Engineering/Production and Logistics and Transport. Thereafter a simple random sampling method was used to select respondents from the three different strata. A questionnaire was the instrument used for gathering data for the study. As such the questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from all the sampled respondents. Primary data was applied. The researcher dropped and picked the questionnaire to the respondents after five days. The drop and pick method was be suitable since it gave the respondents adequate time to discuss, understand and respond to the questions therein. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Finally, the presentation was done using tables, pie charts and bar graphs. Putting the research objectives into consideration this study aimed to find answers to the research question