Mission
Safaricom aspires to use their products and services in the transformation of lives and to offer their contribution to sustainable living throughout Kenya by connecting people and promotion of innovation for improvement of life’s quality and livelihoods of the people reached. Central to achieving their mission is their commitment to managing their operations ethically and responsibly.
Industry
Safaricom is a giant in the telecommunication industry with a contribution of 8.4 % to Kenya’s GDP. It is averaged to have a growth of 20% and is perceived to contribute over 10% to Kenya’s GDP by the year ending 2017. Safaricom boasts of a market share of over 65% as compared to its major competitor Airtel that claims a 20% share of the market share. It is enlisted in the Nairobi Stock Exchange and is among the biggest gainers with a volume of 34.98M shares. It usually pays dividends of up to four shillings per share indicating it is doing well in the telecommunication industry.
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Specialization
Safaricom provides a wide and unique range of products and services for telephony, broadband internet, and financial services. The company’s integrated telecommunication services and products include fixed voice and mobile, short messaging service, data and internet, and mobile money transfer services. It also offers a wide range of communication devices such as mobile phones, broadband modems, network routers, tablets, and notebooks. Its other services are access services, such as wireless, fixed-line and mobile solutions, including leased lines and fibre optic infrastructure, and dedicated internet solutions for enterprise and hosted services. Recently, it has been able to offer banking services where customers can save their money on their phones and access it easily whenever they want. This product is called M-SHWARI. This is an addition to their renowned money transfer system M-PESA.
Geographical location
Safaricom is a Kenyan based company whose headquarters are found in Safaricom house situated at Waiyaki way in West-lands, Nairobi. It also has offices in the city centre on Kenyatta Avenue, in I & M Building, on Kimathi Street and at Shankardass Building, next to Kenya Cinema Moi Avenue. It has branches in major towns of Mombasa, Kisumu, Nairobi, Eldoret, and outlets throughout the country to facilitate its services. It also has agents who facilitate neighbour to neighbour services. Safaricom’s presence is everywhere in the country.
Management of technology and innovation
As stated in the Safaricom sustainability report (2015), the innovation department is at the centre of Safaricom’s administrative hub for new ideas related to innovation within the company. It coordinates the development of new ideas with teams in other departments such as technological and corporate responsibility departments. A major achievement of Safaricom’s innovation program is the M-PESA mobile money program which is transforming the handling of money in the company. The company’s innovation policy of social, financial inclusion, YOLO and developing new products and services sets out the future of technology and innovation in the region. Other inventions include M-SHWARI and M-AKIBA just to name a few.
Key business goals
Safaricom has several sustainable development goal. Some of them include:
Industry, innovation, and infrastructure- Safaricom aims at delivering the best network in Kenya by delivering a high-quality network which is available to everyone and anywhere in the country.
YOLO. YOLO is an acronym for be Youthful Original Local and Outstanding. This is aimed to deliver centric solutions to the Youth and to promote innovation among the youth.
Affordable and clean energy. Safaricom endeavours to provide energy resources like solar panels to their customers for the efficient running of their systems. This is quite affordable and harmless to the environment hence a clean source of energy.
Deepen financial inclusion. Safaricom aims to provide the society with formal financial services to enable the unbanked to be included in the money system.
Partnership for goals. Safaricom aims to partner with customers and business partners to provide information communication technology solutions to enable businesses to succeed. It also has plans to support dealers, agents, and suppliers.
Stay ahead of the curve. Through their rigorous innovation systems, Safaricom aims at providing transformational and locally invented products and services to the people. Unique products that touch the lives of the customers are key to staying ahead of the competition.
IT strategy
According to Baru Jaruvelski (2011), technologically driven companies should have a strategy that aids the development of edge-leading products and services. They are required to be particularly skilled in understanding current and emerging technologies and also good at managing service and product lifecycles. The key to the success of this strategy is the ability to observe and gain insight into specific customer needs. It is also an ability to engage actively with all customers to prove the validity of concepts. They should assess the market potential and risks and have the ability to work with pilot users to roll out services and products carefully but quickly.
Safaricom has strategic priorities. These include:
Service. This is achieved by their active 24/7 customer service that ensures the customers have the best services the company can offer. Safaricom also conducts surveys, research, and seminars to determine ways in which they can improve their services to the people. Their aim is to deliver the best network in Kenya
Security. Customer information is confidential and deemed private by the company. Safaricom also being involved in money transfer ensures the highest level of security of its systems. This includes monthly check-ups of their systems to ensure that they are up to date and secure. Being a technology company dealing with raw information from the public, security of information is the least expected from them.
Innovation. Through its supportive programs like blaze, Safaricom is determined to not only encourage innovation but also to enable innovation to impact the society. This has seen the invention of local solar lamps to help the Kenyans in the diaspora obtain energy. More is expected to be gained from this innovative programs.
IT foundation and infrastructure. Safaricom has modernised IT systems that ensure competitiveness and keeping up with the latest trends in technology some of which include:
A modernized WiMax network. WiMax is part of the wireless communication standards which are founded on the IEE 802.16 set of standards. These standards provide for multiple physical layers as well as media access control options. It provides a portable medium for mobile broadband connectivity that runs across towns and several regions through various devices.
A national fibre network system that supports up to 100Gpbs. Fibre optics communication is a way of transmitting data and information from one place to another. This is achieved by the transmission of light pulses through an optical fibre cable. Safaricom has laid over 1000km of fibre throughout the major towns in the country.
3G and 4G sites. Consists of cells and boosters that strengthen the 3G and 4G signals to enable the recipients to communicate efficiently. 4G and 3G is the fourth and third generation of cellular broadband network technology respectively.
These priorities are parallel to Safaricom’s sustainable development goals of industry, innovation, and well-being, and partnership goals. Together, they help to propel Safaricom into achieving its goals. This helps them stay ahead of the curve.
Management of Technology Innovation (MTI) Capabilities
Safaricom currently has only three direct competitors in Kenya- Bharti Airtel, Telkom Kenya, and YU Mobile. There are also several other potential competitors, defined as companies that operate in Africa but not in Kenya, including Millicom, Etisalat Emirate Telecommunications Company, and MTN group. Safaricom is currently the leading provider of telecommunication services having over 60% of the market share.
Safaricom has taken advantage of its local goodwill and data collection strategies to stay on top. Data collection tools include interviews, a focus group discussion, survey, observation and market analysis complemented by knowledge gained from product launches and seminars. Kenyans on Twitter have become a popular phrase associated with the active participation of Kenyans in social media. Safaricom has also strategized to use the social media as a data collection tool where they get to directly involve the public in ways in which they can improve their goods and services. This is by opening social media accounts where Kenyans can easily reach and communicate with them.
Safaricom also encourages its employees to be innovative by organizing workshops where they meet and exchange and ideas. They are also given lectures on how to work together to improve their ideas. With programs like The Safaricom Academy, Linda Jamii, and Blaze, Safaricom has offered platforms where its employees and the general public can present their innovations. The best ideas are usually rewarded and supported to see the light of the business industry and to help to the local communities.
Sustainability, Stakeholder Responsibility and Technology Innovation
Environmental awareness is at the centre of Safaricom’s sustainability objectives. According to Safaricom’s Twaweza website (2017), the environmental impact of Safaricom’s business is managed to encourage value creation and to maintain compliance with the local regulations with the inclusion of environmental laws. This is through ensuring that their products, processes, and operations are safe for the environment. Safaricom has a solar roll-out program that encourages locals to adopt cleaner forms of energy as compared to the kerosene lamps they are well accustomed that pollute the environment. This is one of Safaricom’s achievement in their goal to reduce energy usage and related greenhouse gas emissions, conserve water, reduce waste and explore opportunities for reuse and recycling.
According to Safaricom’s our approach website (2017), Safaricom considers their stakeholders to be individuals, local and global communities and organizations that are most affected by, or most like to influence their business. These include:
Customers who are vital to the sustainability of Safaricom and by driving them to develop innovative solutions. A business is not a business without customers.
Employees who are the face and ambassadors of Safaricom. They continue to drive innovation and to ensure that Safaricom achieves its objectives.
Business partners who form the key part of how Safaricom engages with customers and the overall customer experience.
Shareholders who provide the capital necessary for Safaricom’s growth.
A society that provides a conducive operating environment and a market for Safaricom’s products and services.
Regulators who impact Safaricom’s ability to manage risks and retain their licence to operate.
Media that provides Safaricom with a platform to communicate with customers and to brand their image both locally and globally.
Together, stakeholders have ensured Safaricom’s prosperity to stay at the top locally and compete globally. Safaricom was the winner of distinct categories at the African Excellency Awards 2017. The awards were created to recognize and honour outstanding achievements of communication and HR professionals throughout Africa. Safaricom is currently considered as the leading taxpayer in Kenya. According to KPMG (2016), Safaricom’s contribution to economic development through revenue generation is over one trillion Kenyan shillings in the past 10 years.
Safaricom recognizes and rewards high ethical standards and personal and corporate integrity. The company has adopted a conduct code, which complies with high standards of integrity, ethics and honesty in dealing with all its stakeholders. This includes its directors, managers, employees, suppliers, customers, competitors, shareholders and the society at large.
Corporate social responsibility is a new concept that is receiving a lot of attention all over the world today. Safaricom has not been left behind. According to a report by Kwalanda, Ruth (2007), the management of Safaricom limited view Corporate Social Responsibility as a key component of their of their business success. Safaricom views most issues affecting the society as part of the issues affecting them as a business. They believe an empowered society is good business.
References
Barry, C. (2011, April 04). The World's 10 Most Innovative Companies, And How They Do It. Retrieved November 07, 2017, from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/2011/04/04/10-top-innovative-companies-apple-google-leadership-managing-how.html
KPMG. (2016). Safaricom. Ten years of 'True Earnings' , 26.
Ruth, K. (2007). CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AT SAFARICOM LIMITED. Nairobi: University of Nairobi.
Safaricom. (2015). Safaricom Sustainability Report. Nairobi: Safaricom.
safaricom. (2017). Sustainability Objectives. Retrieved November 07, 2017, from Safaricom Twaweza: https://www.safaricom.co.ke/investor-relation/sustainability/objectives-reports/sustainability-objectives
