Effect of Strategic Customs-Business Partnerships on the Service Satisfaction of Customs Agents in Kenya

Abstract

Strategic partnerships allow partners to pool resources and coordinate efforts in order to achieve results that neither could obtain by acting alone. A key measure employed by Customs to achieve customer satisfaction is through enhancing partnerships with stakeholders such as Customs agents. Customs administrations are concerned with collecting duties and taxes at the border, controlling goods entering and leaving national territories, and imposing penalties on unlawful actions. On the other hand, Customs agents are concerned with prompt Customs clearance, low trade transaction costs, transparency, and predictability of Customs procedures. The World Customs Organization recommends that Customs-Business (C2B) partnerships are employed to increase Customs service delivery through cost-effective, efficient and responsive Customs administrations. This is in turn expected to improve on Customs Agents service satisfaction, through improved ICT infrastructure, capacity building, variety of banking products on offer to ease making of payments to Customs, and Customer Relationship Management systems that reward compliant agents. This general objective of the study was to assess the effect of Customs-Business partnerships on the service satisfaction of Customs agents. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the effect of strategic ICT, training, banking, and customer relationship management partnerships on the service satisfaction of Customs agents in Kenya. The research design used for this study was descriptive survey. The population of this study comprised of Customs agents in Kenya. According to information obtained from the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (KIFWA), for the period 2014/2015, 525 Customs Agents licensed with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) were registered members of KIFWA Nairobi, while 608 Customs Agents licensed with KRA were registered members of KIFWA Mombasa, being the two branches of KIFWA in Kenya. From this total of 1133 units, a sample size of 297 firms was selected. Stratified random sampling was used to select a proportionate strata sample based on the KIFWA branches. Data was collected by use of questionnaires. Regression and correlation results indicated that there is a positive and significant relationship between strategic ICT, training, and CRM partnerships and the service satisfaction of Customs agents in Kenya. There was a positive but insignificant relationship between strategic banking partnerships and service satisfaction of Customs agents. Overall, strategic Customs-Business partnerships had a positive influence on the service satisfaction of Customs agents. It is recommended that the Customs administration and Customs agents should keep pace with the rapid changes in technology, by investing in strategic ICT partnerships, resulting in a high level of efficiency and reduction in cost, thus leading to competitive advantage. The study recommends that Customs and Customs agent’s management should initiate a policy of providing collaborative opportunities for the training and development Customs agents, as well as a dedicated CRM model throughout the KRA for better Customer Relationship Management. It is recommended the banking industry on its own merit should continue to offer innovative payment solutions and services to Customs and Customs agents. It is recommended Customs should develop and apply a robust Alliance Balance Scorecard model to measure the success of C2B partnerships. This will help the organization to justify the investment and resource allocation towards C2B initiatives, as compared to performance and Agent service satisfaction with the same.