A Competitive Analysis of East African Cement Companies using the HPO Framework

What is it about?

Sub-standard infrastructure is one of the most significant challenges for economic development in East Africa. Specifically, the availability of affordable, locally produced cement is critical to infrastructural and economic development and job creation in the region. Thus, it is critical for cement companies to achieve better operational and financial results so they can satisfy the need for higher-quality cement for infrastructure projects and to deal with increasing environmental issues. In this article we evaluate, using de Waal’s high performance organisations (HPO) framework, the quality of three cement companies in Kenya and Tanzania to identify improvements these companies can make to their internal organisation and operations so they can achieve better financial and operational results. The research results indicate that whilst all three companies were yet to achieve HPO status, the best performing company with the highest HPO score also had the best financial performance over the past 10 years. The research also resulted in a series of recommendations on the basis of the weaknesses identified in the cement companies.

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