The Strategic Use of Information Technology in the Insurance Industry: A Case Study of State Insurance Company- Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract

The study aimed at finding out the strategic use of information technology in the State Insurance Company limited- Ghana, using Kumasi area office as the case study.Generally, the study focused attention on how managers and workers need to know about technology, the kind of information systems that support business needs, the benefits of adopting emerging technologies in insurance among others.Sixty (60) respondents were purposively selected which was guided by sampling procedure.  Quota sampling was also adopted.  Two (2) questionnaires were administered to the Area Manager and the deputy, ten (10) to all Heads of departments, thirty (30) to Senior Staff and eighteen (18) to Junior Staff.The findings revealed that most of the respondents rated the strategic use of IT in the company as playing a good role due to the fact that it has improved the workflow, respond quickly and timely on information requests and reduce cost of filling, storing and retrieving paper document, and unlike the traditional method, documents stored electronically are seldom lost or misfiled whilst at the same time it has reduced risk to a manageable extent.  There was also insufficient transaction through the internet between clients and the company. It was recommended that State Insurance Company Limited should add knowledge in IT as a prerequisite for recruiting staffs with the intention of reducing the operating cost of IT.

Keywords: Information Technology (IT), Insurance, Risk, Kumasi, Internet, Recovery, Recruiting