Meta-Analysis on Sustainable Supply Chain Management: An Analytical Approach (Published)
Sustainability in Supply Chain is a key area in business that great attention is being looked into by academicians and practioners in recent times. The literature of sustainable supply chain management is still scant and several literature review has been conducted to investigate the state of the art knowledge of sustainable supply chain management. The field of text mining is rapidly evolving but little has been done on the techniques used in the study of sustainable supply chain management. The major objective of the study was to conduct a meta–analysis of the literature review studies in the area of sustainable supply chain management. Specifically the objective of the study was to find out the state of the art knowledge in sustainable supply chain and to use text mining techniques to derive the most frequent used words in keywords, abstracts and conclusion of the literature review papers on sustainable supply chain management. Major trends and current research topics in sustainable supply chain management were identified. A total of 57 papers were identified, the process was iterative involving many hours of reading, additional collection of literature, synthesis and refinement. The leading peer reviewed journals, universities, and authors were identified as well. The study adopted meta-analysis and content based qualitative approach of published literature for assessing the appropriateness of the framework presented in the research articles. More specifically the alignment between keywords, abstract and conclusion was studied. Finally, suggestion and recommendation was provided for the research agenda in the field of sustainable supply chain management
Keywords: Supply Chain, Sustainability, Sustainable Supply Chain, Text Mining
Supply Chain Flexibility, Agility and Firm Performance (Published)
Supply chain flexibility is widely seen as one major response to the increasing uncertainty and competition in the marketplace. That is to say a firm with a flexible supply chain is likely to survive and grow its market share. Despite several evidences suggesting that performance improvements are related to SCM, managing supply chains today and practicing flexibility has become more difficult due to the fact that business environments are highly competitive, businesses are going more global, dynamic, and customer‐driven. Therefore, this study assessed the path between supply chain flexibility and firm performance using supply chain agility as a moderating variable. A total of 77 manufacturing and service firms operating in the Kumasi metropolis were selected as sample. The sample was made up of key management staff as well as non-management operatives of the firms. Questionnaires was used as instrument for data collection. The findings revealed that SC Flexibility and SC Agility positively correlated firm performance (p<0.01/0.05). Additionally, moderating SC Agility on SC Flexibility, produced a positive effect, however the effect was insignificant and this implies that SC agility does not significantly moderate the positive impact the SC Flexibility has on firm performance. SC flexibility better predicts firm performance through SC Agility as a moderator and not moderator. Therefore, it is rather necessary to appreciate the individual roles that both SC Flexibility and SC Agility play to ensure value for customers and thereby contributing to firm performance and not necessarily moderating each other.
Keywords: Agility, Firm Performance, Flexibility, Supply Chain
The Effect Of Supply Chain Integration On Operational Performance: A Study On Chemical And Chemical Product Manufacturing Firms In Ethiopia (Published)
The aim of this research is to empirically examine the effect of supply chain integration on operational performance. In order to address the research objective, a quantitative survey approach is used to collect the relevant data from the target population of the study which includes Chemical and Chemical product manufacturing firms in Ethiopia. A questionnaire was administered to target respondents to collect a primary data for the study. To analyze the data this study applied a descriptive and non parametric statistics including Kendall’s correlation and Kruskal Wallis test to see the significant relationship between hypothesized variables as well as to measure the direction and strength of the relationship. The result from study shows a significant positive effect of supply chain integration construct on the operational performance of firms. However, this research investigation did not found statistically significant evidence on the effect of internal integration on external integrations
Keywords: Ethiopia, Integration, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, chemical product
Factors Influencing Implementation of E- Procurement: A Case Study of Small and Medium Size Businesses in Voi Town (Published)
This paper has researched on the factors influencing implementation of e-procurement on small and medium sizes business in Voi town. The study has three objectives: To ascertain the effect of skills on implementation of E-procurement in SMEs; to establish the effect of Supplier compatibility on implementation of E-procurement in SMEs and finally determine the effect of cost of systems infrastructure on implementation of E-procurement in SMEs. The study adopted a descriptive approach in trying to establish on the factors influencing implementation of e-procurement on small and medium sizes business in Voi town and it targeted a population of one hundred employees. The study concluded that skills, supplier compatibility and the cost of systems infrastructure influence the implementation of E-procurement in the SMEs in Voi town.
Keywords: E-Procurement, IT infrastructure, Supply Chain
Influence of Electronic Commerce on Supply Chain Behavior (Published)
With the evolving and the advancing of technology in the world, many companies are trying to find new ways to expand their business opportunities and strategies in order to stay in the lead. Therefore, electronic commerce had started to be implemented and used in many types of business including the supply chain. E- Commerce had caused the supply chain to become more flexible and efficient. In addition, businesses are now able to easily collect information on the needs and wants, sell online, reach a wide range of customers, and deliver the products quickly at a low cost. This had led to a better operation strategy, product quality and customer satisfaction. A qualitative study was conducted with the use of different sources in order to construct and explore the changes on the behavior of supply chain because of e-commerce implementations.
Keywords: E-Commerce, Electronic Commerce, Supply Chain
Supply Chain Management of Health Commodities and Logistics: Fundamental Components of Booming Medical Laboratory Services (Published)
The importance of quality laboratory services is unquestionable. The growth of programs for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), tuberculosis (TB), and malaria requires strong and supportive laboratory services. For antiretroviral therapy (ART) in particular, there has been a growing recognition of this importance, given the number of laboratory tests required to effectively and efficiently monitor treatment. Well functioning supply chain will enhance the availability of the commodities (commodity security) required to provide necessary laboratory services. In addition, an effective and efficient laboratory supply chain can promote common approaches on policy, laboratory procedures and information system.
Keywords: Commodity, Laboratory Services, Management, Supply Chain
An Optimized Model to Evaluate the Performance of Date Supply Chain (Published)
The competitive atmosphere of modern businesses makes it essential for organizations to highly consider the supply chains. This study focuses on supply chain for palm industry in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. First, the problems involved in the palm industry are discussed and solutions are provided; then a supply chain model for date industry is introduced and requirements to increase the performance and agility are discussed. At the end, to evaluate the performance, two models are presented.
Keywords: Agility, Date, Information Management, Logistics Performance Index (LPI), Relationship Management, Supply Chain
Building Sustainable Organizational Capabilities through Supply Chain Innovation (Published)
Organizational performance directly affecting supply chain management practices. A continuous innovation in supply chain is important for corporations to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, to differentiate from competitors. Contemporary supply chain management stresses coordinating supply chain stakeholders into seamless unit in meeting customers demand and enhancing competitive advantage. Although companies concentrate on innovating independently for developing capabilities, companies however demonstrate reliance on creating their supply chain innovation capability. As markets became global, competition intensified. This forced the companies to innovate to be competitive and carryout holistic, fully integrated approach to their supply chain designs. This can replace traditional thinking in pursuit of effective and responsiveness supply chain. The research addresses gap in the literature between supply chain innovation and organizational capabilities. The study explore how organizations expand their efforts in improving relationships for developing capabilities of supply chain and what capabilities do firms develop to create innovation capacity within a supply chain. Companies in Karnataka, India surveyed to examine the inter relationship beteen organizational capability and supply chain innovation. The results showed that supply chain innovation has positive relationship with organizational capabilities and supply chain integration mechanisms do impact supply chain innovation.
Keywords: Capabilities, Competitive Advantage, Innovation, Performance, Supply Chain
RETAIL MARKETING OF FRUITS & VEGETABLES IN INDIA: A CASE STUDY ON EXPORT OF GRAPES FROM ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA (Published)
To develop an innovative technique to apply retail marketing and export of grape improvement techniques to a complete supply chain from farm to consumer. Design/ methodology/approach – Action research based on a Andhra Pradesh case study involving Post harvest loss in grapes for export market. Findings – Export market highlights significant opportunities to improve fruits supply chain performance, export perspective, profitability and relationships. Originality value – Drawing on both primary and secondary data, the paper examines how increasing demand and marketing costs, wastage impact on grape grower returns. Development of supply chain improvement methodology.
Keywords: Export, Grape, Market Channels, Retail market, Supply Chain, Value Chain
Assessment Of Supply Chain Management Practices And It Effects On The Performance Of Kasapreko Company Limited In Ghana (Published)
This thesis is based on one manufacturing company in Ghana. The study sought to examine supply chain management practice and it effect on the performance of Kasapreko Company Limited (KCL). The objectives of the study were to examine supply chain management (SCM) practice in KCL, ascertain the influence of SCM practice on KCL performance, and to describe the trend in sale of KCL. A sample size of two-hundred (200) out of the numerous customers of KCL was administered with questionnaires in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The researchers also interviewed key employees of KCL using a semi-structured interview guide. A descriptive analysis with the aid of SPSS was used to quantify the relationship between the application of supply chain management practice and the performance of KCL. The result of the study indicated that KCL is applying supply chain management practice to its business activities. The study also indicated that supply chain management practice has significantly influence KCL business performance and was evidence in the sales performance of KCL over the years (2004-2010).
Keywords: Performance and Supply Chain Management, Practices, Supply Chain