Does Supply Chain Technology Moderate the Relationship between Supply Chain Strategies and Firm Performance? Evidence from Large-Scale Manufacturing Firms in Kenya

Abstract

This paper is cognizant of the fact that literature on supply chain strategies is limited and still evolving; and literature on supply chain technology mainly focused on the adoptions, but not on the moderating effect on the relationship between supply chain strategies and firm performance. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which supply chain technology moderates the relationship between supply chain strategies and performance of large-scale manufacturing firms in Kenya. Proportionate sampling was used to obtain a sample of one hundred and thirty-eight (138) from a population of six hundred and twenty-seven (627) large scale manufacturing firms. The descriptive statistics, reliability and validity tests of the constructs, correlation analysis, regression analysis and factor analysis models were used to test the hypotheses. The findings indicate that there is a strong significant relationship between supply chain technologies, supply chain strategies and firm performance, implying that both supply chain technology and supply chain strategies explain 88.2% of the changes in the firm's performance. The net effect of both supply chain strategies and technologies is explained by the coefficient of product moderating variable (SC Strategy*Technology beta = 0.532) which shows that supply chain technology is a significant moderator of the relationship between supply chain strategies and firm performance. This study cleared some contradictions to support the position that firms should invest in supply chain configurations and technologies that lead to improved service delivery accompanied by enhanced operational and overall firm performance