EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON MANUFACTURING FIRMS’ PERFORMANCE IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study considered supply chain management (SCM) practices and manufacturing firms’ performance in Delta State, Nigeria. Specifically, it investigated the relationship between strategic purchasing practices, strategic supplier partnership, customer relationship, and Just-In-Time capability as dimensions of SCM on non-financial performance of manufacturing firms. The descriptive survey research design was employed. Data were elicited from the employees of the thirty (30) manufacturing firms registered under the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (M.A.N.), Delta State Chapter as at 30th June 2021 and are also registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The population of the study is 150 employees comprising only the managers, heads of: production department, logistics department, customer service department, and accounting department and the total enumeration sampling technique were used. The instrument for data collection is the questionnaire. It was designed to elicit information concerning the subject matter. The data retrieved from the respondents were analyzed using descriptive statistics while Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to test the hypotheses in order to determine the extent to which the independent variables were related to the dependent variable at an alpha level of 0.05. Results showed that there exists a significant relationship between strategic purchasing practices and manufacturing firms’ performance; a statistically significant relationship exists between strategic supplier partnership and manufacturing firms’ non-financial performance; there is a significant positive relationship between customer relationship and manufacturing firms’ performance; and a statistically significant relationship exists between Just-In-Time (JIT) capability of a manufacturing firm and its non-financial performance. The study concluded that a significant relationship exists between all the studied dimensions of SCM (strategic purchasing practices, strategic supplier partnership, customer relationship, and Just-In-Time capability) and the non-financial performance of manufacturing firms in Delta State, Nigeria, which implies that an increase in the practice of these SCM dimensions would lead to a corresponding increase in their non-financial performance. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that manufacturing firms in Delta State no doubt, recognize the essence of valuable SCM practices in their operations. Based on this, the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria should continually encourage these firms to uphold these practices by using them as benchmark for raising the standard of manufacturing firms across Nigeria.
 Keywords: Supply Chain, Management Practices, JIT, Strategic Supplier Partnership,
 Customer Relationship.