Supply chain management practices and organizational performance of Public Universities in Kenya.

Abstract

The study adopted a descriptive design and was based on the following objectives: to determine the degree which supply management chain practices have been implemented among public universities in Kenya, to establish connection between SCM practices on performance of public universities in Kenya and to determine the challenges faced by public universities in implementing SCM practices. A census approach was adopted and the census consisted of all the public universities in Kenya .Findings were displayed by use of tables for easy understanding. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion used to analyze and present the data. These were mean, standard deviation and frequency distribution. The findings from the study revealed that supply chain management practices have been implemented at public universities to a large extent with outsourcing and information sharing being the most implemented with highest means .The study findings revealed positive and significant association amongst SCM practices and performance of public universities in Kenya hence management of the public universities need to build a strong affiliation among supply chain management practices and institutional performance to have a competitive institution. In regard to challenges faced during adoption of SCM practices, the findings out that public universities has faced challenges to a moderate extent with high cost of implementation and lack of top management support being commonly faced challenges. A 5 -point likert scale was used to analyze output of each response received from respondents and therefore from the study findings conclusions can be made that supply chain management practices affected organizational performance to a moderate extent. The research also concludes that public universities in Kenya have adopted supply chain management practices to a large extent faced challenges to a little extent. The research also concludes that extraordinary cost of adoption, lack of management support and training in implementation of supply chain management practices were the most faced challenges. The study recommends universities to hire competent procurement staff that can be entrusted in implementation, management and measurement of the supply chain management practices. These employees should also be trained and motivated so as to reduce the margin of error and chances of mismanagement or sabotaging of SCM practices implementations.