Supply Chain Management Practices and Competitive Advantage in the Hotel Industry in Nairobi Region
Abstract
Increasing levels of competition in the hotel industry has made institutions to devise ways in
which to remain competitive. One such way for these firms is implementation of supply chain
management practices. The key concern is whether implementing these practices actually lead
to competitive advantage. The main objective of this study was therefore to examine the
relationship between supply chain management practices and competitive advantage among
classified hotels in Nairobi region. The study used the primary data that was collected through
the use of questionnaire which was administered to 43 heads of supply chain department in
each of the classified hotels in Nairobi region. Out of these, 28 questionnaires were received
and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The study revealed that the
extent to which each of the practices (lean supply chain practice, strategic supplier partnership,
and inventory management and supplier development) had been adopted within the hotel
industry varied. While the results showed that lean supply chain practices had been adapted to
a small extent, strategic supplier partnership and supplier development had been adopted to a
moderate extent with inventory management being adapted to a greater extent. However, none
of these practices was a significant predictor of competitive advantage. This could be because
the hotels had adopted these practices to moderate extent. The findings further showed that cost
leadership and service differentiation contribute to hotel competitive advantage. Some of the
major challenges such as lack of proper IT infrastructure to allow integration on the part of the
supplier and system incompatibility among the supply chain partners were rated as major
impediment to the implementation of supply chain management practices. Hotels therefore
should find ways to mitigate these challenges, probably through early supplier involvement
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Subject
Supply Chain Management Practices and Competitive Advantage in the Hotel Industry in Nairobi RegionRights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
The following license files are associated with this item: