Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices and Competitive Advantage in Cement Manufacturing Firms in Kenya

Abstract

Sustainability in the supply chain is steadily avowed among high-level executives as a keynote in delivering value. A sustainable supply chain annexes value invention prospects and advances substantial competitive plus for early implementors and process trendsetters. Firms are progressively welcoming onus to exploit sustainability past their fixed operations and invent pliable and reliable supply chains to be efficacious in a fast-revolutionizing world. Cement is a key infrastructure industry. Infrastructural milestones are beheld as pillars of economic and social development of a state, a country or institutions. This study aimed establishing SSCMP implementation by cement manufacturing firms in Kenya, to reveal correlation between SSCMP and competitive advantage among the Kenyan cement manufacturing firms; and to determine confronts faced by the cement manufacturing firms in Kenya in the execution of sustainable supply chain practices. This study assumed descriptive research design. The study embraced a complete enumeration where all the firms in the industry were investigated. Primary data was collected using questionnaires from the head of SCM, operations, marketing, human resource and finance in each firm. Analysis of data was achieved by use of descriptive statistics. Correlation between SSCMP and CA was established using linear regression. It was established that SSCMP have been adopted by the cement manufacturing firms in Kenya to a great extent. It was established that the firms have sustainability policy statements, regarded as a key pillar in their strategy, aligning it to their core business activities and practiced through their value chain. The study determined that there stands an explicit and substantial correlation linking SSCMP and speed, flexibility and dependability as competitive tools by the cement manufacturing firms in Kenya. It was however determined that the firms hardly compete on the basis of cost and quality owing to the nature of their products. It was further established that implementation of SSCMP by the firms has confronted drawbacks to a moderate scale, the most common challenge being stiff competition in the cement industry in Kenya both internally and externally. The study thus concludes that by incorporating SSCMP in its operations, a firm will be able to rival on the grounds of dependability, flexibility, and speed. The study recommends that firms should also consider using green energy as alternative sources. Attaining the required adequate response rate within the stipulated study period was a challenge to the study. Further studies can be conducted on SSCMP and competitiveness in other industries.