Supply Chain Quality Management Practices and Performance of Private Hospitals in Kenya

Abstract

Prior studies have grappled with the problem of improving the performance of firms in general and hospitals in particular. Unfortunately, unlike many developed nations where public hospitals service contributes 100% of healthcare, in Kenya, private hospitals provide significant proportion of healthcare to local citizens and some from neighboring countries. Consequently, their performance is not only of interest to researchers but also to government and other stakeholders in healthcare. Moreover, balancing the practice of supply chain quality management practices and ever urgent demand of increasing the bottom-line – the profit is never trivial for private hospitals globally, and particularly in Kenya. For these reasons, this study aimed to investigate how supply chain quality management practices affects performance of private hospitals in Kenya. Additionally, the roles of competitive advantage as well as organizational factors on the link were examined. The performance metrics were; environmental, operational, market, societal as well as growth and development. This was achievable upon formulating objectives as well as four hypotheses. Upon comprehensive review of literature and relevant theories, conceptual framework was developed. The theories were; social network theory, stakeholders’ theory, relational view and contingency theory. The study applied positivism as research philosophy. Descriptive, cross sectional survey was adopted as the research design. Empirical data was gathered from personnel responsible for making decisions that ensure quality along supply chain in 110 Kenyan private hospitals. CB-SEM was conducted in analyzing data to test four hypotheses. Hypothesis to test direct relationship was confirmed. The combined moderating effect of organizational factors on the relationship was positive but insignificant. However, the sub variables trust and corporate culture had significant positive effect. Further, competitive advantage exhibited a positive and significant mediating effect SCQM practices organizational performance correlation. Finally, joint effect of SCQM practices, organizational factors and competitive advantage on performance of private hospitals was greater compared to the individual variables. The conclusion of the study is that upon successful implementation of SCQM practices private hospitals acquire competitive advantage that helps them improve their overall performance. The findings improve researcher’s knowledge by providing conceptual and methodological basis to conduct future studies. Additionally, there is theoretical contribution. Social networks enable firms improve their performance upon becoming more competitive. It is therefore recommended that Kenyan private hospitals need to embrace SCQM practices in their day to day operations, measure competitive advantage validly and reliably and use the comprehensive integrated performance measurement framework (IPMF) to measure financial and non-financial performance levels. The findings are limited to private hospitals in Kenya, internal organizational factors, single respondent from the organizations. Future research should be longitudinal, extend beyond the Kenyan borders and cover other industries. These should unravel reasons for inconsistency in findings on the role of organizational factors. Critical realism philosophy to be adopted for qualitative study to identify other models of SCQM practices, organizational factors, competitive advantage and organizational performance relationship.