Sustainable Logistics Practices and Operational Performance of Multinational Manufacturing Corporations in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was determine the influence of sustainable logistics on operational performance of multinational manufacturing corporations in Kenya. The objectives of the study were to determine the adoption extent of sustainable logistics by the multinational manufacturing corporations in Kenya and to determine the correlation between sustainable logistics and operational performance of multinational manufacturing corporations in Kenya. Descriptive design was adopted, and the population consisted of all the 45 multinational manufacturing corporations in Kenya. Primary data was adopted and was gathered by use of questionnaires which were sent to the respondent’s emails. On objective one, the study found that environmental sustainable logistics and economic sustainable logistics were adopted to a large extent whereas social sustainable logistics was adopted to a moderate extent by the MNCs in Kenya. Objective two found that sustainable logistics (ecological, social, and economic) influences operational performance (cost, speed, and quality) of MNCs in Kenya. The findings indicate that ecological sustainable logistics, social sustainable logistics and economic sustainable logistics all had a positive and substantial relationship with operational performance of multinational manufacturing corporations in Kenya as noted by the p values of less than 0.05 and thus sustainable logistics positively influences Multinational Manufacturing Corporation’s operational performance in Kenya. The study recommends that managers of multinational manufacturing corporations in Kenya must adopt sustainable logistics practices if they are to boost their operational performance as it has been noted by the findings that sustainable logistics enhances operational performance. The managers, stakeholders, and decision makers of multinational manufacturing corporations in Kenya can use the findings of the study to establish sustainable logistics practices that influences firm’s performance and maximize on them to be able to enhance the performance even further. Future research should concentrate on the impact of sustainable logistics on firm’s performance of small, medium, and large manufacturing firms in Nairobi, and not limit to just multinational manufacturing corporations to see if the outcome will corroborate or contradicts the one of the current studies.