AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES IN LARGE PRIVATE MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN KENYA

By Awino Zachary Bolo, PhD. Department of Business Administration School of Business - University of Nairobi Nairobi-Kenya Email: zstra2009@gmail.com Gituro Wainaina, PhD. Department of Management Science University of Nairobi Nairobi-Kenya Email: wainainagituro@yahoo.com and/or wgituro@mail.uonbi.ac.ke

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Abstract

Today, large companies are mainly focusing on becoming efficient and flexible in their manufacturing methods in order to handle uncertainty in the business environment. To do this, they need different strategies to manage the flow of goods from the point of production to the consumer. However, most firms have not been able to formulate the right strategies required to achieve this objective in Supply Chain Management (SCM), this calls for a strategic fit of an organizations core competencies, strategy and core capability. The paper focuses on SCM best practices in large private manufacturing firms in Kenya. The preliminary tests employed the use of Kaiser Mayer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartletts Test. In this case, KMO measures the sampling adequacy which should be greater than 0.5 for a satisfactory analysis to proceed. The outcome revealed a measure of 0.583, an indication that the Bartletts Test of spericity is significant implying that the correlation matrix is non-singular and therefore, the factor analysis model is satisfactory.A sample of 52 large private manufacturing companies, which are members of Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) was used. To establish SCM best practices, 39 variables were used to measure the level of application among these firms. The variables were analyzed using factor analysis procedure to achieve a simple and meaningful structure, that is, have a nonzero loading of the explained variance for each individual factor, varimax rotation was done. As a result, 11 critical factors were established as the best practices: operating policies, linkages within supply chain

firms, improved performance, information technology systems, strategic alliance, performance measures, goal orientation, customer relationships, guidelines and procedures, supplier selection and supplier evaluation. When benchmarked, these practices were found to be universal and compares with the best practices globally. The implications of the findings are also discussed. Key words: competitive advantage, core capabilities, core competencies, Best practices , value chain

Introduction Large companies today mainly focus on becoming efficient and flexible in their manufacturing methods in order to handle uncertainty in the business environment, they need different strategies to manage the flow of goods from the point of production to the end user. However, they have not been able to formulate the right strategies required to achieve this noble task in SCM. This call for a strategic fit of an organizations core competencies, strategy and core capability, which is an emerging paradigm in the study of strategic management and specifically in SCM. Corporations have increasingly turned to global markets for their supplies. The globalization of supply chains has forced companies to look for better and more inter-linked systems between SCM competencies, multiple SCM strategies and the implementation processes and SCM capabilities to coordinate the flow of materials into and out of the company as opposed to the fragmented systems, which have characterized many organizations. Companies and distribution channels today compete more on the basis of time and quality, having defect-free products to customers faster and more reliably than the competitor is no longer seen as a competitive advantage but simply as a market place requirement. Customers consistently demand that products are delivered faster, on time, and with no damage. This can only be achieved with proper coordination of efforts by linking systems and processes to create synergy. Each of these necessitates better coordination with suppliers and distributors, and constitutes the linkage between SCM core competencies, strategy and SCM core capabilities, which are not easy to match.

This combination creates a competitive edge within the system that cannot be copied by the competitor in the market place; hence becomes core capability of the firm. The global orientation and increased performance-based competition, combined with rapidly changing technology and economic conditions, all contribute to market place uncertainty. This uncertainty requires greater flexibility on the part of the individual companies and distribution channels, which in turn, demands for more flexibility in channel relationships. For this to be achieved, a firm must have a fit between SCM competencies, implementation of strategy and SCM capability with its suppliers and distributors. This will enhance competitive advantage of the business and improve corporate performance.

Literature Review It is, therefore, important to reflect on the views of various strategic management scholars on the concept of strategic management as it relates to this paper and how it affects the micro-and macro-economic environment. Strategic management is the organizations pre-selected means or approach to achieving its goals or objectives, while coping with current and future external conditions (Digman, 1990). Strategic management aims at achieving an enterprises mission and objectives by reconciling its resources with opportunities and threats in the business environment (Smit et al., 1993). It is concerned with policy decisions affecting the entire organization the overall objective being to position the organization to deal effectively with its environment. These explanations give clarity on the relationships and linkages between and amongst the variables of the study. However, understanding SCM philosophy is required in order to appreciate the linkage with strategic management. Previous studies in SCM have considered the measurement of competencies, strategy, capabilities and the effect of each on performance. For example, Caeldries and van Dierdonck (1988) used strategy and performance as key variables in a study between strategy and performance of large firms in Belgium; they used survey methodology. Johnson and Scholes (1999) did a similar study in USA and used the same methodology and variables. Day (1994) used core capabilities as independent

variable and performance as the dependent variable, using a baseline survey methodology. Stanley and Gregory (2001) used strategy implementation as the independent variable and performance as the dependent variable applying a triangulation methodology consisting of literature review, survey and case studies. Manufacturing is an important sector in Kenya and it makes a substantial contribution to the countrys economic development. It has the potential to generate foreign exchange earnings through exports and diversify the countrys economy. This sector has grown over time both in terms of its contribution to the countrys gross domestic product and employment. The average size of this sector for tropical Africa is 8 per cent. Despite the importance and size of this sector in Kenya, it is still very small when compared to that of the industrialized nations United Nations Industrial Development Organization ((UNIDO) 1987). Kenyas manufacturing sector is going through a major transition period largely due to the structural reform process, which the Kenya Government has been implementing since the mideighties with a view to improving the economic and social environment of the country. Kenya Association of Manufacturers (2002) posits that removal of price controls, foreign exchange controls and introduction of investment incentives have, however, not resulted in major changes in the overall economy. In particular, they have not improved the manufacturing performance. Therefore, to build a self-sustaining industrial sector, it is necessary to establish strategic linkages within the domestic economy. Some efforts have to be made to promote strategic options among supply chains so as to enhance spread effects of industrial growth and to facilitate transfer of technology, skills and growth of small and medium scale sub-contractors. The linkages of the study variables in SCM in Kenya are weak and because of this, there exists little inter-industry integration in the country. This has resulted in consistently low manufacturing value added in the sector (KAM 1989). Growth in the sector was, however, impeded by depressed domestic demand, increased oil prices and transport costs. Rising operating costs mainly as a result of high power costs coupled with deteriorating road and rail networks further

dampened growth in the sector. The growth in manufacturing sector was mainly attributed to rise in output of the agro-processing industries. These included sugar, milk, grain milling, fish, tea, oils and fats processing sub-sectors. Other key subsectors of manufacturing that performed well were: manufacture of cigarettes, cement production, batteries (both motor vehicles and dry cells), motor vehicle assembly and production of galvanized sheets. The Kenya Government has always been committed to developing a mixed economy where both public and private sector companies are present (Kenya Government, Development Plan 1989-1993). But the public sector participation in manufacturing is much smaller than the private sector and is still decreasing due to governments change of policy; the emphasis is now being given to privatization of the industrial sector. The main objective of the paper was to determine SCM best practices used by large private manufacturing firms in Kenya, that is which are the SCM best practices used by these firms? The findings of this paper will assist the corporate managers to make sound and informed strategic management decisions and enable them to focus on their customers more efficiently. SCM orientation. Methodology The target population was all large private manufacturing entities in Kenya, who are members of KAM. The main reason for this choice was that these firms were likely to exhibit an elaborate SCM philosophy and make use of best practices in SCM. Furthermore, the focus of the research was basically in the manufacturing sector, other sectors were considered outside the scope of the paper and could not reveal substantial data for statistical analysis. In total, there are 2,000 companies in the KAM directory (2004/2005), from which all public sector firms (where the government holds majority shares) and small companies were eliminated. This left 500 firms, which constituted the sample frame of the target population. With such exposition, managers will understand how firms can perform better and add value to the shareholders under

A survey of 52 large private manufacturing entities was carried out using a stratified sampling technique. This was necessary to include supply chains with all the variables of the study for equal chances of selection. At least 10 percent sample of the population was considered generally acceptable method of selecting samples in such a study (Stanley and Gregory 2001). In this paper, the sample was stratified into agro-based industrial sector, engineering and construction industrial sector and chemical and mineral industrial sector based on the value added by each sector to the manufacturing industry. For example, agro-based industrial sector added 68 percent, engineering and construction and industrial sector 12 percent, and chemical and mineral sector 20 percent (KAM 2004). The respondents in the study were located mainly in Nairobi industrial and Baba Dogo areas respectively, which form the bulk of manufacturing sector in Kenya and this is where most of the supply chain firms are found. The sample size is denoted by: n= n1 + n2 + n3 52 firms = 36 + 6 + 10 where: n is the sample size n1 is agro-based industrial sector n2 is engineering and construction industrial sector n3 is chemical and mineral industrial sector The paper used primary data obtained through questionnaires with selected team of managers involved in SCM within the 52 manufacturing entities. The questionnaire was piloted on 10 firms prior to data collection. This was necessary in order to identify any ambiguous and unclear questions to the respondents. The questionnaires were then submitted to the participating firms after the pilot test in order to get the data and information required. The instrument used for this paper was adapted from a study by Stanley and Gregory (2001) but modified to suit the objectives of this paper. This instrument has been used in a previous study of achieving supply chain alignment for the large private manufacturing firms in the

United States. A Likert-type scale of seven points (where the lowest value in the scale was 1 and the highest was 7) was used to collect the data. To measure the consistency of the scores obtained, and how consistent they were for each individual from one administration of an instrument to another and from one set of items to another, the paper used Cronbachs alpha (a measure of the internal consistency of the questionnaire items) using data from all the respondents. Separate reliability tests for each of the variables were computed. This included measuring current supply chain best practices, measuring the effect of supply chain variables, measuring level of independent effects, measuring level of supply chain core competencies, measuring the degree of supply chain strategies, measuring the implementation of supply chain strategies and measuring competitiveness relative to industry rivals. The key statistic in interpreting the reliability of the scale was the alpha listed under the reliability co-efficient section at the end of the output. The value of coefficient alpha ranges from zero (no internal consistency) to one (complete internal consistency). As to how large the coefficient should be, a value of no less than 0.70 as a quick rule was used. As shown, all the measurements of the instrument attained a high degree of reliability since they were above 0.70. Together with correlation analysis, factor analysis was done to establish the relationships among the study variables. In particular, factor analysis procedure was used to measure and establish SCM best practices in the study as applied by various firms. This method was necessary to reduce a set of several difficult to interpret correlated variables to few conceptually meaningful relatively independent factors, which could be easily interpreted. This technique was applied to summarize 39 latent variables or sub-variables representing dominant best practices in SCM. To make interpretation easier, a linear transformation on the factor solution, varimax rotation was done, which gave fewer components (factors) that are uncorrelated with one another. Results and Discussion The purpose of this paper was to establish the current SCM best practices in the large private manufacturing firms in Kenya. This was addressed by using factor

analysis. The preliminary tests employed the use of Kaiser Mayer-Olkim (KMO) and Barletts Test. In this case, KMO measures the sampling adequacy which should be greater than 0.5 for a satisfactory analysis to proceed. From the analysis, the KMO measure was 0.583, an indication that the Barletts Test of sphericity is significant. In order to determine the number of factors to retain, the factors with eigenvalue greater or equal to one were retained. This was further illustrated by using the scree plot which indicates that the screes started to tee-off after factor 11 showing that only 11 factors explain the characteristics of corporate performance among Kenyan private firms (Figure 1). The factor loadings were then used to put together the factors into 11 groups constituting the SCM best practices.
S c r e e P lo t 1 4 .0 0 0 1 2 .0 0 0 1 0 .0 0 0 8 .0 0 0 6 .0 0 0 Eigenvalues 4 .0 0 0 2 .0 0 0 0 .0 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 01 1 1 21 31 41 5 1 61 71 81 92 02 12 22 32 42 5 2 62 72 82 93 03 13 23 33 43 53 63 73 83 9 - 2 .0 0 0 Co m p o n e n t Nu mb er

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Figure 1: Scree Plot for the Supply Chain Management Variables The items were grouped based on the magnitude of their factor loadings in all the corresponding factor components in this case, there are 11 factor components implying that the 38 variables (see table 1) could be reduced into 11 factors constituting the current SCM best practices as shown in Table 2 below. An item is considered to belong to a factor component if its factor loading corresponds to that particular component and is relatively higher than its factor loadings in the other factor components. For example, variable 38 belongs to component five because its

factor loading of 0.732 is relatively higher than any other loadings within the components and so on.

Table 1: Variables which constitute SCM best practices in large private manufacturing firms in Kenya
Sr. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Variables 1 A common set of operating policies are shared by member of the SC A written agreement or contract is an integral part of all alliances Adequate information systems linkages exist with customers Adequate information systems linkages exist with suppliers Clear guidelines and procedures used for creating alliances Clear guidelines and procedures used for monitoring alliances Consistent performance measures are used across different dept/functions Current information systems satisfy SC communication requirements Customer alliances operate under principles of shared rewards and risks Customer relationships are evaluated on the basis of their profitability Efforts of increase inter-functional coordination over the past 3 years Employers are more loyal to our organization today than 3 year ago Our firm is more loyal to its employees than 3 years ago High level of trust have been established with important customers Information applications are integrated within the firm Information systems are highly integrated through out the SC Middle managers are empowered to make operation decision than 3 years ago More process-oriented performance measures tracked today than 3 years ago .706 .862 .126 .302 .041 -0.197 .366 .883 .389 .531 .196 .196 -.024 .467 .198 .504 .148 .187 2 .402 -.079 .482 .482 .121 0.102 .798 .254 .069 -.169 .045 .238 .404 .303 .332 .611 .646 .114 3 .077 .058 -.01 .107 .074 0.161 .002 .069 .107 .019 -.06 -.11 .062 .035 .026 -.09 .234 .167 4 .021 -.019 .377 .600 .099 0.134 -.115 .063 .017 -.079 .190 .406 .581 .325 .248 .337 .187 .098 5 Components 6 -.074 .161 .244 .018 .136 0.080 .109 .133 .020 -.238 .130 .357 .389 .307 .018 .245 .344 .866 7 .222 .220 .062 .027 .125 0.067 .092 .029 .055 -.149 .391 .129 .139 .532 .635 .164 .294 -.033 8 .057 -.017 -.172 -.180 -.098 0.056 .049 -.035 .109 .581 -.044 -.140 -.014 .060 .240 -051 .050 -.003 9 -.01 .126 .469 .027 .855 0.186 .125 .049 .053 .030 -.22 -.44 .303 .163 .121 .073 -.01 .064 10 .097 .216 .434 .151 -.164 0.887 .037 -.087 -.179 .116 .010 -.384 .210 .270 .041 .042 -.383 .078 11 .072 .074 -.2 -.3 -.2 0.005 .151 -.1 .032 .268 .084 -.3 -.1 .0 .0 -.1 .0 -.1

.176 -.021 .036 .068 -.102 0.114 .055 .075 .851 -.032 .659 .038 -.120 .089 .446 .169 .028 .031

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19. 20. 21. Sr. No. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37.

More SC performance measures tracked today than 3 years ago My firms aggressively seeks to understand customers requirements My firm customizes products and/or services for important customers Variables

-.038 .811 .481

.405 .012 .021

.197 .064 -.11

.027 .049 .156

.180 .239 .110

.696 .042 -.356

.158 -.021 -.181

-.181 .187 -.004

.091 .152 -.03

.030 -.166 -.040

.013 .349 .647

Components 1 2 -.051 .094 .114 .679 -.816 .234 .100 .144 -.003 -.010 .065 .117 -.196 .174 .186 .356 3 .001 .156 -.19 .417 -.12 .571 .865 .906 .933 .393 .276 .320 .052 .061 .163 .255 4 -.204 .803 .240 .394 -.163 .015 .158 .207 .094 .675 .768 .092 -.006 .051 .074 .367 5 -.224 .160 .94 .170. -.238 .091 -.009 .182 .054 .320 .176 .278 .094 .462 .563 .732 6 -.154 -.120 .081 .192 -.087 .238 .141 .068 .126 .227 .123 .532 .020 .355 .199 .025 7 -.183 -076 .249 .165 -.112 .582 .308 .103 -.094 .067 .327 .069 .045 .142 .073 -.112 8 .549 -.88 .746 .085 .139 -.294 -.017 .045 .028 .152 .110 .184 .-.072 .082 .036 .053 9 -.10 .00 -.27 -.06 .311 -.12 -.03 .088 .110 -.02 .020 .000 .855 .103 -.03 .063 10 -.075 .103 .055 -.183 -.044 -.072 .020 -.011 -.053 -.220 .099 .252 -.060 .228 .624 .108 11 .641 .184 .227 .076 .084 .0 -.2 .095 .063 .163 -.2 .016 .238 .573 .016 -.1

My firm has adopted a key account approach for managing its best customers My firm is flexible in terms of accommodating customers special requests My firm regularly solicits customer input My firm understands the competitive comparatives throughout the SC Non-management employees are more empowered to make operating decisions Operating goals are consistent among SC members Overall strategies in SCM have improved over past 3 years Overall SC core capabilities have improved over past 3 years Overall SC core competencies have improved over past 3 years Significant investments are made in application-specific information systems Significant investments are being made in enterprise-wide information systems Strategic objectives are closely aligned among members of the SC Supplier alliances operate under principles of shared rewards and risks Supplier performance is closely monitored and is the basis for future business Suppliers are carefully screened and assessed before they are selected The internet is emerging as key tool to manage customer and supply linkages

.149 -.246 .021 -.003 .085 .186 .115 -.134 .184 -234 .239 .557 .312 .382 -.099 -.056

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38.

Value-added resources are shared .019 -.066 among SC members Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a- Rotation converged in 17 interactions: Total Variance Explained

.137

-.101

.305

-.019

-.098

.879

.015

.003

-.1

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With this kind of classification, all the items were put in their respective components to come up with the summary in Table 2. Column 1 shows the number of factors generated, column 2 shows the items within a particular factor component, column 3 indicates the highest factor loading for each item, and column 4 provides an appropriate reduction interpretation description to each component.

Table 2: Factor Reduction for Supply Chain Management Best Practices of Large Private Manufacturing Firms in Kenya Factor (i) (ii) 1 (iii) (iv) (v) (i) (ii) 2 (iii) (iv) (v) (i) (ii) 3 (iii) (i) (ii) (iii) 4 (iv) Item Description Common set of operating policies are shared by members of the supply chain Written agreement or contract is an integral part of all alliances Current information systems satisfy supply chain communication requirements My firm aggressively seeks to understand customers requirements Strategic objectives closely aligned among members of supply chain Consistent performance measures are used across different departments/functions Information systems are highly integrated throughout the supply chain Middle managers are empowered to make operation decisions than 3 years ago My firm understands the competitive comparatives throughout the supply chain Non-management employees are more empowered to make operating decisions Overall strategies in SCM have improved over the past 3 years Overall SC core capabilities have improved over past 3 years Overall supply chain core competencies have improved over past three years Adequate information systems linkages exist with supply Our firm is more loyal to its employees than 3 years ago My firm is flexible in terms of accommodating customers special requests Significant investments are made in Factor Loadings 0.706 0.862 0.883 0.811 0.557 0.798 0.611 0.646 0.679 -0.816 0.865 0.906 0.933 0.600 0.581 0.803 0.675 Information technology systems Improved performance Linkages within supply chain firms Operating policies Interpretation

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(v) (i) (ii) 5 (iii) (iv)

application specific information systems Significant investments are being made in enterprise wide information systems Customer alliances operate under principles of shared rewards and risks Efforts of increase inter-functional coordination over the past 3 years My firm regularly solicits customer input The internet is emerging as a key tool to manage customer and supply interaction More process-oriented performance measures tracked today than 3 years ago More supply chain performance measures are tracked today than 3 years ago High level of trust has been established with important customers Information applications are integrated within the firm Operating goals are consistent across departments within my firm Operating goals are consistent among supply chain members Customer relationships are evaluated on the basis of their profitability Value-added resources are shared among supply chain member Clear guidelines and procedures are used for creating alliances Supplier alliances operate under principles of shared rewards and risks Suppliers are carefully screened and assessed before they are selected Clear guidelines and procedures are used for monitoring alliances My firm customizes products and/or services for important customers My firm has adopted a key account approach for managing its best customers Supplier performance is closely monitored and is the basis for future business

0.768 0.851 0.659 0.940 0.732 Strategic alliance

(i) 6 (ii) (i) (ii) 7 (iii) (iv) (i) 8 9 (ii) (i) 10 (ii) (i) 11 (ii) (iii) (ii) (i)

0.866 0.696 0.532 0.635

Performance measures

Goal orientation 0.732 0.582 0.581 0.879 0.855 0.855 0.624 -0.887 0.647 0.641 0.573 Supplier evaluation Supplier selection Guidelines and procedures Customer relationships

In conclusion, eleven most critical SCM best practices were established as follows: operating policies, linkages within supply chain firms, improved performance, information technology systems, strategic alliance, performance measures, goal

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orientation, customer relationships, guidelines and procedures, supplier selection and supplier evaluation. The findings show that several factors constitute SCM best practices in large private manufacturing firms in Kenya. The paper noted that most of the firms surveyed applies SCM best practices. These practices are universal and in line with the findings of other studies (Porter 1985, Caldries and van Diedonck 1988, Mentzer and Konrad 1991, Rich and Hines 1997, Cox 1999, Kilpatrick et al., 2000 and Stanley and Gregory 2001). Conclusion The results of this paper indicate that operating policies, linkages within supply chain firms, improved performance, information technology systems, strategic alliance, performance measures, goal orientation, customer relationships, guidelines and procedures, supplier selection and supplier evaluation are the most important SCM practices of large private manufacturing firms in Kenya. After benchmarking, the paper established that SCM best practices used in the large private manufacturing sector in Kenya are universal, since they compare well with other studies of SCM best practices globally. The universality of these practices has been attributed to the reforms undertaken by the Kenya government in the past years as well as the emergence of multinationals in the manufacturing sector. The joint effect of core competencies, core capabilities, strategy and implementation has influenced corporate performance in most of the large manufacturing organizations surveyed in the private sector in Kenya. As SCM variables, they support other findings in strategic management where the concept has been used to achieve an enterprises mission and objectives by reconciling its resources with opportunities and threats in the business environment. However, to succeed, these variables need to be applied jointly as revealed in the paper, so that synergy can be achieved to enhance corporate performance and that Information Technology (IT) (as shown by factor 4 in table 1) should be developed within the large private manufacturing firms. The usage of IT systems in these firms has not been fully explored and the application of this resource is still limited. For IT to be fully developed, firms should formulate policy framework and guidelines, which will

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facilitate the linkage of the joint SCM variables to ensure efficient and effective utilization of resources within the supply chain. To make the economy more vibrant and to improve productivity, proper corporate structure and governance need to be put in place where SCM competencies, strategy, capability, leadership, corporate policies, allocation of resources and management of change can be used to create synergy. In effect, no single variable can effectively influence corporate performance. Kenya and spur economic growth. Though senior managers from the corporate world in the Kenyan manufacturing sector can benefit from the papers findings, practical implications resulting from this paper are of particular significance to employers who wish to improve their corporate efficiency, effectiveness and performance. recommendations are made: The joint effect of SCM variables facilitate strategy implementation since there are indications that this can create synergy and add value leading to corporate performance; Relevant leadership skills are paramount in the SCM strategy implementation; and The SCM structures are critical to the implementation process. The joint effect of SCM variables become even more essential with the rising importance of business commerce on the Internet, especially for firms in highly fragmented industries with complex products or services. The rate of change in the marketplace is increasing as the Internet becomes a more ubiquitous part of the business market place. The supply chain joint variables is greatly augmented by ecommerce, e-procurement, e-fulfillment, and other Internet-enabled business processes. Acknowledgements We wish to acknowledge the support of different manufacturing companies, the University of Nairobi for providing the necessary technical assistance towards this research. To Professor KObonyo and Dr Martin Ogutu, all from the University of The following specific A conducive environment is needed for the variables to operate jointly in order to improve socio-economic development of

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Nairobi and for everybody else who gave us both moral and financial support to complete this work. We recognize your full participation. References Aosa E. (1992). An Empirical Investigation of Aspects of Strategy Formulation and Implementation within Large Private Manufacturing Companies in Kenya Unpublished PhD Thesis University of Strathclyde Glasgow Scotland U.K. Awino Z. B. (2002) Purchasing and Supply Chain Strategy: Benefits, Barriers and Bridges An Independent Conceptual Study Paper in Strategic Management, School of Business, University of Nairobi September 2002. Caeldries F. and Dierdonck van R. (1988). Long Range Planning Journal. 21(2) 4151. Cavinato J. L. (1989). How to Link Logistics to Financial Results Distribution 88(3), 103-104. Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract 1996 and 1988, Government Printer. Cox A. (1999). Power, Value and SCM. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. 4(4) 167-175. Day G. S. (1994). The Capabilities of Market-Driven Organizations. Journal of Marketing. 58 (October) 37-52. Digman L. A. (1990). Strategic Management Concepts, Decisions and Cases. Irwin. Fortuin L. (1988). Performance Indicators-Why, Where, and How? European Journal of Operational Research. 34 (1) 1-9. Foster T. (1998). You Cant Manage what you Dont Measure. Distribution Journal 37 (5) 63-68. Hair J. F., Black W. C., Babin B. L., Anderson R. E and Tatham R. L. (2006). Multivariate Data Analysis. 6th Edition Pearson Prentice Hall. Harps L. H. (2000). The Haves and the Have Nots: Supply Chain Practices for the New Millenium: Inbound Logistics Journal. 75-114. Ihiga S. (2004) National Perspectives of Goods of Economics Importance: Unpublished Paper Presented at KAM COMESA Seminar July 28, 2004. Johnson G. and Scholes K. (1999). Exploring Corporate Strategy Book. 5th Edition.

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