Green Supply Chain Management Practices And Their Effect On Competitiveness Of Food Manufacturing Firms In Kenya

ABSTRACT

There has been growing concern about environmental sustainability for future generations. Green Supply Chain Management are practices that can be used by companies to re-examine their purposes and create a favourable environmental image as manufacturing firms play an important role in the implementation of sustainable options. However, there has been no research that examines the effect of adopting Green Supply Chain Management on the competitiveness of Kenya’s food manufacturing firms, a gap that this research sought to fill. The main purpose of this study was to examine whether or not the adoption of green supply chain management practices enhances firm competitiveness in Kenya’s food manufacturing firms. This research was guided by the following specific objectives: an examination of the effect of each of the various aspects of green supply chain; green purchasing, green manufacturing, green distribution and reverse logistics and how they determine firm competitiveness, as well as determining the moderation effect of green supply chain drivers on the relationship of green supply chain practices and firm competitiveness. This study focused on the following theories: the resource-based theory, institutional theory, stakeholder theory and social network theory. The research used the positivism research philosophy and a cross-sectional descriptive survey research design. Of the 181 food manufacturing firms that are listed in the Kenya Association of Manufacturers directory, 130 companies that strictly dealt with food processing or manufacture, were chosen for the study where the response rate was 73.8 percent. The questionnaire was the main data collection instrument and was subjected to both the reliability and validity tests. Collected data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and through the application of factor analysis. The five hypotheses were presented and tested using chi-square and hierarchical multiple regression analysis and accepted at the 95 percent confidence interval. The results of this research indicated that there was a strong and significant relationship between the adoption of green supply chain practices and firm competitiveness in Kenya’s food manufacturing sector. It was noted that there was a disparity between the adoption and the practice of reverse logistics and the study recommends that measures to facilitate collection of used packaging and expired products should be instituted within the country. Furthermore green supply chain drivers do have a statistically significant moderating effect on the relationship between green supply chain practices and the competitiveness of Kenya’s food manufacturing firms. Firms that prepare and issue periodical voluntary environmental reporting to the public and environmental bodies were found to have adopted green supply chain practices to a larger extent than those that did not. It was also the recommendation of this study that more firms should embrace voluntary periodical environmental reporting. Firms should also hold seminars to sensitize both their employees and suppliers on the benefits of environmental sustainability as this will make it easier to adopt green practices. The government should also carry out public awareness campaigns on the importance of environmental sustainability.This study recommends that studies that relate GSCM to the integration of economic, environmental and social performance should be carried out in Kenya.