The Impact Of Supply Chain Strategies On The Operations Performance Of Retail Firms In The Food And Beverage Industry In Ghana.

Abstract

The Food and Beverage (F&B) industry contributes greatly to the development of the economy under the manufacturing sector. However, the F&B subsector of the manufacturing sector has received little attention in literature although, it provides both direct and indirect employment opportunities. This sector needs to be coordinated and integrated properly through its supply chains to create value and competitive edge to enhance retail operations performance. This study therefore, sought to assess the impact of supply chain strategies on the operations performance of retail firms in the F&B industry in Ghana. The supply chain strategies identified in the study are the lean, agile and Leagile. The retail operations performance is a dependent variable which was measured by efficiency and responsiveness. The study also sought to determine if the financial position of a firm mediates the supply chain strategies and the operations performance of the retail firms. Quantitative method and a cross-sectional survey research design were used. The study adopted a simple random and purposive sampling techniques for the study. A total of 300 responses out of the 363 retail firms issued with the questionnaires were received. The study used Structural Equation Modelling to analyze the data with the aim of drawing relationships between the independent and dependent variables. The study found that retail operations challenges such as stiff competition and stock out were the major challenges confronting retail operations in the F&B industry in Ghana. It also discovered that while lean supply chain strategy influences efficiency, it does not influence responsiveness. Again, the study revealed that while agile supply chain strategy influences responsiveness, it does not influence efficiency. The study further discovered that, leagile supply chain strategy influences both responsiveness and efficiency. The study again revealed that financial position of a firm has no mediation effect on the relationship between supply chain strategies and retail operations performance. The study ends by examining key contributions to policy, theory and practice on how supply chain strategies can be used to achieve maximum retail operations performance.