ICT tools adoption in supply chain management: Lessons from Ghana.

Abstract

Supply chain management is very crucial in today’s business environment. However, globalisation, advances in technology, and the need for fast and accurate responses have made the management of supply chains complex. This paper acknowledges ICT as a solution to improved supply chain management and investigates ICT tools adoption in the areas of procurement management, logistics management, customer relationship management, and supplier relationship management for this purpose. The paper also seeks to find out benefits derived from the adoption. A survey using 32 purposively selected manufacturing firms in the study area was used. Purposive sampling was used because we needed firms that both practise SCM and use ICT. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews, and observation. The collected data were analysed using percentages, bar charts, and hypothesis testing. The study found a high awareness of ICT tools for use in SCM. Company mail, application software, and telephone are mostly used in the aspects of SCM studied. Their use is prominent in logistics management but lacking behind in customer relationship management. There are reported benefits in their adoption. The research concentrated on Greater Accra Region and did not collect data from suppliers and customers. It did not also investigate the most sophisticated tools like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Material Requirements Planning (MRP). This novel paper on ICT tools usage in SCM in Ghana brings to light the inadequate use of the tools. Thus, governments, the industry, the business community, and the general public should use it as a guide to formulate policies and put structures in place to eliminate the inadequacies.