Original Research

Supply chain management antecedents of performance in small to medium scale enterprises

Welby V. Loury-Okoumba, Chengedzai Mafini
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences | Vol 24, No 1 | a3661 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v24i1.3661 | © 2021 Welby V. Loury-Okoumba, Chengedzai Mafini | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 16 April 2020 | Published: 22 February 2021

About the author(s)

Welby V. Loury-Okoumba, Department of Logistics, Faculty of Management Sciences, Vaal University of Technology, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa
Chengedzai Mafini, Department of Logistics, Faculty of Management Sciences, Vaal University of Technology, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa

Abstract

The failure rate of most small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa remains very high, with up to 70% of such businesses closing down within the first 5 years of operations. High business operating costs incurred by SMEs are often cited as one of the major causes of these failures. It may be argued that to reduce these costs, and hence improve the success rates of SME ventures, supply chain management (SCM) strategies should be adopted and implemented.

Aim: This article provides an analysis of the connection between SCM strategies, supply chain agility and supply chain performance among SMEs in South Africa.

Setting: A total of 407 owners, managers and professional employees of SMEs operating in Gauteng were recruited purposively to participate in the study.

Method: To test the proposed relationships, the collected data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis, Pearson correlations and regression analysis.

Result: The results of the study disclosed that all four SCM strategies (supplier collaboration, total quality management, technology adoption, supply chain integration) correlated with and predicted supply chain agility. Technology adoption (β = 0.54) emerged as the strongest predictor of supply chain agility. In turn, supply chain agility correlated with and predicted supply chain performance.

Conclusion: The article concludes by recommending specific interventions that may be employed by SMEs to ensure that the adoption of SCM strategies yields positive outcomes.


Keywords

buyer-supplier collaboration; supply chain integration; total quality management; IT adoption; supply chain agility; supply chain performance.

Metrics

Total abstract views: 5868
Total article views: 8525

 

Crossref Citations

1. Scaling strategies and mechanisms in small and medium enterprises in the agri-food sector: a systematic literature review
Emil Begimkulov, Dietrich Darr
Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems  vol: 7  year: 2023  
doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1169948

2. Supply chain management of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Africa: a bibliometric analysis
Mulugeta Chane Wube, Heena Atwal
Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship  vol: 13  issue: 1  year: 2024  
doi: 10.1186/s13731-024-00388-2

3. A digital village model for supply chain management capabilities development in micro-small-medium enterprise in South Sumatra
Darius Antoni, Febrianty, Muhammad Wadud
Information Technology for Development  vol: 31  issue: 4  first page: 1511  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1080/02681102.2025.2502417

4. THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS OF INTERNAL ENABLERS ON INTERNAL INTEGRATION AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
Emilio Ruzo-Sanmartín, Alaa A. Abousamra, Carmen Otero-Neira, Göran Svensson
Journal of Business Economics and Management  vol: 24  issue: 4  first page: 633  year: 2023  
doi: 10.3846/jbem.2023.20115

5. Small and medium business transformational leadership and supply chain management
Irvine Langton, Chengedzai Mafini
The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa  vol: 19  issue: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.4102/td.v19i1.1347

6. The impact of the relationship commitment and customer integration on supply chain performance
Emilio Ruzo-Sanmartín, Alaa Abdelaziz Abousamra, Carmen Otero-Neira, Göran Svensson
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing  vol: 38  issue: 4  first page: 943  year: 2023  
doi: 10.1108/JBIM-07-2021-0349

7. Supply Chain Activities and Challenges of Construction Hardware Enterprises
Razel Valence, Ma. Fara Magada
Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives  vol: 3  issue: 7  year: 2025  
doi: 10.69569/jip.2025.295

8. Strategy research in an African context: A systematic literature review
Gemechis Terfa Eticha, Olof Brunninge, Workneh Kassa Tessema
Africa Journal of Management  vol: 10  issue: 3  first page: 316  year: 2024  
doi: 10.1080/23322373.2024.2375949

9. Challenges and opportunities for pharmaceutical SMEs from South Africa in embedding into global supply chains
Blessing Takawira, David Pooe
International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293)  vol: 6  issue: 3  first page: 01  year: 2024  
doi: 10.36096/ijbes.v6i3.506

10. The inside-out dynamics of supply chain integration: the interplay of information technology integration with and by suppliers
Emilio Ruzo-Sanmartín, Alaa Abdelaziz Abousamra, Carmen Otero-Neira, Göran Svensson
The International Journal of Logistics Management  vol: 36  issue: 1  first page: 89  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1108/IJLM-11-2023-0496

11. SME readiness for Industry 5.0: A systematic literature review
Blessing Takawira, David Pooe
The Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management  vol: 17  issue: 1  year: 2025  
doi: 10.4102/sajesbm.v17i1.946

12. Financial Performance and Green Supply Chain Management in a South African National Electrical Energy Provider
Irvine Langton, Nelson Maotoawe, Chengedzai Mafini
Southern African Business Review  year: 2023  
doi: 10.25159/1998-8125/13564