Supply Chain Management and Business Performance of Shipping Firms in Port Harcourt

Abstract:

The study examined the relationship between supply chain management and business performance of shipping firms in Port Harcourt. The study adopted quantitative research design using a correlational method of investigation. The population consists of 16 shipping firms in Port Harcourt. The study adopted census sampling and studied the entire 16 firms with focus on managers. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach's alpha test with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 and it stood at 0.88 higher than the benchmark of 0.7. The data collected for this study were analyzed through inferential statistics. The Spearman Rank Correlation Technique was employed to test the various hypotheses formulated through the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results revealed that supply chain management is significantly and positively related with business performance of shipping firms in Port Harcourt. Based on the findings, it was concluded that supply chain management with its dimension of supply chain integration and reverse logistics will improve business performance of shipping firms in Port Harcourt on the basis of the results obtained from the analysis. The study recommends that shipping firms should adopt reverse logistics as this would ensure customer after-sale satisfaction which in turn results in improvement in business performance, and also, shipping firms should integrate their supplies as this would enable them to improve business performance.