Supply Chain Collaboration Strategies and Delivery Performance of Brick Manufacturing Firms in Southwest, Nigeria.

Abstract:

This study explored the relationship between supply chain collaboration strategies and delivery performance of bricks manufacturing firms in South-West Nigeria. The study adopted the positivist research philosophy and the correlational research design. The population of this study comprised 132 functional brick manufacturing firms that are registered with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in South-West Geopolitical Zone. Sixty-two (62) bricks manufacturing firms were selected for the study using purposive sampling method. The unit of analysis consisted of strategic managers, tactical managers and operational managers of the 62 selected bricks manufacturing firms in South-West Nigeria. A sample size of 186 managers of the above categories was drawn from the 62 selected bricks manufacturing firms in Rivers State on the ratio of 3 managers per firm. Data were collected from the respondents using a structured questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed statistically while the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) and the SPSS version 24 were used to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that vertical collaboration has significant relationship with on-time delivery of bricks manufacturing firms. The study also found a significant relationship between vertical collaboration and cost-effective delivery of bricks manufacturing firms. The study equally reported a significant relationship between horizontal collaboration and on-time delivery of bricks manufacturing firms. Horizontal collaboration was also reported to have significant relationship with cost-effective delivery of bricks manufacturing firms. From the findings, it was concluded that supply chain collaboration strategies such as vertical and horizontal collaboration significantly enhance delivery performance of bricks manufacturing firms in South-West Nigeria. Therefore, it was recommended that bricks manufacturing firms in South-West Nigeria particularly those that are currently experiencing poor delivery performance should adopt collaboration strategies as it would improve their delivery performance.