Exploring the Supply Chain Management in Africa: An African Knowledge Perspective

Abstract

Despite the many advances in the Supply chain management research and practice, there are still gaps in its knowledge base. Supply chain management is framed in the lenses of Western academy and this limits its holistic appeal in certain contexts hence the birth of this study proposing an empirical Supply chain management framework from an African perspective in an African developing country. The study focused on the Supply chain management theory and practice by mining companies in Africa during the period 2005 to 2014 specifically focusing on the Zimbabwe coal mining sector. The researcher adopted a mixed research approach and used a sample size of 17. The findings showed that indeed different micro environments and cultures play a very significant role in influencing the business activities especially in distressed economies. A lot of short-cuts to standing rules, the way contracts are handled and awarded a cause for concern. The researcher recommended that supply chain management concepts need to be adapted to cater for managers' cultural diversity. Identifying the most ideal Supply chain management improvement destination requires understanding of national, organisational and individual cultural norms. In particular, the pathway to change and the desirable leadership role must be matched to the demands of the local cultural environment. Through further research there is need to test the theory, there are some constructs which can be generalised, with some which needs to be applied to particular settings.