An integration of supply-chain activity imperatives by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa's Emfuleni municipality

Abstract

The SMEs industry sector has been neglected in terms of supply chain management research. Supply-chain as an overarching activity is very important for small and medium enterprises (SME’s) owners because it is the essence of the organisation’s relationship with the customer, who is in turn, the revenue generator for SMEs; it determines where the money comes from. The aim of this research is to test SMEs competitiveness through the integration of supply-chain activities. A quantitative approach and cross-sectional descriptive survey was used in this study. Data was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 253 SMEs this study. The findings show that SMEs that perceive cost as an important component in achieving business/supply-chain objectives, view supply-chain implementation differently from others, which also differentiates the competitive nature of the SMEs. We find that supply chain management is positively associated with SME business performance after controlling for self-selection bias. We discuss several explanations for the result.