The Moderating Effect of Inter- Organization Systems on the Relationship between Supply Chain Relationship Management and Performance of Pharmaceutical Firms in Kenya

Abstract

systems on the relationship between supply chain relationship management and performance of pharmaceutical firms in Kenya Methodology: This research adopted a descriptive research design. The target population of interest in this study were the 22 local pharmaceutical manufacturing and 149 importing firms that act as subsidiaries making a total of 171. The study sample was drawn from the list of 171 pharmaceutical firms, where various categories with the relevant information for the study were drawn. The study adopted a census sampling technique. The data was analyzed using SPSS 22 version by making use of multiple regressions analysis which helped to generate a weighted estimation equation (OLS) that was used to predict values for dependent variable from the values of the independent variable. Findings: The results showed that inter-organization systems significantly moderated the relationship between supply chain relationship management practices and organizational performance. Recommendations: Based on the study findings, it was recommended that management in pharmaceutical firms should integrate their systems with those of customers such as electronic inventory management, electronic customer feedback; integrate electronic sharing of market information among other IT systems. This is because the study confirmed that integration of IT systems by pharmaceutical companies would lead to improvement in terms of speed and quality services, waste elimination, increased inventory management, responsiveness, accuracy, customer feedback and reduced lead-times