ROLE OF ORDER FULFILLMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN KENYA

Purpose: The main purpose of the study was determine role order fulfillment on performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya.Methodology: A descriptive research design was used. The target population of the study were managers or equivalent from Six (6) departments that is Procurement, finance, legal, stores, human resource and quality control because they are directly concerned with supply chain. The study adopted the use of a questionnaire and a document analysis as the main research instrument. The study adopted both quantitative and qualitative approaches, implying that both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were employed. Quantitative data collected from the document analysis was analyzed statistically using the Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS version 22). The study tested the significance level of each independent variable against the dependent variable at 95% confidence level using ANOVA, Correlation and regression techniques.Findings: The findings showed that order fulfillment has a positive and significant effect on firm performance, 0.723, p < 0.05.Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: There is need to put in place review teams that constantly review the strategies with the view to improve them for increased effectiveness. Effective cost reduction mechanisms, combined with a well-structured organizational policy on procurement and supply chain management practices will eliminate the notion of having multiple suppliers to mitigate for unsatisfactory service.