Supplier Development and Procurement Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Uganda

Resumen o Introducción

The study sought to establish the effect of supplier development on procurement performance of manufacturing firms. The study specifically looked at the effect of supplier training on procurement performance of manufacturing firms, the effect of early supplier involvement on procurement performance of manufacturing firms, and the effect of financial support on procurement performance of manufacturing firms.

The study adopted a descriptive cross-section research design and used both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The target population was 502 employees of UBL where a sample size of 217 respondents was selected using the Krejice and Morgan table. Information was solicited from respondents by use of questionnaires, which were based on a five-point Likert scale and interview guide. Quantitative data analysis presented using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, whereas content qualitative data was presented using verbatim.

Generally, the findings of the study clearly showed that supplier training significantly affect procurement performance of UBL (adjusted R Square =.564). Findings further revealed that early supplier involvement moderately affects procurement performance of UBL. The results also showed that financial assistance significantly affect procurement performance of UBL). Findings again showed that the supplier training, early supplier involvement, and financial support predicts 74.3% of procurement performance in UBL.

Basing on the findings of the study, it was concluded that there is a significant relationship between supplier training and procurement performance of UBL. Any efforts put into supplier training will significantly improve procurement performance. Early supplier involvement was, however, having moderate relationship with procurement performance, and it was further concluded that there was a significant relationship between financial assistance and procurement performance of manufacturing firms like UBL.

This was attributed to the fact that respondents agreed that providing prompt payment, advance payments, and credit guarantees improves the production and supplying capabilities of suppliers, thus leading to improvement in procurement performance of UBL.

Basing on the conclusion, the research recommended that there is need for the managers in manufacturing firms to periodically organize seminars, workshops, and field days for the company suppliers so that they can easily interface with them.