Drivers of adoption of green supply chain strategy by manufacturing firms in Kenya

Abstract

This study addressed the issue of drivers of adoption of green supply chain strategy that contribute to the choice of strategies firms have to respond to green issues. The proposition was based on the concept of environmental theme of Procurement and Supply Chain Management strategic capability. The target population was manufacturing firms in Kenya registered with the umbrella body the Kenya Association of Manufacturers as at 2013. A survey research design where 80 respondents from a sample frame of 441 was adopted. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to identify a reasonable number of sectors from which consequent elements were drawn. The first entailed randomly selecting five strata from the 12 sectors. This was followed by systematic sampling of elements proportionally from each stratum. Questionnaire designed based on themes from the research framework were piloted to 10 firms and checked for construct validity and reliability through test of internal consistency using Cronbach‟s Alpha tool which yield results of above 0.8 for all variables tested. Survey method of data collection was adopted and 80 questionnaire instruments were distributed. The empirical data obtained from the 70 manufacturing firms who responded was analyzed using descriptive and logistic regression model to test the hypotheses. All the assumptions for use of logistic regression were observed. The results of the hypotheses revealed that out of the five drivers three including regulatory pressure, customer pressure and corporate social responsibility were non-significant but the results elicited valuable information for future research. The study concluded that internal stakeholders and perceived business benefits are strong drivers of adoption of green supply chain strategy by manufacturing firms in Kenya. Top management and cost effectiveness were the most influential. Lack of awareness was a dominant aspect in this study. The implication of this study is that manufacturing contributes to economic growth as envision by the government in Kenya Vision 2030, and due to its place along the supply chain, both the government and manufacturing firms ought to drive the implementation of responsive and proactive approach towards emerging green xix issues. Areas for further study recommended include research to explore the role of capacity building for a green economy.