Effect Of Green Supply Chain Practices On Sustainable Competitive Advantage Of Cement Manufacturing Companies, Kenya

Abstract

The relationship between green supply chain practices and manufacturing companies has attracted a lot of attention in a world that is striving to control industrial impact on the environment. This study investigated cement manufacturing companies in Kenya and how green supply chain practices affect their sustainable competitive advantage. Its specific objectives were to establish the effect of green technology, eco-packaging and green logistics practices on the sustainable competitive advantage of cement manufacturing companies in Nairobi County, Kenya. This was achieved by adopting a descriptive research design that allowed the researcher collect information from employees in 5 cement manufacturing companies in the country. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were then conducted on the data collected and inferences regarding the effect of the three selected green supply chain practices on sustainable competitive advantage were made. It was revealed that holding eco-packaging practices and green logistics practices constant, a unit increase in adopting green technology will increase organization sustainable competitive advantage by 0.053 units. Subsequently, holding green technology practices and green logistics practices constant, a unit increase in adopting eco-packaging practices will increase organization sustainable competitive advantage by 0.069 units. Furthermore, holding green technology practices and eco-packaging practices constant, a unit increase in adopting green logistics practices will increase organization sustainable competitive advantage by 0.329 units. The study also found that the effect associated with Green Technology, Eco-Packaging and Green Logistics Practices were all statistically significant as illustrated by significant p values 0.032, 0.041 and 0.029 which were all less than 0.05. Based on the study findings, therefore, the study concluded that green supply chain practices positively affect the sustainable competitive advantage of manufacturing firms in Nairobi County. Specifically, the study found that a positive change in the adoption of green technology practices leads to a positive increase in the sustainable competitive advantage of a cement manufacturing company. The study therefore recommended manufacturing companies to implement production methods that are environmental friendly since this approach elevates a company to a favorable position on the competitive advantage scale in the county.