scholarly journals Supply chain bottlenecks in the South African construction industry: Qualitative insights

Author(s):  
Poobalan Pillay ◽  
Chengedzai Mafini

Background: The construction industry in South Africa has a lot of potential but its performance is still restricted by numerous internal and external challenges. Unless these challenges are identified and understood better, further growth of this industry is likely to be hindered, which has negative economic implications for the South African economy.Objectives: This study investigated supply chain bottlenecks faced by the construction industry in South Africa. It also discussed solutions for addressing the identified bottlenecks in order to facilitate the continued development of supply chain management in the construction industry.Method: The study used a qualitative approach in which in-depth interviews were held with purposively selected senior managers drawn from the construction industry in South Africa. Content analysis using ATLAS.ti software was employed to identify the themes from the collected data.Findings: The findings of the study showed that supply chain management in the construction industry in South Africa is constrained by five major bottlenecks: skills and qualifications, procurement practices and systems, supply chain integration, supply chain relationships and the structure of the construction industry. Recommendations for addressing each of these five challenges were put forward.Conclusion: The study concludes that both awareness and application of supply chain management in the construction industry in South Africa remains inhibited, which creates opportunities for further improvements in this area to realise the full potential of the industry.

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (44) ◽  
pp. 11003-11014 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Ambe Intaher ◽  
A Badenhorst Weiss Johanna

Author(s):  
Surajit Bag

Green supply chain management is a popular practice in any world class organization. The traditional supply chain was managed with the objectives to reduce cost without focusing on environmental and social dimensions. However with passage of time institutional pressures has directed firms to design supply chain network which takes care of environmental and social dimensions as well. Green supply chain management concept has evolved gradually over a period of time. The main reason behind evolution of green supply chain management is conservation of natural resources which human beings ignored for long. Published reports show that major portion of the energy is supplied by fossil fuels and thereby depletion of natural resources is occurring at an accelerating rate with time. Industrial manufacturing report also suggest that demand for manufacturing products is likely to double by the year 2050. This will result in high generation of pollutants and gases. If the greenhouse gases emissions remain unchecked, then it will create a catastrophic effect by 2050. Globally manufacturers and industry associations are now acting proactively to conserve the natural resources and curb greenhouse gases emissions. The level of popularity of green supply chain management can be estimated from the high research output in leading operations journals such as IJPE, IJPR, Resources, Conservation and Recycling Journals. Green supply chain management is a concept that is also gaining popularity in the South African region. For many organizations in this region it is a process to exhibit their sincere commitment to sustainability. However, if green supply chain management practices are to be fully adopted by all mining and minerals industry in South Africa, a demonstrable link between such measures and understanding the role of associated variables is necessary. This paper endeavors to develop a green supply chain management model for mining and minerals industry in the South African region. The approach extends the domain of green supply chain research and produce theories that have greater explanatory power than the current practices. For this purpose a conceptual model was developed from literature review and data collected using a structured questionnaire mailed to a sample of 174 firms which are leading edge ISO14001 certified mining companies in South Africa. Data analysis is further performed through exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis. This paper presents the first empirical evaluation of the link between green supply chain management practices amongst a sample of mining and minerals companies in South Africa.


Author(s):  
Surajit Bag

Green supply chain management is a popular practice in any world class organization. The traditional supply chain was managed with the objectives to reduce cost without focusing on environmental and social dimensions. However with passage of time institutional pressures has directed firms to design supply chain network which takes care of environmental and social dimensions as well. Green supply chain management concept has evolved gradually over a period of time. The main reason behind evolution of green supply chain management is conservation of natural resources which human beings ignored for long. Published reports show that major portion of the energy is supplied by fossil fuels and thereby depletion of natural resources is occurring at an accelerating rate with time. Industrial manufacturing report also suggest that demand for manufacturing products is likely to double by the year 2050. This will result in high generation of pollutants and gases. If the greenhouse gases emissions remain unchecked, then it will create a catastrophic effect by 2050. Globally manufacturers and industry associations are now acting proactively to conserve the natural resources and curb greenhouse gases emissions. The level of popularity of green supply chain management can be estimated from the high research output in leading operations journals such as IJPE, IJPR, Resources, Conservation and Recycling Journals. Green supply chain management is a concept that is also gaining popularity in the South African region. For many organizations in this region it is a process to exhibit their sincere commitment to sustainability. However, if green supply chain management practices are to be fully adopted by all mining and minerals industry in South Africa, a demonstrable link between such measures and understanding the role of associated variables is necessary. This paper endeavors to develop a green supply chain management model for mining and minerals industry in the South African region. The approach extends the domain of green supply chain research and produce theories that have greater explanatory power than the current practices. For this purpose a conceptual model was developed from literature review and data collected using a structured questionnaire mailed to a sample of 174 firms which are leading edge ISO14001 certified mining companies in South Africa. Data analysis is further performed through exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis. This paper presents the first empirical evaluation of the link between green supply chain management practices amongst a sample of mining and minerals companies in South Africa.


Author(s):  
Kenneth M. Mathu

Background: The study background looked at the advent of supply chain management in the last generation which ushered in technology that drives information-sharing within, and across enterprises. The information flow facilitates synchronisation of business activities, such as relationship-building, supply chain management among others.Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate how information technology (IT) application in the South African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) enhanced supplier-customer information sharing.Setting: Interviews were conducted with SMEs samples that comprised mixed owner-managers from food, and general trading SMEs in Gauteng Province of South Africa.Methods: A qualitative research methodology was used, and a non-probability sampling process was pursued.Results: The results indicated that IT application in the South African SMEs enhanced supplier-customer information-sharing, as it improved interaction through supply chain collaboration and integration.Conclusion: The conclusion of the study highlighted that IT application in enterprises as obtained from South African SMEs enhanced supplier-customer information-sharing.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 380-391
Author(s):  
Rebecca Setino ◽  
Intaher Marcus Ambe

The South African government’s supply chain management (SCM) system is not adequately implemented in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). There are weaknesses in the SOEs SCM enablers, strategies, policy implementation and poor enforcement of government SCM rules and regulations. This is resulting in governance and compliance failures, waste and fraudulent activities. Also, top management of SOEs still do not see SCM as strategic enough to deserve their attention, and therefore, there is little support from senior management, thus making it even more difficult for SCM practitioners to execute their day-to-day functions, let alone deliver the letter and spirit of the relevant legislation. In most SOEs Senior SCM practitioners have not been involved in the corporate strategy development. This has led to supply chain and organisational strategies being misaligned. The misalignment has resulted in service delivery backlog, high levels of corruption and continuous strikes across the country for better services. Given the massive expenditure and the financial challenges facing government, an effective public-sector SCM becomes a primary requirement. Government leaders should be more strategic around using SCM as a tool to improve service delivery. This article explores supply chain practices in SOEs. It is based on a conceptual review of SCM practices in the South African SOE environment and suggests that the supply chain and organisational strategies of SOEs must be aligned to ensure efficient delivery of public services.


Author(s):  
Ayanda Nteta ◽  
Justine Mushonga

Background: The cement industry in South Africa is lagging behind the green supply chain management (GSCM) revolution that has influenced many sectors to re-evaluate their supply chain systems.Objective: This study was conducted to determine the significant drivers of and barriers to the implementation of GSCM in the South African cement industry, and thus to investigate the impediments to the implementation of GSCM in the cement industry.Method: A mixed-method approach was used to collect data from various role-players in the cement value chain. Geometric means were calculated from the scores of the survey conducted. Interviews were also conducted to confirm the results of the survey. An analytical hierarchy process technique ranked the individual drivers and barriers using the results from pairwise comparisons conducted. After ranking the drivers and barriers, a Pareto analysis was applied to determine the most significant drivers and barriers for the South African cement industry.Results: Overall, the seven most significant sub-drivers fall into three categories of main drivers: financial performance, competitors and organisational style. Ten barriers were identified as most significant and were categorised into five themes, namely, high capital costs, poor supplier commitment, high certification costs, weak marketing positioning and lack of awareness of GSCM.Conclusion: The identification of these drivers and barriers contributes to further research on improvements to GSCM process in the cement industry. The study shows that drivers of and barriers to the implementation of GSCM are not universally standard, and the ranking varies from one industry to another and from one country to another.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Intaher Marcus Ambe

Supply chain management is strategic to the quest for service delivery excellence in South African municipalities. The supply chain journey in South African municipalities started in 2005 with reforms to introduce internationally accepted procurement best practices. The previous system failed the country due to deficiencies and malpractices resulting from the interpretation, implementation and governance of the preference procurement policy. Today (2016), supply chain management has become a talking point on which citizens are raising major concerns and it is perceived as being handled in a way that financially benefits few individuals. Laws and regulations governing municipal supply chain management are intentionally ignored or flouted by municipal officials resulting in corruption, fruitless, wasteful and unauthorized expenditure. In an effort to address these challenges, the National Treasury continuously provides guidance in terms of policy revision, clarity in the provisions of the supply chain management policy, as well as training to supply chain management officials. This article provides an insight into supply chain management practices in a municipal context in South Africa. It highlights the status, challenges and way forward for the implementation of supply chain management in a municipal environment. Keywords: insight, supply chain management, municipality, public procurement, South Africa. JEL Classification: M38


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