The Role of Information Technology on the Performance of Humanitarian Supply Chain Management Practices: The case of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) Ethiopia
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Date
2024-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The primary objective of this study was to investigate the role of Information Technology (IT) in thesupply chain management performance of humanitarian organizations, with a specific focus on theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) operations in Ethiopia. The studyadopted causal research design, utilizing regression analysis as well as a descriptive research
approach that included the analysis of means, frequency distributions, and simple percentage scores.to explain and analyze the collected data with the help of Statistical Program for Social Sciences(SPSS) tool. Target populations of the study were employees of UNHCR Ethiopia who are directly or
indirectly involved in supply chain management activities. The researchers used a two-stagesampling method, where purposive sampling was used in the first stage to identify staff whose work
is directly related to supply chain management and who possess relevant knowledge in this area.The study further used analytical approach of sample size determination with study’s sample size of111. The data was collected through an online survey distributed via email.The result of the researchanalysis presents a significant and positive relationship between supply chain managementperformance and IT usage. The study also showed that The two dimensions IT (ERP andCommunication and collaboration tools) were generally confirmed to have a positive and significanteffects on the dependent variable (supply chain performance) .The study recommends that UNHCR
implement an Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, as well as invest in advancedsupply chain and collaboration tools to increase the supply chain performance.Future directives to
additionally investigate the researchers recommend further investigations to explore additionaldeterminants of IT-enabled supply chain management and performance in the humanitarian sector,as well as to identify different IT tools and technologies that can be leveraged to improvehumanitarian supply chain management performance.
Key Words: Information Technology(IT), Supply Chain Management Performance, Supply Chain Management Practices, UHCR, Oracle ERP System, Supply Chain Visibility tools