Role of Supplier Development on the Improvement of Hospitals’ Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Performance: In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2022-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Emerging trend has suggested that Supplier Development could serve as a more modern tool to improve supply chain performance. The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of supplier development on the improvement of pharmaceuticals supply chain performance in government hospitals of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The specific objectives were to: ascertain whether supplier incentive has a statistically significant positive relationship with performance in pharmaceuticals supply chain, determine whether technical support has a statistically significant positive relationship with performance in pharmaceuticals supply chain, evaluate whether information exchange has a statistically significant positive relationship with performance in pharmaceuticals supply chain and determine the extent of supplier development among government hospitals. Primary data was collected by means of a well-structured questionnaire and the data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS version 23.). Methodologically, descriptive survey research design of the quantitative approach was employed. A total of 84 managerial level pharmacists from all government hospitals found in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia were selected based on purposive sampling technique to respond to the questionnaire. Retrieved data were statistically tested using descriptive statistics (including percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (bivariate correlation, simple linear regression methods). The descriptive statistics showed that the extent of supplier development dimension in the government hospital of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was low. The bivariate correlation analysis revealed that both supplier incentive, technical support and information exchange has a positive relationship with pharmaceuticals supply chain performance. The simple linear regression analysis confirmed that supplier incentives, technical support and information exchange has statistically significant effect on the improvement of pharmaceuticals supply chain performance. Therefore government hospitals should implement supplier development practices to improve their pharmaceutical supply chain performance in terms of pharmaceuticals availability and minimizing cost due to pharmaceuticals expiration and emergency purchase.
Key words: essential medicine, pharmaceuticals, supply chain performance, supplier development