Supply Chain Management Practices: A Study Of Freight Forwarders In Nepal

The aim of this research aim was to study supply chain management practices among 25 selected freight forwarding companies in Nepal; the focus was on their competitive advantage Questionnaires were sent to the sample companies and the response rate was 76% though only 64% of the completed questionnaires was usable. Statistical analysis performed were reliability tests, descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regression. All of the statements used in this paper had Cronbach alpha scores of >0.7, indicating their reliability. Among the 16 respondents, 25% were CEOs and Directors while the rest managers. In this study, three hypotheses were tested and all null hypothesis were rejected which implied supply chain management (SCM) practices had significant impact on supply chain responsiveness and they created competitive advantage to the firm. This study found that customer relationship as the most significant variable (36.5%) in determining supply chain responsiveness while trust and commitment were significant (34%) in determining competitive advantage. Operation system responsiveness and logistics process responsiveness were significant (86%) in determining competitive advantage. Effect of supply chain management practices were analysed and it was concluded that they were important in creating effective supply chain responsiveness and competitive advantage to the firm.