Sustainable Supply Chain Management as a Strategic Tool for Competitive Advantage in Tea Industry in Kenya

Abstract

It is assumed that companies that utilize sustainable supply chain management as a strategic tool in business management are likely to have a competitive edge over others. However, this is contrary to the Tea Industry in Kenya. The main purpose of this research was to establish the role of sustainable supply chain management as a strategic tool for competitive advantage in the tea industry in Kenya. The specific objective was to find out to what extent the supply chain collaborative strategy as a tool for competitive advantage is used by the companies in tea industry in Kenya. The mixed research design was used in the study. The target population was the tea companies in Kenya and the sample of eight Tea Companies were purposively selected for the study. Data collection was done by use of both structured questionnaires and oral interview to get the primary data while the secondary data was obtained by documentary analysis. The results finding indicated that sustainable supply chain management as a strategic tool contributes to the competitive advantage of Kenyan tea companies in the global market. The results provide information to the tea companies to come up with sustainable strategies in their supply chain management in order ensure the Kenyan tea remains competitive in the global market.