IT Enablement Of Supply Chain Integration:A Case Study Of The Ghanaian Agro-Products Manufacturing Sector

The purpose of this study is to determine the significance of implementing supply chain integration through IT,and testing its effectiveness.This research will reflect on the factors that influence information technology effectiveness,supply chain flexibility,just-in-time in supply chain,supply chain resilience,quick response in supply chain,and supply chain integration effectiveness in a developing country,and also explore how information technology effectiveness interrelates with the rest of these variables in supply chain environments having limited resources and infrastructural challengesThe study of supply chain integration involves conceptual frameworks for the integration of resources,systems,their components,processes,roles,their relationships,and the underlying tasks of the echelons of a supply chain.Supply chain integration involves complex structuring of the supplies,manufacturing,distribution,and retail networking in the form of a multi-echelon routing,flow and scheduling system for synchronizing flow of materials downstream,flow of funds upstream,and bidirectional flow of information.Information technology(IT)is at the core of supply chain integration given that it facilitates highly complex,intense,voluminous,and real-time information sharing among the supply chain partners in a structured manner,which helps them in managing and controlling the supply chain processes and activities in an effective and efficient mannerWhy does Ghana lack in supply chain integration in the agro business industry in spite of having information systems adopted internally within the participating organizations?Why is Ghana's cocoa industry,one of the prominent parts of the agro business industry,lacking both internal and external integration in supply chains although the partners possess internally integrated information systems,which are extended to the external partners?In a way,this research will establish that IT has a significant contribution to supply chain integration even in uncertain and unpredictable supply chain environments with poor infrastructure facilities if the echelons coordinate effectively through timely and accurate information sharing.To accomplish this objective,300 supply chain agents were approached and a sample of more than 150 responses was achieved.Descriptive statistics was used to organize and present information on the participants' characteristics.The researcher summarized patterns in the responses from the sample by using frequency tables and percentages.The Statistical Product and Service Solution(SPSS)was used in analyzing the data.This was used because it offered a full range of contemporary descriptive statistical methods.It also had the ability to produce output in both report and table formats.The pilot study was conducted using the Q-sort method.The Q-sort method pre-assesses convergent and discriminant validities of constructs by asking different respondents to place the items into various construct categories.Non-response bias between the two rounds of respondents was assessed using the Chi-square test to evaluate differences in the manufacturing firms and their respective approaches to information technology and supply chain management.