THE INFLUENCE OF SUPPLY CHAIN NETWORKS, FLEXIBILITY AND INTEGRATION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN THE SOUTHERN GAUTENG, SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

Competitive challenges in the modern business environment have resulted in the need for organisations to integrate business processes strategically across other business units within the supply chain network. The study examines the influence of supply chain network, flexibility and integration on the SMEs business performance in the Southern Gauteng region. A quantitative research survey was conducted among 401 SMEs owners/managers. SPSS 22.0 was used to analyse the data. AMOS 22.0 was used to perform confirmatory factor analysis. Structural path modelling (SEM) was conducted to assess the proposed model fit and to test the statistically significant relationship of the hypothesis. The research study results revealed that supply chain network, flexibility and integration positively influence SMEs business performance. This study contributes new knowledge to the existing literature by providing a research framework that can enhance SMEs performance and also provide practical recommendations based on the research findings for SMEs and for future research. Furthermore, as one of the first studies addressing the influence of supply chain network, flexibility and integration on the performance of SMEs in the Southern Gauteng region, in South, it has generated new insights and outlines strategic reasons for SME owners and managers to improve on their business relationships across the value chain

Keywords

• Supply chain
• networks
• flexibility
• integration
• performance

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