CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Supply chain management is the management of the flow of goods and services between businesses and location and includes the movement and storage of raw materials, of work in progress, inventory and of finished goods as well as end to end order fulfillment from point of origin to point of consumption. It is an interconnected or interrelated network, channels and node businesses combined in the provision of products and services required by end customers in a supply chain.

Supply chain management field of operations are complex and dynamic supply and demand networks (cf Weiland / Wallenburg, 2011). The supply chain not only includes the manufacturer and its suppliers but also (depending on logistics flow) transporters, warehouses, retailers and consumers themselves. It includes but is not limited to new product development, marketing, operations, distribution, finance and customer service (Chopra and Meindl, 2011).

A significant change in the paradigm of modern business management is that businesses do not compete as solely autonomous entities but as supply chains (Douglas, Marther and Janus, 1998). A traditional supply chain involves the procurement of raw materials and items at one or more factories, they are shipped to warehouses or a warehouse and then finally to customers. The end result is to ensure that the product leaves the supplier through to the final consumer.

Brief Historical Background of Supply Chain Management

In the late 1920s, the introduction of mass production along side assembly lines laid the foundations for supply chain management in the 1990s can be traced back to physical distribution management in the 1970s when there was no coordination among the various functions of an organization and each was committed to attain its own goal. This myopic approach then transformed into integrated logistics management in the 1980. That called for the integration of various functions to achieve a system wide objective. Supply chain management further widens the scope by including the suppliers and customers into the organizational fold and coordinating the flow of materials and information from the procurement of raw materials to the consumption of finished goods.

The supply chain can be characterized by the globalization era whereby attention is given to global systems of supplier relationship and the expansion of supply chains beyond national boundaries and into other continents. Although the use of global sources in organizations supply chains can be trace back several decades, it was not until the late 1980s that a considerable number of organizations started to integrate global sources into their core business with the goal of increasing their competitive advantage, adding value and reducing cost through global sourcing.

The majority of studies on supply chain management have mainly focused on developed countries often omitting developing economies and emerging markets. Consequently, this lack of evenly spread international representation of research data is likely to have adverse effects on current knowledge and understanding of various phenomena within logistics management (Svensson, 2008)

The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) is one of Cameroons major exporters and employers. This company was founded in 1947 for the purpose of developing and running plantations or tropical crops in the country, CDC is an agribusiness company. Its general offices are based in Bota, Limbe. Its principle products include rubber, oil palm, bananas, coconuts and tea.

This study aims to understand the supply chain movement of the case study CDC and the various supply chain entities included in its supply chin, challenges faced by CDC supply chain and recommendations on how to tackle such challenges so as to implement an effective supply chain to boost productivity.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The definition of supply chain management indicates that it is a complex undertaking that extends beyond the scope and capabilities of a single organization.

Supply chain is a critical factor of success in the development and growth of enterprises across the country.

The business environment has changed, globalization, more severe competition, heightened customer expectation, technological impact and geopolitical factors is the order of the day. Under such a renewed business environment. Organizations focused approach is no longer adequate to deliver the required competitiveness. In this regard, managers must therefore, understand that their business are only part of the supply chain they participate in and it is the supply chain that looses or wins the competition.

Thus, the arena is moving from organization against organization to supply chain against supply chin, the survival of any business today is no longer solely dependent on its own ability to cooperate within the supply chain. The seemingly independent relationship between the organizations within the supply chain becomes even more interdependent.

With CDC being one of the contributors of the economy of Cameroon and contributes to the GDP by providing jobs and economic goods, it is important to evaluate its supply chain, how it is managed, how it affects productivity and challenges faced in its supply chain.

1.3 Research Question

1.3.1Main Research Question

• What is the impact of supply chain management on the productivity of CDC

1.3.2 Specific Research Question

• What is the nature of supply chain management practice in CDC
• What are the problems and challenged faced in the supply chain of CDC

1.4 Research Objective

1.4.1 Main Research Objective

• To determine the impact of supply chain management on the productivity of CDC

1.4.2 Specific Objective

• To identify the supply process of CDC
• To determine problems and challenged faced in the supply chain of CDC
• To make suggestions and recommendations
• To determine problems and challenges face in the supply chain of CDC