Managing Supply Chain Practices, Financial Performance and Competitive Advantage to Enhance a Retail Supply Chain Management in Sierra Leone: Case Study- Freetown

Even though the developing countries are facing financial and economic crises today, the future poses yet still enormous challenges. Growing population, energy consumption, climate change, environmental pollution, deterioration of natural resources, globalization of production networks, multiple cases of violation of human rights in developing countries, and fierce competition in the business community, are just a few examples of the problems facing our societies today and putting at risk the prospects of development of potential future generations of which Sierra Leone is no exception. Supply chain management (SCM) has become a potentially significant way to enhancing competitive advantage and improving organizational performance since competition is no longer between organizations, but among supply chains. This paper conceptualizes and develops four resiliency practices, which involve (flexibility, redundancy, collaboration and agility), and tests the relationships between organizations’ financial performance and competitive advantage in the retail supply chain management in Sierra Leone. The study used stratified random sampling to pick a sample size of 95 retailing outlets in the capital city of Sierra Leone - Freetown, which represent different retailing vendors. The respondents were mainly of managers of different retailing vendors. The relationships proposed in the conceptual framework were tested using correlation analysis. The results indicate that higher levels of resilience practices in retailing vendors can lead to enhanced competitive advantage and improved financial performance. In addition, competitive advantage has a direct positive impact on organizational performance. Keywords: retailing, supply chain management (SCM), resiliency practices, organizational performance, competitive advantage.