Investigating Supply Chain Management Practices in Iranian Manufacturing Organizations

The aim of this article is threefold, firstly to investigate the extent of supply chain management (SCM) practices implementation in Iranian manufacturing organizations, secondly, given contextual factors of the country to identify benefits and barriers of SCM implementation and thirdly, to survey if there is any relationship between SCM practices and organizational performance of Iranian manufacturing organizations, mainly based on a descriptive analysis. Based on the review of literature main practices and also benefits and barriers of SCM implementation was identified. A self administered questionnaire was designed and distributed among 127 logistics and manufacturing managers of Iranian manufacturing organizations, of which 97 complete questionnaires returned, yielding a response rate of about 76 percent. Through descriptive statistical analysis the extent of SCM practices, main benefits and barriers in the surveyed organizations and their ranking orders were determined. Results revealed that holding safety stock is the most implemented practice of SCM. Also, increased customer satisfaction and inadequate information sharing in the chain were ranked as the major benefit and barrier of SCM implementation respectively. The result of chi-square test showed that the implementation of SCM practices is positively and significantly related to organizational performance of Iranian manufacturing companies.