Green supply chain management practices and supply chain performance of private hospitals in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Over the past decade, Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) has emerged as an important component of the environmental and supply chain strategies for a number of companies and they have been aiming at integrating environmental concerns in their business operations and in interactions with their stakeholders in embracing environmental sustainability into business strategies. Therefore the study aimed at determining the various GSCM practices and their impact on Supply Chain Performance (SCP). The specific objectives of this study were: to determine the various GSCM practices that are currently applied by the private hospitals in Nairobi, to determine the SCP in private hospitals in Nairobi and to establish the challenges faced in the implementation of the GSCM practices by the private hospitals in Nairobi. The research design for the study was descriptive survey. The researcher proposed to do a census on all the 45 private hospitals in Nairobi Kenya under category C according to NHIF classification. The data was analyzed by use of multivariate data analysis techniques, as it allowed simultaneous investigation of more than two variables. Frequency proportions were used to determine the extent of adoption of the GSCM practices and the SCP. The researcher utilized the statistical package for Social sciences (SPSS) software to analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of the data in details. On green design a low but significant relationship was found while on green operations the relationship with SCP showed that there was high significant, on reverse logistics and outbound logistics the significance level was high, as well as purchasing and in-bound logistics. The study finally concludes that waste management greatly affects SCP it was concluded so because hospital used biodegradable materials and the hospital had invested on hazardous disposal equipments, the hospitals also used recycled materials and the hospital purchased eco-design of products for reduced consumption of material/energy. The study recommends that hospital should provide design specification to suppliers that include environmental requirements when purchasing an item, the hospitals should also cooperate with suppliers for environmental objectives and also cooperate with suppliers for ecoeco- design in order to boost green design in the hospitals SCP