Ghanaian Institutions and Supply Chain Management Practices: A Systematic Review of Evidence

Abstract

This systematic review aims to enhance the current understanding of supply chain management (SCM) practices in Ghana by examining emerging trends in the literature. The analysis considered 43 peerreviewed articles published in the last 20 years to identify the features, SCM components, research types, methodologies, and contributions to SCM theory. The results indicate that previous research on SCM practices in Ghana has mainly focused on particular attributes, such as supply chain (SC) risk planning and management, communication and information sharing, quality, strategic supplier partnership, inventory, and logistics management. However, benchmarking, customer relationship, and demand forecast, were list examined. Additionally, research on SCM practices has been concentrated in industries, such as manufacturing, banking and finance, agriculture value chain, health and allied areas, and retail and SMEs. The study also reveals that while quantitative research methods have gained increasing interest, qualitative research methods are still prevalent in the field. The results further highlighted a variety of SCM theories, namely resource-based view, transaction cost theory, agency, SC operations reference (SCOR), network theory, diffusion of innovation theory, contingency theory, and service demand logic, are focal areas of understanding SCM practices, performance, and their critical success factors in Ghanaian industries. This study provides practical insights for industry practitioners to better understand SCM deployment, design, and implementation steps, as well as suggestions for future research directions for SCM theory and practice in Ghana. These include exploring other areas and industries to gain a more comprehensive understanding of SCM practices in the country.