"Effects of channel disintermediation through buyer and supplier relationship in improving small scale manufacturers' supply chain performance

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the effect of disintermediation through supplier and buyer relationship on supply chain performance in SMEs of Sialkot, Pakistan. This research study provides profound information regarding supplier relationship and buyer relationship through literature review. The study employed supplier relationship and buyerrelationship as independent variables, and supply chain performance as dependent variable. All the SMEs from three industries surgical, sports and leather goods manufacturers were the target population of the study. A sample of 110 individuals was collected representing SMEs from the three mentioned industries. Data collected through survey-based questionnaire from the respondents was analyzed by using different statistical tools. The study engaged reliability, validity, descriptive statistics, t-test, and correlation and regression analysis to generate results against the variables studied in the research. Results of the study revealed that buyer relationship is the most significant factor that positively affects supply chain performance, since it relies less on both retailers and distributors. On the other hand supplier relationship is the second most significant factor that has positive impact on supply chain performance, since it relies less on distributors only. Furthermore, it is suggested that companies should incorporate supplier relationship and buyerrelationship as their supply chain strategies in order to get closer to both buyerand supplier to achieve better performance. It is also suggested that companies in order to enhance performance should eliminate the possible channels from the supply chain to increase the supply chain performance.