Supply Chain Collaboration Strategies and Delivery Performance of Brick Manufacturing Firms in Southwest, Nigeria

This study explored the relationship between supply chain collaboration strategies and delivery performance of brick manufacturing firms in Southwest Nigeria. The study adopted the positivist research philosophy and the correlational research design. The population of this study comprised 132 functional brick manufacturing firms that are registered with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Southwest geopolitical Zone. Sixty-two (62) brick manufacturing firms were selected for the study using a purposive sampling method. The unit of analysis consisted of strategic managers, tactical managers and operational managers of the 62 selected brick manufacturing firms in Southwest Nigeria. A sample size of 186 managers of the above categories was drawn from the 62 selected brick manufacturing firms in Rivers State at ratio of 3 managers per firm. Data were collected from the respondents using a structured questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed statistically, while the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) and the SPSS version 24 were used to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that vertical collaboration has a significant relationship with on-time delivery of brick manufacturing firms. The study also found a significant relationship between vertical collaboration and cost-effective delivery of brick manufacturing firms. The study equally reported a significant relationship between horizontal collaboration and on-time delivery of brick manufacturing firms. Horizontal collaboration was also reported to have significant relationship with cost-effective delivery of brick manufacturing firms. From the findings, it was concluded that supply chain collaboration strategies such as vertical and horizontal collaboration significantly enhance delivery performance of brick manufacturing firms in Southwest Nigeria. Therefore, it was recommended that brick manufacturing firms in Southwest Nigeria particularly those that are currently experiencing poor delivery performance, should adopt collaboration strategies, as it would improve their delivery performance.