Logistics Outsourcing Practices and Supply Chain Performance of Food and Beverage Manufacturing Firms in Rivers State, Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between logistics outsourcing practices and supply chain performance of food and beverage manufacturing firms in Rivers State. This study adopted the correlational research design and the positivism research philosophy. The study population consisted of 30 registered food and beverage manufacturing firms in Rivers State. The study adopted the census sampling technique where all the members of the population were studied. The sampling unit consisted of branch managers, logistics managers, and operational managers of the 30 food and beverage manufacturing firms in Rivers State. A sample size of 90 managers was drawn from the 30 food and beverage manufacturing firms in Rivers State at the ratio of 3 managers per company. A structured questionnaire was used as the main instrument for data collection. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, while the hypotheses were tested using the Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient (rho). The SPSS version 26 was utilized for data processing and computation. The findings revealed that transportation outsourcing has a significant relationship with on-time delivery of food and beverage manufacturing firms in Rivers State. The study also found a significant relationship between transportation outsourcing and cost reduction of food and beverage manufacturing firms in Rivers State. Warehousing outsourcing was also found to have a significant relationship with on-time delivery of food and beverage manufacturing firms in Rivers State. The study equally discovered a significant relationship between warehousing outsourcing and cost reduction of food and beverage manufacturing firms in Rivers State. Based on these findings, it is concluded that logistics outsourcing practices (transportation and warehousing outsourcing) have a significant impact on the supply chain performance of food and beverage manufacturing firms in Rivers State, Nigeria.