Influence of information sharing on performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya

Abstract

Information has emerged as a key resource that improves manufacturing companies' performance and helps a company efficiently satisfy consumers' expectations. The goal of the study was to ascertain how information sharing affected the performance of manufacturing companies. The study was backed by the stakeholder theory and the systems theory. The explanatory research design was used in the study. The sample size was 264 procurement managers from Kenyan manufacturing enterprises, with 766 procurement managers as the target population. Respondents were chosen using stratified, simple random, and purposive sampling methods. The primary data collected using questionnaires. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations) and inferential analysis (linear regression analysis) with the aid of SPSS program. The regression model showed that (R2 =0.276), indicating that the information sharing predicted 27.6% of the firm performance. The information sharing (β=0.417, P=0.000) had positive and significant effect on performance of manufacturing firms. The study concludes that information sharing has significant effect on performance of manufacturing companies in Kenya. It has been determined that the implementation of information sharing, the quality of the shared information, the kind of shared information, and the technology used to communicate this information all affect how much information businesses exchange throughout supply chains. According to the report, industry participants in the manufacturing sector should collaborate closely in order to improve the quality of the information that they share with other providers.