Creating Supply Chain Competence Through Strategic Information Sharing Among Firms In South Africa

The importance of sharing strategic information among supply chain member firms as a practice can never be over emphasised. However, this practice regularly involves a cost and can make firms to be hesitant to share their important information with their supply chain partners. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of strategic information sharing as a practice in the creation of supply chain competence among firms. A positivist approach that allowed a quantitative research method in data collection was used in this study. Data from a sample of 280 firm owners/managers from all the industries of South Africa?s nine provinces was used for the final data analysis of this research. A principal component analysis was performed for factor reduction and dimensional groupings using SPSS 24 software. Multiple Regression analysis was performed using SPSS 24 software, and was used for hypotheses tests. The principal finding of this study reported a weak positive influence of strategic information sharing on supply chain competence. This implies that the sharing of important information, if done through the correct structures and technologies, has the ability to create a unique competitive edge for the entire supply chain through collective learning. However, firms need to consider factors such as balancing the bargaining power, aligning roles with incentives as well as developing strong trust before engaging in developing a supply chain competence using strategic information as a tool.