Supply Chain Flexibility in Jordanian Manufacturing Organizations: A Field Study

Abstract

This study aims to identify the level of supply chain flexibility in the Jordanian Garments and Pharmaceutical firms. The study tackled several dimensions of supply chain flexibility such as, product, volume, delivery, sourcing, responsiveness to market, product introduction, and information systems flexibility. The population of the study included all those who were occupying managerial positions at the garments and pharmaceutical firms listed at Amman Stock Exchange. A survey questionnaire was designed and distributed to all of the (64) managers in these companies, while 49 questionnaires were retrieved and found to be valid for statistical analysis. The statistical package for social science (SPSS) was used to answer the study questions. The major finding of the study was that the level of supply chain flexibility at Jordanian garments and pharmaceutical companies rated high with (3.60) rating. Product introduction flexibility came on the first place which means that there is a great degree of cooperation and coordination in these companies when introducing new products and in high speed, in addition to their ability to shorten new product development cycle. Product flexibility got the least rating. The findings show that the Jordanian pharmaceutical and garments companies have the ability to produce different products with different attributes such as size, color, variety, and other features that address specific customer needs.