Influence of green supply chain management practices on performance of private oil and gas firms in Kenya: moderating role of government regulations

Abstract

Globally, the oil and gas industry account for the major environmental tragedies leading to creation of reliability issues from policy makers and trust concerns from the community. The general objective of this research was to establish the influence of green supply chain management practices on performance of private oil and gas firms in Kenya: moderating role of government regulation. The study specific objectives included; to establish the influence of green procurement on performance of private oil and gas firms; to establish the influence of green distribution on performance of private oil and gas firms; to establish the influence of green manufacturing on performance of private oil and gas firms; to establish the influence of reverse logistics on performance of private oil and gas firms, to establish the influence of waste management on performance of private oil and gas firms and to establish the moderating influence of government regulation in the relationship among GSCM practices and performance of private oil and gas firms in Kenya. The guiding theories included; the resource-based view, the natural resource-based view, the stakeholder theory and the institutional theory. The study was guided by the positivist philosophy. The research utilized a descriptive design. Target population was one thousand eight hundred and fifty employees working for the seventy-two private oil and gas firms in Kenya. The study used stratified random sampling that gave a representative sample. Primary information was gathered using a sample size of four hundred and seventy employees, using self-constructed questionnaires which were dropped and collected after two weeks. A pilot test was conducted at National oil of Kenya, using ten percent of the sample size. The validity of the instrument was attained by adapting existing scales; and through the opinion of experts in supply chain management and measurement and evaluation; Reliability of the tools was tested using Cronbach’s alpha value. An alpha value of 0.7 or above gave a suitable and satisfactory reliability. To test the strength of the relationship amongst variables, the Pearson’s product moment correlation was employed. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive (mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, skewness, kurtosis). Multiple and simple regression analysis measured direct effects of variables. Hierarchical regression analysis tested the moderation effect of variables. Analyzed information was presented through statistical parameter estimates and tables. The study findings showed that all the research green supply chain management practices had a positive and significant influence on firm performance. The results further showed a significant moderating effect of government regulation on the relationship between green supply chain management practices and firm performance. The study concluded that private oil and gas firms’ utilization of green supply chain management practices, enhance their performance. Further, the research concluded that the private oil and gas firms should comply to government regulations to attain success. The study recommended that private oil and gas firms should adopt green supply chain management practices to improve their economic, environmental and social performance. Future research should involve all employees implementing green supply chain management practices in private oil and gas firms to enrich the output of this research.