Post-shipment financial flows in supply chains: A study of small- to medium-sized enterprise importers

Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Post-shipment financial flows in supply chains: A study of small- to medium-sized enterprise importers
 
Creator Schutte, Francois Niemann, Wesley Kotzé, Theuns
 
Subject — financial supply chain management; post-shipment financial supply chain management; cash flow management; small- to medium-sized enterprises; qualitative research
Description Background: Global sourcing has impacted inventory levels, lead times and the availability of working capital, affecting the standard financial flow of a supply chain. Poorly managing the link between the financial and physical supply chains could therefore lead to unnecessarily high inventory investments or to a short supply of inventory, affecting cash flow, working capital, sales and, subsequently, a firm’s profitability.Objectives: The aim of this generic qualitative study was to explore how firms manage their financial supply chain alongside their physical supply chain.Method: Data were collected from 12 semi-structured interviews with senior managers across six small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) importing firms in various industries.Results: The research finds that the buyer is the driver of both upstream and downstream financial supply chain management (FSCM) as SME importers in Gauteng are proactively managing their financial alongside their physical supply chains. Through the continuous evaluation of sourcing strategies, exchange rate risk management strategies and inventory investment management strategies, firms can align their physical and financial supply chains.Conclusion: This study highlights the lead time and disruption risks and costs of global sourcing and identifies FSCM tools that can be used to alleviate the financial burden associated with long lead times.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2019-08-15
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Qualitative research; Semi-structured interviews
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/jtscm.v13i0.452
 
Source Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management; Vol 13 (2019); 12 pages 1995-5235 2310-8789
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://jtscm.co.za/index.php/jtscm/article/view/452/801 https://jtscm.co.za/index.php/jtscm/article/view/452/800 https://jtscm.co.za/index.php/jtscm/article/view/452/802 https://jtscm.co.za/index.php/jtscm/article/view/452/799
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Francois Schutte, Wesley Niemann, Theuns Kotzé https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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