Abstract

An empirical examination of the relationship between strategies for small enterprises and supply chain performance in the telecommunication industry is offered in this research. The study attempts to investigate the impact of different strategic orientations, distribution strategy, distinctive product strategy and information services strategy on supply chain performance and the mediating effect of strategy selection criteria . Data was obtained from a written questionnaire survey conducted among the employees of a telecommunications company in Basra-Iraq. SPSS and SEM (Structural Equation Modelling) with AMOS were used to test the hypotheses. The results of the empirical investigation reveal that the scope for small enterprise development has a strong and positive effect on supply chain performance. In particular, both distribution strategies and information services strategies have greater impact than unique product strategies. The findings also confirm that the criteria used to select strategies, in particular effectiveness and cost, mediate significantly with respect to performance improvement in the supply chain. The results of model fit indices support the stability of the proposed framework. The paper adds to the literature by presenting empirical evidence in a developing-economy setting and provides pragmatic implications for telecommunication managers. If appropriate development strategies are employed based on a good selection factors, small-scale business would be able to improve supply chain performance and its general effectiveness.