INFLUENCE OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN COMBATING COUNTERFEITS IN KENYA: CASE OF PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES IN NAIROBI COUNTY
Krispers Kiptui Keitany
MSc. Student, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Makori Moronge
School of Human Resource Development, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Counterfeits have more than doubled around the globe. This phenomenon has developed in leaps and bounds in spite of the great strides made in the professionalization of the supply chain management practices over a decade ago. The Kenyan government, the manufacturers, companies and private businesses have lost billions of dollars each year to counterfeits. A report by the pharmacy and poisons board (PPB) and the National Quality Control Laboratories (NQCL) in 2005 showed that 30% of multinational pharmaceutical medicines sold in Kenya were counterfeit, representing 40% of the drugs sold in the country. According to the Kenya Association of Pharmaceuticals Industry (KAPI), counterfeit medicines accounted for approximately Kenya Shs.9 billion in sales annually in the year 2011 which corresponded to between 20 -25 % of the total legal commercial pharmaceutical market. The general objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of supply chain management practices in combating counterfeits in Kenya with reference to pharmaceutical companies in Nairobi County. The guiding specific objectives were to assess the contribution of the supply chain management practices such as; Tracking of product movement, Consumer demand, Predatory pricing and Regulatory oversight and enforcement in combating pharmaceutical counterfeits in Nairobi County. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population was 500 pharmaceutical companies within Nairobi County with a sample size of 151. The study utilized questionnaires as the research instruments for data collection, SPSS Version 20 computer program used for data analysis. Quantitative data is presented in frequencies, pie charts, bar graphs, percentages and tables while qualitative data is organized into themes/categories according to the objectives of the study. The major findings were that Tracking of product movement, Consumer demand, Predatory pricing and regulatory oversight and enforcement contributed significantly to the efforts of combating counterfeits to a percentage point of 78 which is quite impressive given the enormity of the problem.
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