ACHIEVEMENT OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE BY IMPLEMENTATION OF SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES IN PHARMA MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

ABSTRACT The concept of supply chain management is relatively a recent idea in pharma business management literature, efficient pharma supply chains can result from stable networks and common relations traders and retailers. The main aim of this research is to assess the influence of supply chain strategies i.e. lean, agile and le agile strategies on achievement of competitive advantage in pharma manufacturing companies targeting supply chain managers and strategic planning managers. The study was carried out on twenty pharma manufacturing companies in Telangana State. Questionnaires with closed and open ended questions was used as study instruments and issued to the respondents on a drop and pickup later basis that was collected after two weeks. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of the computer software the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). Inferential statistics techniques utilized were correlation and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings indicated the companies employed either of the supply chain strategies i.e. lean, agile and le agile. The supply chain strategies as indicated by the study influenced competitive advantage, the strategies correlated very strongly to competitive advantage. The findings also indicated that government policies as moderating effects play an integral role on the relationship of supply chain strategies. The main conclusion is that supply chain strategies can influence competitive advantage if well employed by the companies. The study recommends that pharma manufacturing companies should develop competitive advantage capabilities that cannot be imitated by other competitors. Management need to take a keen interest specifically on supply chain strategies and the need to adopt and implement good supply chain strategies to have higher competitive advantage. Key words: Analysis of Variance(ANOVA), Competitive advantage, Supply Chain Strategies, lean, agile, and lean & agile (hybrid) strategies, Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS).