Vulnerability of supply chains to risks : an agenda to capacitate the state in South Africa

Abstract

There are growing concerns due to the complexities of supply chains. Supply chains are increasingly exposed to risks, whereas they ought to serve as vehicles for organizations’ success by placing organizations under a competitive advantage in the marketplace. It is against this background that this study aims to explore the risks within the supply chain system and procurement, to assess its implications on public sector service offerings, and to devise remedial actions to curb and/or overcome the risks. A qualitative and quantitative research approach was employed to address the problems that led to the research and to seek for answers to the research questions. In total, the population comprised 59 persons across the 9 Provinces of South Africa. Thirty were junior staff, 11 were supervisors and 18 held middle management positions in various provinces of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. A simple random sampling technique was applied and subsequently 23 persons were sampled to be part of interview process. Qualitative data was analysed through the application of thematic tools, whereas quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) 32 and measures of central tendency. Thematic analysis revealed the following: (a) fraud and corruption; (b) policy and process dilemmas; (c) supplier’s database and supplier selection disorder; (d) human capita disorder; and (e) budget lack and/or mismanagement, were the five top prevalent risks in the procurement activity of supply chains. However: (a) human resource capita; (b) budget lack and/or mismanagement; (c) collusion; (d) fraud and corruption; and (e) management overrule (in order of high to low), were rated as the top five risks in bringing negative effects on service offerings whenever they happen. In addition, the study sought to provide evidence for the validity of the hypothesis and find solutions to reduce vulnerabilities of supply chains to risks. These questions were thereafter responded to by the development of a framework to assist public sector supply chains to reduce their vulnerability to risks. This framework recommends a three-stage approach to reducing supply chains’ vulnerability to risks. For level one, being the most critical, immediate actions are to be taken, such as workforce optimization, system and process redesign. For level two, resilience mechanisms include central supplier database purification, consequence application and better planning, and financial incentives. Level three resilience mechanisms recommended by the study include professionalization of the supply chain, segregation of duties, and regulation of prices