USORO, Abosede Department of Business Management University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria oredolaabeni@yahoo.ca
EDEMA, Alfred Department of Business Management University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria edemaphd@gmail.com
OKON, Asuquo Pamol Nigeria Ltd. Calabar Nigeria getausquo@gmail.com
OTIWA, James Department of Business Management University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria jimotiwa@unical.edu.ng
ABSTRACT
This investigated the role of IT in SCM within the rubber production industry. A descriptive research design was utilized. The population of the study comprised 62 staff of 4 firms operating in upstream sector of natural rubber production business in South-South Nigeria. A census was taken. 50 personnel in key positions from the companies were sampled. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaire. The study categorized SCM practices as low, moderate, and high, while IT deployment was rated as either high or low. The questionnaire underwent reliability test using Cronbach alpha coefficient, which yielded value of α = 0.871. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that performance of rubber production firms was highest when both SCM and IT deployment were categorized as high (mean = 28; SD = .00), compared to other levels of SCM and IT deployment. This result was confirmed by ANOVA, Scheffe’s Post Hoc, and Eta squared, which produced statistically significant values (F-value (2.47) = 194.580; p <.05) when IT was considered moderator in the model. The Eta squared value of 0.892, indicated that IT accounted for 89.2% of the observed variance in the performance of the companies. The study concluded that IT significantly moderates the performance of SCM in the rubber production business. Keywords: Information technology, organizational performance, rubber production, supply chain management