A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an Award of Masters Degree of Science in Procurement and Supply Chain Management (MSc-PSCM) of the Mzumbe University.
2019
Over the past years the Pharmaceutical sector has been lagging behind when it comes to information and communications technology implementation and effectiveness. There is no clear understanding on the role of ICT on effectiveness of pharmaceutical supply chain hence this study aims to make assessment on the role of information and communications technology on effectiveness of pharmaceutical supply chain focusing on the largest orthopaedic institute in Tanzania, Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI). Purposely the study intended to determine the extent of ICT usage in relation to effectiveness of pharmaceutical supply chain; to find out the extent to which ICT skills of staff relates to the effectiveness of pharmaceutical supply chain; plus, to determine the extent to which infrastructure resources of ICT relates to the effectiveness of pharmaceutical supply chain. The study used a descriptive research design to illustrate the situation of the problem. The research applied both simple random and purposive sampling in obtaining 117 individuals. Both questionnaire and interview method were adopted in collecting data from the respondents and data were analyzed via descriptive and inferential analysis with the help of the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) software. Based on the findings, the role of information and communications technology on effectiveness of pharmaceutical supply chain is highly influenced by ICT usage, ICT skills of staff as well as ICT infrastructure of the firm. Through the implementation of ICT, the hospital has managed to run its pharmaceutical operations at high speed hence serve many customers and satisfaction is highly guaranteed via availability of pharmaceutical products, profits have increased and costs are cut down. However, the study recommends the management to ensure that it provides the staff with sufficient tools and facilities to support their day to day activities; it should hire more employees to ensure effectiveness on pharmaceutical supply chain; and create awareness on the existence of the legal framework supporting ICT activities. All these together will enable the institute to attain benefits from ICT implementation.