Title: Lean manufacturing practices mediating the relationship between outsourcing and firm's profitability

Authors: Noah Mwelu; Susan Watundu; Musa Moya

Addresses: Department of Accounting and Finance, Makerere University, Business School, Plot 21A Port Bell Road, Kampala, Uganda ' Department of Management Science, Makerere University, Business School, Plot 21A Port Bell Road, Kampala, Uganda ' Faculty of Computing and Informatics, Makerere University, Business School, Plot 21A Port Bell Road, Kampala, Uganda

Abstract: Persistent profit decline facing manufacturing firms have left managers and scholars with the task of looking for viable solutions to address the problem. This has seen various strategies being established to address the problem. However, the challenge remains characterised by collapsing businesses. This study empirically investigates whether lean manufacturing practices mediates the relationship between outsourcing and profitability of manufacturing firms. Whereas mediation studies are on the rise, little attention has been paid to interactive effect of these strategies in manufacturing industry that this study is addressing. A cross-sectional research design was adopted using a self-administered questionnaire to determine the relationship based on the 161 responses from selected manufacturing firms in Uganda. Partial mediation approach following Baron and Kenny guidelines was adopted and data analysed in Med-Graph excel programme and SPSS software. The study contributes by proving that lean manufacturing practices significantly mediated the relationship between outsourcing and profitability.

Keywords: outsourcing; lean manufacturing; profitability; mediation; manufacturing firms.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMCP.2023.130023

International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 2023 Vol.16 No.2, pp.101 - 109

Received: 25 Jun 2022
Accepted: 04 Jul 2022
Published online: 04 Apr 2023 *

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