Supply Chain Management and it’s on Achieving Competitive Priorities of Small and Medium Industries Sector: A Field Study at Bottled Water Plants in Yemen

  This study aimed to identify the impact of Supply Chain Management (SCM) on achieving Competitive Priorities (CPs) of small and medium industries sector in the Republic of Yemen. The study followed the analytical descriptive approach and developed a questionnaire to collect the primary data from the study population, which included all the 25 bottled water plants in Yemen existed in 4 governorates, namely; Sana'a, Aden, Hodeidah and Hadramout. The complete census method was used to identify the study sample, which included 346 individuals. Data were analyzed using SPSS v23 and the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hierarchical model of the study by using the Smart PLS v3. The study results revealed that there is strong impact of SCM on CPs, with a different ratio of impact between dimensions of SCM, where the dimension of integration with customers was the most influential, followed by the dimension of integration with suppliers. The study recommended the need to enhance the level of achieving CPs with all its dimensions, particularly the dimension of flexibility, as it is the least achieved in terms of the dimensions of CPs in the small and medium industries sector represented by bottled water factories in Yemen. As well as the need to increase the interest of bottled water plants in integrating with suppliers by achieving the satisfaction of their suppliers, retaining them, establishing strong relationships with them, constantly improving them, and involving their suppliers in their activities and thus developing their products.