Ayanda Nteta, Professor Douglas Boateng, Professor Philip Serumaga-Zake,

University of South Africa, School of Business Leadership

This article provides service quality dimensions for sourcing bulk commodities by power utility organisations. The sourcing of bulk commodities, e.g. coal, petroleum, limestone, accounts for 30% to 60% of the cost of production at power utilities. Hence, it is important to ensure that this process is as effective and efficient as possible.

The study surveyed data from both employees and suppliers in the bulk commodity industry associated with the national power utility. Factor analysis was applied, and 3 dimensions were identified, namely capability, product and delivery. The items identified to support these themes can be used as performance indicators during the sourcing of bulk commodities by suppliers.

The dimensions and clusters outlined in this paper have practical application for sourcing bulk commodities and can be used by both buyers and suppliers to effect significant savings and efficiencies within bulk commodity sourcing.

This paper will be of interest, not only to buyers and suppliers of bulk commodities but also to academics involved in supply chain management research and the application of the service quality framework to the production and manufacturing sectors.

Full paper available in the European Journal of Business and Management, Vol 10 No 32 (2018); [https://iiste.org/Journals/index.php/EJBM/issue/view/3759]; ISSN (Paper)2222-1905 ISSN (Online)2222-2839