The effects of demand management, distribution management and supply base management practices on supply chain performance

The literature shows that distribution management stands out in studies that are concerned with supply chain management. Distribution management plays a key role in supply chain performance and in attaining good customer relations. However, in today?s competitive environment, it is beneficial to detect other factors affecting supply chain performance. In this respect, demand management comes out as a factor affecting success in building good customer relations. In the scope of this thesis, demand management is taken into account as an important supply chain factor which hasn?t been researched sufficiently. In the empirical study, the effects of demand management on supply chain performance have been analyzed and compared with the effects of distribution management. In the context of this study, the impacts of supply base management, which has recently gained popularity in the area of supplier relationship management have also been analyzed. Data has been collected from 42 manufacturing firms in Ankara. As a result of analysis, three important points have been detected: (1) demand management, distribution management and supply base management have positive affects on supply chain performance; (2) the effects of demand management and distribution management on supply chain performance are very close to each other; (3) supply base management has a stronger effect on supply chain performance than demand and distribution management. Additionally, the practices of the basic variables of demand management and distribution management have been analyzed. Consequently, the level of adherence to demand management processes has been found to be the most important practice of demand management and transportation management has been found to be the most important practice of distribution management. Key words: Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Performance, Demand Management, Distribution Management, Supply Base Management