Critical success factors, dynamic capabilities, and operational excellence for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Uganda

Abstract

This research study investigated the critical success factors, dynamic capabilities, and operational excellence within the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Uganda, focusing on the Greater Kampala area as a case study. This study employed a descriptive correlational research design with a sample of 248 employees from five licensed pharmaceutical manufacturing organizations in Uganda. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were utilized, including self-administered questionnaires and interviews. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS (version 25).

The key findings of this study reveal that the critical success factors for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Uganda include production management, financial management, and marketing management. The dynamic capabilities specific to this industry include managing opportunities, value innovation, and transformation. The operational excellence indicators include quality, cost, and time.

There is a significantly moderate positive correlation between critical success factors (r = .301**, p < .05; B = 0.786, p = 0.00) as a global variable, its constructs of financial management (B = 0.475, P = 0.001), production management (B = 0.613, p = 0,00), marketing management (B = 0.586, p = 0.000) and operational excellence. Also, a significantly moderate positive relationship exists between dynamic capabilities and operational excellence (r = .431**, p < .05) in Uganda’s pharmaceutical manufacturing sector. Moreover, the mediating effect of dynamic capabilities (β = 0.177, bootSE = 0.047, CI [0.95, 0.280]) on the relationship between critical success factors and operational excellence is significant, implying enhanced potential synergy.

The study recommends that Uganda’s pharmaceutical manufacturing industry prioritize production management by optimizing and streamlining its production processes. Pharmaceutical manufacturing companies should also focus on capturing, analyzing, and understanding market data to produce differentiated, low-cost, high-quality products. The focus should be on strategic investments and cost optimizations to improve financial performance. Moreover, pharmaceutical manufacturing companies should prioritize the potential synergy of coupling critical success factors with dynamic capabilities to drive operational excellence in Uganda’s dynamic pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.