Inventory management practices and service delivery: a case of Uganda Wildlife Authority

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess how inventory management practices affect service delivery in Uganda Wildlife Authority. The study was guided by three objectives; to explore the current inventory management practices being used at Uganda Wildlife Authority, to examine the relationship between inventory management practices and service delivery at Uganda Wildlife Authority, and to propose a feasible model from the existing ones for better inventory management at Uganda Wildlife Authority. To achieve these objectives a quantitative method approach was adopted to collect data. A causal and descriptive research design was used in collecting and analyzing data. A sample of 134 respondents was selected from UWA. A questionnaire as a tool of data collection was used to collect the required quantitative data. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version. The result shows that there are varying approaches to inventory management practices at UWA. These included the ABC methods, EOQ, JIT, reorder level method, LIFO and FIFO. There is a strong positive significant relationship between inventory management practices and service delivery at UWA which is 25.9% shown by R-square in correlation analysis. It was also discovered that there was no single approach that dominated inventory management at UWA. The study indicated that EOQ was found to have a significant moderating effect on inventory management practices and service delivery at Uganda Wildlife Authority. This would mean that, for inventory management to improve, UWA must have EOQ model in terms of employee skills and abilities plus resources. Uganda Wildlife Authority management should concentrate on inventory management practices that improve service delivery such as EOQ method. This can be enhanced through proper inventory records, investment in inventory systems, and departmental coordination for more effective and better services