The Impact of Lean Supply Chain Management on Enhancing Marketing innovation: The Moderating Role of Brand Building

An Empirical Study at Al-Ittihad Food Industries Company

A PhD dissertation submitted to the Council of the College of Administration and Economics, University of Karbala, as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration.

By

Um albaneen Jabbar Naddush Ali

Supervised by

Prof  .Dr  Mahmoud Fahd Abdul

Prof . Dr Alaa Farhan Talib

Abstract

This study aims to build a schematic vision that clarifies the moderating role of brand building in enhancing the impact of lean supply chain management on marketing creativity, through analyzing the interactive relationships between the study variables in the field at the Union Food Industries Company Limited in Babil Governorate, based on a research problem that was addressed with several questions that focused on the structural interactions between the dimensions of the lean supply chain and the dimensions of marketing creativity, with the introduction of brand building as a moderating variable that contributes to explaining and deepening these relationships. The study was based on a contemporary theoretical model that combined the lean supply chain management model within the dimensions of (on-time delivery, eliminating waste, continuous improvement, lean warehousing, and lean processing), and the marketing creativity model represented by its dimensions (product creativity, price, distribution, and promotion), in light of the conceptual structure of brand building according to its dimensions (trust, communication, quality, and loyalty). The study relied on the descriptive analytical approach supported by statistical modeling methods, using a questionnaire as the main tool for collecting data from a purposive sample of (220) individuals representing the different administrative levels within the company under study. The data were analyzed using the statistical packages (SPSS V.25) and (AMOS V.25), adopting confirmatory factor analysis tests to establish the theoretical structure of the tool and measure the validity and reliability of the scales. Structural modeling was also used to estimate the direct and indirect influence and correlation relationships, and to test the interactive role of brand building as a rate. The results revealed a set of influential and statistically significant relationships. The analyses revealed a significant direct effect of lean supply chain management on enhancing marketing creativity, with a moderating effect of brand building that strengthens the overall effect. This indicates the importance of the interaction between the flexibility of operational activities and the strength of the brand in creating an environment that supports marketing creativity. The statistical indicators also demonstrated the quality of the study model and its ability to explain the studied phenomena, as the moderating variable contributed to increasing the explanatory power of the marketing creativity variable. The study reached a set of conclusions, most notably that integrating lean supply chain practices with brand building strategies enhances the organization’s competitiveness and creates a flexible environment that supports creativity in the marketing mix elements. The study also recommended investing in developing brand identity and linking it to the flexibility of logistics operations. 

Keywords: Lean Supply Chain Management, Marketing Innovation, Brand Building