EVALUATING THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF GHANA COCOA FROM A COMPANY POINT OF VIEW

ABSTRACT

Ghana is recognised globally for its cocoa cultivation and export worldwide. Cocoa is an essential contributor to Ghana’s economy and as a nation at large. To regulate and oversee the trade of its cocoa business and all other things pertaining to cocoa as a commodity, the Government of Ghana established Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).

This paper aims to examine the supply chain activities of COCOBOD with a special interest on cocoa as a commodity for cross-border trading.

This research is done applying the qualitative method of doing research and is based on collected interview data from a selected sample working with the company in questions and supplemented with observational notes collected during an internship with the same company.

Some of the theoretical themes covered in this paper include the concept of business, supply chain management theory and looking into details the role of transportation and factors affecting transportation.

The findings of this research point to the all important role of the COCOBOD as a company in Ghana; but most importantly is their shipping activities and how any changes in these activities being it positive or negative has a direct effect on the affairs of the company and consequently for Ghana.

Keywords: Cocoa, supply chain management, transportation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Research Methodology

2.1 Introduction to methodology

2.2 Research Method

2.3 Data Collection

2.3.1 Observation

2.3.2 Interviews

2.4 Validity and reliability

3.0 THEORETHICAL BACKGROUND

3.1 A General overview on business

3.2 History of Ghana Cocoa Board

3.3 History of Cocoa

3.4 Supply Chain Management in Theory

3.4.1 Warehousing

3.4.2 Inventory

3.4.3 Purchasing

3.4.5 Material Handling

3.4.6 Packaging

3.5 Enterprise Resource planning (ERP)

3.6 Transportation

3.5.1 The role of transportation and its importance

3.5.2 Types of Transportation

3.5.3 Factors Affecting Transportation

3.5.4 Supply Chain Model of COCOBOD

4. Analysis

5.0 Conclusion

6.0 References 

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The term or concept Business is a broad topic that denotes economic activity which deals with the production and distribution of goods and services with a goal of ultimately satisfying human wants. Business can mean a simple thing as exchange of hand between two people to trade between two separate nations. It affects every aspects of the human society and it is business that makes things happen all over the world.

Business has always existed alongside human from the beginning where it was just the exchange of food or household items between friends and family, which is the batter trade. But like the human race, business has also evolved to now include financial interests to individuals, companies, and governments. This means as long as we human beings exist, business will continue to exist as a means of regulating economic interests around the world and also means that business is an activity done both locally and globally.

Finally business studies involve the study of different topics in different fields such as marketing, accounting, business finance and supply chain theory to mention a few. It is the latter concept, supply chain theory that is going to be treated more closely in this research paper. (Means 2001, 3-5)

As an international student studying international business at the Tampere University of Applied Science, the obvious choice for my bachelor´s thesis when it came time for it was to research on logistics, precisely supply chain as a topic. This is decision is probably inspired by the five months internship I had as part of my studies at a company in Ghana called the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD). One can say therefore that this research paper is a result of the internship I had at this company; where I was fortunate to acquire some practical knowledge to add to what I had earlier on in my studies learnt on logistics.

Based on this practical experience I gained from COCOBOD, plus the theoretical knowledge I have acquired from my three and half years of studies; the obvious topic for my thesis is therefore: Evaluating the supply chain ofGhana Cocoa Board. My goal for this topic is to find out more about how supply chain activities are realized on a company level and in the case of this paper COCOBOD. In addition, I will be learning more about cocoa as a commodity which is the backbone of the Ghanaian economy in the process of writing this paper. I have already become familiar with how cocoa beans and its products are exported to generate revenue for the country Ghana.

The study of the supply chain is not something new; this subject has been in existence for a long time and it’s all the subjects in this field that has fueled my personal interest to also study this subject. To state as an example Noora Turpeinen, a polytechnic student from Rauma studied a similar topic for a company titles “Improving the internal supply chain from a case company...

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Item Type: Project Material  |  Attribute: 66 pages  |  Chapters: 1-5

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