An assessment of the factors influencing inventory control: the case of Population Services International Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to assess the factors influencing inventory control in Population Services International Ethiopia. The various factor influencing inventory control were broken into bureaucratic procurement procedure, carrying cost ,stock audit practice ,stock record practice and staff skill & experience. The particular objective that were analyzed include; evaluation of the effects of procurement procedure to the effectiveness of inventory control, examination of the effect of high inventory carrying cost to the effectiveness of inventory control, determination of the effects of stock audit practices to the effectiveness of Inventory control, analysis of the effects of poor stock record practice to effectiveness of inventory control, and examination of the effects of staff skill & experience to the effectiveness of inventory control. The research adopted descriptive study design. A stratified random sampling technique was applied to the study. The researcher used a sample size of 30% of the target population to act as the sample size. The researcher used questionnaire to collect data for the research. The questionnaire contained open and closed ended questions and five point Likert scale questions and covered areas of inventory control to come up with good raw data for the research. The collected data were quantitatively analyzed using statistical methods such as SPSS which was commanded to produce frequency tables, graphs and pie charts for effective interpretation. The key findings from the study revealed that: delays in procurement of goods, frequent stock-outs and no use of mathematical model were some of the effects of long bureaucratic procurement procedure. According to the study, some products were over stocked, expired, damage and obsolete that eventually increase carrying cost were some of the effects in inventory control. The study revealed that lack of specific time or date for stock taking exercise and discrepancies between actual and physical stock balances were some of the effects of stock audit practice. The study also revealed that unavailability of fully computerized system all over the organization, lack of specific time or date for posting stock records, lack of adequately trained staff hinders effective performance of the organization. The researcher recommends that cumbersome rules and reliance on rigid rules and policies that slow down procurement process should be avoided; current inventory control practices and procedures need to be reviewed and redesigned. The management should stay up-to-date on inventory carrying cost. Only qualified and adequately trained personnel should be involved in stock control.