Supply Chain Management Capabilities and Organizational Sustainability in Universities: Pandemic Preparedness Mixed Methods Evidence

Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic demonstrates the importance of organizational sustainability across all sectors, and universities are no exception. It revealed deep-seated fragilities in institutional supply chains, revealing that the ability to sustain core educational and research missions is inherently connected to the robustness of supply chain capabilities, thus underscoring the need to shift from a reactive to a proactive stance in university operations. This study examines the contribution of supply chain management capabilities and organizational sustainability among universities in Kenya in preparing for pandemics. Methods This study employed a mixed-method approach using a cross-sectional survey and Key Informant Interviews. Results This study provides robust empirical evidence that supply chain management capabilities are strongly and positively correlated with organizational sustainability in Kenyan universities, with correlation coefficients ranging from r = 0.772 among students to r = 0.838 among administrators. Regression analyses confirmed that supply chain capabilities significantly predicted sustainability outcomes, explaining between 60% and 73% of the variance, even after controlling for demographic factors, such as sex, age, institution type, and geographic region. This study developed a two-by-two typology to classify universities into four types with regard to supply chain capabilities and sustainability. Conclusions The results indicate that university administrators and policymakers must elevate supply chain development from an operational concern to a strategic priority, recognizing that well-designed systems render efficiency and sustainability mutually reinforcing rather than competing objectives.