Business environment-supply chain framework and benchmarking supply chain structures

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a supply chain management framework covering different business environment levels, that is, macro, micro and supply chain levels, and also to evaluate Haiti vs China as apparel-sourcing partners by assessing macro-level, supply-chain-level and micro-level environments from the US apparel buyers’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach In order to achieve this, first, a framework covering these business environment levels was developed and tested through path analysis. Prior to path analysis exploratory factor analysis was conducted to verify proposed factor structures. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews with a sample of 41 apparel companies that operate in the USA and source from China and Haiti. Findings This study found that both supply-chain-level and micro-level environments positively impact global supply chain performance. Supply-chain-level also has a direct effect on micro-level environment and macro-level environment has only a direct effect on supply-chain-level environment. Interviews and discussions based on this framework indicate that Haiti’s proximity to the USA, price, low-wage rates, small-order sourcing opportunities and good basic sewing skills are among Haiti’s strengths. Originality/value This study is unique in developing a multi-level environment framework for supply chain management and in comparing Haiti and China in terms of their supply chains to evaluate the potential competitiveness of Haitian apparel supply chain.

Sustainable supply chain management in a global context: a consistency analysis in the textile industry between environmental management practices at company level and sectoral and global environmental challenges

“…A common issue in many papers (e.g. Roos et al, 2016;Zamani et al, 2017;Testa et al 2017;Uluskan and Godfrey, 2018;Zimon and Domingues, 2018) is the broad complexity of the textile supply chain. This complexity arises from different reasons.…”

“…First, the textile supply chain is characterized by a large number of suppliers (Liu et al, 2017) with a widespread adoption of outsourcing in developing countries to minimize labor and production costs. These countries present a large degree of political, legal and economic uncertainty and problems related to high corruption rates (Köksal et al, 2017), human rights, labor exploitation and environmental pollution (Uluskan and Godfrey, 2018). Second, customers are supposed to have decisive bargaining power; however, the importance of social and environmental concerns is downplayed in the end consumer decision making process as the production processes are carried out by a dispersed supplier map located far away from sales markets (Zimon and Domingues, 2018) and the quality and quantity of relevant information is scarce and outdated (Van der Velden et al, 2014).…”

Identification and causal assessment of supply chain flexibility

“…SCF will address the issues such as sudden variation in customer requirements, manufacturing of a range products with different varieties and features, adjustment with customer demand to provide the products consistently along with customer handling (Narasimhan and Das, 2000; Vokurka and O’Leary-Kelly, 2000). The SCF can differ from one manufacturing environment to other (Uluskan and Godfrey, 2018; Bilek, 2010).…”

Developing a model for investigating the impact of cloud-based systems on green supply chain management

“…Over the past 70 years, most studies on the supply chain were focused on its environmental aspect (Uluskan and Godfrey, 2018). The green supply chain is based on the integrity of domestic and foreign measurements for controlling the environmental impacts of the product life cycle by sharing information and collaboration of all members of the supply chain (Boonsothonsatit et al , 2015).…”