Supply chain challenges in developing countries: Cross industry case studies

Leading firms face various challenges to increase their productivity, reduce costs and improve product quality while improving their profitability. That´s why full-package producer have placed each operation in the most cost-effective location. Developing countries have played important role in that. Leading firms have been tempted to locate their manufacturing unit in the developing countries. Competitive material prices and reduced labour costs are main factors, which enable low-income developing countries to enter these global supply chains. This highlights the importance of production capabilities and resource that should be available in these countries. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the challenges that face implementing successful supply chains in these countries. The paper has investigated case studies from different industries to highlight on the common factors that lead to current supply chain deficiencies. As conclusion, the paper proposed a framework indicates supply chain challenges in developing countries and their leading factors. This framework is derived from ISM analysis using a reachability matrix.