[Use Of Low Cost Labor Continues Damaging The Twenty-First Century Supply Chain]

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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ABSTRACT

Increasing globalization, growing product range diversity, and rising consumer awareness are making the market(s) highly competitive, forcing supply chains to constantly adapt to different stimuli. The growing competition between supply chains (besides players within) is also warranting a priority for overall supply chain performance over the goals of individual players. It is now well established in the literature that among the many order-winners, both overall supply chain cost as well as responsiveness (i.e., supply chain lead-time) are the most significant determinants of supply chain competitiveness. The literature, however, mostly focuses on supply chain cost minimization with rather simplistic treatment of responsiveness. By introducing the concept of 'coefficient of inverse responsiveness' (CIR) , we facilitate efficient introduction of responsiveness related costs into the scheme of supply chain performance evaluation and/or optimization. Thus, our model aids supply chain managers in achieving better strategic fit between the individual business unit strategies and the overall supply chain requirements in terms of cost efficiency and responsiveness. In particular, it aids in strategic placement of safety stocks at different stages in the supply chain. Our model also offers managerial insights that help improve our intuitions for supply chain dynamics. The model is more suited for strategic SC alignment, for example when dealing with product changeovers or introduction of new product, rather than for operational control.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT2

DECLARATION3

ABSTRACT4

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW8

Capitalism Is Being Restructured8

Supply Chain And Labor12

The Development Of Outsourcing14

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY17

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS18

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION25

REFERENCES27

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

In today's dynamic global market environment, it has become necessary for organizations to focus upon all the relevant performance metrics. Hill (1993) advocates close attention to functional perspectives, customer's views, and actual orders while determining order-winners and qualifiers. Among the possible order winners, supply chain (SC) cost and responsiveness turn out to be more crucial than others. Responsiveness here is the ability of the supply chain to respond quickly to changing customer needs, preferences, and options through improved supply chain cycle time (i.e., velocity), and not the higher service levels achievable through increased distribution of channel inventory (Signori, 2004).

The optimal supply chain strikes the right balance between supply chain cost efficiency and responsiveness, depending on the nature of product(s) supplied by it. In this context, Fisher (1997) emphasizes the importance of considering the nature of product demand before devising the respective supply chains. More precisely, one needs to account for both the nature of the product as well as uncertainty from both demand and supply in designing the ...