The production and distribution of face masks to other countries: a strategic approach of Taiwan during COVID-19 outbreak
Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing
ISSN: 2398-5364
Article publication date: 29 April 2022
Issue publication date: 27 April 2023
Abstract
Purpose
COVID-19 pandemic has exposed that even the best of the developed nations have surrendered to the devastations imposed on the global supply chains. The purpose of this study is to explore how COVID-19 has exaggerated the supply chain of production and distribution of Taiwan-based face masks and also investigate the conscientious factors and subfactors for it.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, an analytical hierarchy processes (AHP)-based approach has been used to assign the criterion weights and to prioritize the responsible factors. Initially, based on 26 decision-makers, successful factors were categorized into five main categories, and then main categories and their subcategories factors were prioritized through individual and group decision-maker’s contexts by using the AHP approach.
Findings
The results of this AHP model suggest that “Safety” is the most important and top-ranked factor, followed by production, price, work environment and distribution. The key informers in this study are stakeholders which consist of managers, volunteers, associations and non-governmental organizations. The results showed that good behavior of the employees under the “Safety” category is the top positioned responsible factor for successful production and distribution of face masks to the other countries with the highest global percentage of 15.7% and using sanitizers to protect health is the second most successful factor with the global percentage of 11.7%.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations faced in this study were limited to only Taiwan-based mask manufacturing companies, and it was dependent on the decisions of the limited company’s decision-makers.
Originality/value
The novelty of this study is that the empirical analysis of this study has been based on a successful Taiwan masks manufacturing company and evaluates the responsible factors for the production and distribution of Taiwan masks to other countries during COVID-19.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers, Associate Editor, and Editor-in-Chief for their valuable comments and suggestions that helped to improve the manuscript.
Funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Citation
Kumar, V., Nguyen, H.T.T., Mittal, A. and Lai, K.-K. (2023), "The production and distribution of face masks to other countries: a strategic approach of Taiwan during COVID-19 outbreak", Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 541-567. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGOSS-11-2021-0096
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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