Search results

Driven by the disruptive effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ongoing debate about the international location of firms' manufacturing activities has increasingly highlighted the specific benefits and costs of near-shoring versus far-shoring. However, the effects of near-shoring versus far-shoring on customer perceived quality and purchase intention have not been examined. Thus, this study aims to develop a conceptual model and provide new evidence to fill this gap. In particular, the study explores the roles of brand familiarity and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to explain the different levels of perceived quality and purchase intention in relation to near-shoring versus far-shoring.

This study includes two analyses of data collected from a sample of Italian customers. The first analysis consists of a 2 (high/low brand familiarity) × 3 (domestic insourcing, near-shoring, far-shoring) factorial design, and data are assessed via analyses of variance (ANOVA). The second analysis evaluates the suggested model in the two scenarios (near-shoring and far-shoring) via partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) multigroup analysis.

Results showed that customer perceived quality and purchase intention were significantly higher for near-shoring than for far-shoring, but only when brand familiarity was low. No significant difference was found for participants with a high level of brand familiarity. In addition, the level of a brand's pre-offshoring perceived CSR was negatively related to perceived quality, and this was conceptually justified by the CSR-washing effect. Again, this effect was found only when brand familiarity was low.

The findings contribute to advancing the current understanding of the multiple effects of the offshoring decision and clarify that near-shoring and far-shoring have different effects for customers with low brand familiarity. The findings also emphasise that the far-shoring decision can elicit the perception of decoupling between the firm's CSR claims and CSR actions, thus decreasing perceived quality.

This study provides managers with additional inputs to make more informed decisions regarding offshoring. While the post-pandemic scenario seems to favour near-reshoring over far-shoring due to agility considerations, this study also provides additional evidence of the superiority of near-reshoring from the customer's perspective.

This is the first study to examine and prove the differential effects of near-shoring versus far-shoring on the customer's perceptions and behaviours.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. 10;

Organizational decisions to offshore manufacturing are increasingly being questioned by consumers who feel that quality and ethical expectations are being sacrificed to slash costs. Those who still favour this approach should consider basing operations within nations from the same region or provide justifiable reasons and assurances why far-shoring is preferred.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers’ hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

A YEAR AGO, NEVER WAS HEARD THE discouraging “R” word. But “recession” is on everybody's lips these days. For good reason. Asian economies are crippled and show no signs of regaining their agility in the near term; Russia's is in almost complete disarray. And the U.S. stock market, dominated for years by rampaging bulls, is reflecting worries that the malaise afflicting the East will prove contagious, as well as the realization that earnings growth rates no longer justify high stock prices.

1 January 2005 sees quota elimination in textile and apparel trade. This study traces textile and apparel trade, since 1994 and analyzes how trade agreements have influenced sourcing within the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the world. Statistical measurements of offshore sourcing of textile and apparel are analyzed with emphasis on developments in countries within NAFTA and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Prior to NAFTA, the United States major textile and apparel trade involved the “far shore” countries of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and the “near shore” countries of Canada and Mexico. Charting statistical measurements from the databases of the Office of Textile and Apparel, US Department of Commerce for the past decade reveals dramatic changes in sourcing locations for US firms.

Trade agreements have influenced the production, manufacturing, and sourcing of textile and apparel products. Small‐ and large‐scale restructuring of the industries of the world are required in response to the changes in trade of textiles and apparel. As a result of the Multi‐Fiber Agreement (MFA) 1974, Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) 1994, NAFTA 1994, and the transitional program of the WTO of 1995 global sourcing had re‐directed the course of US textiles and apparel trade markets to low cost offshore locations at the expense of US jobs.

This study gives insight into concerns and problems facing the US and other developed countries as jobs in many areas are transferred to low wage countries.

This paper aims to prepare a composite film on LY12 aluminum (Al) alloy by immersing in dodecyl phosphate and cerium nitrate solution by self-assembling methods. The effect of dipping sequence in dodecyl phosphate and cerium nitrate solution on the corrosion resistance of the composite film is studied.

The corrosion resistance of the dodecyl phosphate/cerium composite film is investigated by electrochemical measurement and film composition analysis.

The dipping sequence in dodecyl phosphate and cerium nitrate solutions has a significant impact on the corrosion resistance of the composite film. It shows best corrosion resistance by first dipping in dodecyl phosphate and then dipping in cerium nitrate solution.

The research shown in this work lays a scientific basis of the film preparation for industrial applications in the future.

Supply chain (SC) configuration has gained increased acceptance as an important issue when evaluating new customization possibilities and this evidence has contributed to the strengthening of the debate between global vs local production locations. This work contributes in enrichment of this topic by studying how local or global SC location decisions influence performances by considering a SC point of view, in terms of cost and time, in traditional and customized productions.

A discrete event simulation approach, based on experimentation through executable configurations, was used to evaluate different SC scenarios for customized as well as traditional products within the footwear industry.

The results indicated that to identify proper SC locations, existing trade-offs between the time and cost performances should be studied, avoiding the evaluation of a single performance independently and, instead, adopting a complete SC point of view while considering these performances.

This evidence has contributed to the reinforcement of the discussion between far-shore destinations vs near-shore production locations. Further studies are encouraged to adopt the present model, in which addition of other variables such as specific manufacturing competences to differentiate suppliers, both local and global suppliers, or the possibility of realizing special types of product customization required by final consumers can be done.

The paper contributes to the academic and practitioners' debate by proposing a systemic approach to assess SCs’ performances in customized contexts and to compare them to traditional collections. Results indicate that cost and time performance must find a balance that does not necessarily correspond to an exclusively local or global production.

This work contributes to the SC configuration issue by considering the trade-off between efficiency and effectiveness (i.e. SC costs and SC times) for customized productions by reviving and enriching it with an SC perspective in customization contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical investigation of recent trends and changes in companies' production relocation and backshoring behaviour against the background of the global economic crisis.

The empirical research is based on a large data set of 1,484 German manufacturing companies as part of the European Manufacturing Survey (EMS). The paper employs a structured set of probit analyses to identify the differences of production relocation and backshoring determinants before and within the crisis.

Against common belief the paper finds that not only the relocation of production to emerging countries, but also the backshoring of once offshored manufacturing capacities to the home base is a relevant phenomenon. Since the emergence of the global economic crisis, relocation activities declined significantly, whereas the level of backshoring activities has remained stable. Far‐shore destinations in Asia gain in attractiveness over near‐shore locations in Eastern Europe. Particularly export‐intensive companies tended recently towards (re‐)concentrating of their production capacities, trying to exploit the benefits of higher capacity utilisation and a superior relation of variable costs to fix costs at their existing locations.

Although covering a significant range of industrial sectors in Germany, more empirical evidence is needed from other branches and countries. Looking forward it is proposed to systemically integrate scenarios on the future development of the most influential environmental factors in future research frameworks for global production decisions and value chains.

The findings strongly recommend a revision of established decision‐making schemes for production relocations based on pure cost efficiency considerations. Decision‐making should integrate qualitative environmental factors and dynamic considerations using scenario‐based tools. Companies need to understand and prepare for dynamic developments at different locations which can strategically necessitate backshoring after a certain time.

The research considerably widens the empirical knowledge on recent trends in relocation activities and their inherent risks, which in a dynamic perspective are sometimes forcing backshoring activities.

This paper aims to characterize the surface film formed on Alloys 800 and 690 in chloride and thiosulfate-containing solution at 300°C.

Alloy 800 and 690 were immersed in chloride and thiosulfate-containing solution at 300°C up to five days, and then the surface film was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometers (EDX).

Through static immersion experiments in a high-temperature and high-pressure water environment, the alloy samples covered by surface film after five days of immersion were obtained. The morphology of the surface film was characterized at both horizontal and cross-sectional scales using SEM and focused ion beam-TEM techniques. It was observed that due to the influence of the quartz lining, the surface film primarily exhibited a bilayered structure. The first layer contained a significant amount of SiO₂, with a higher content of metal hydroxides compared to metal oxides. The second layer was predominantly composed of Fe, Ni and Cr, with a higher content of metal oxides compared to metal hydroxides.

The results showed that the materials of the lining of the autoclave could significantly influence the film composition of the tested material, which should be paid attention when analyzing the corrosion mechanism at high temperature.