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Several intergovernmental organizations claim that the involvement of women in public procurement has a direct impact on sustainable development and growth, especially in the developing world, yet we know very little of such claim. This study aims to empirically examine how public procurement can contribute to women empowerment by boosting the competitiveness of women-owned businesses (WOBs) in Uganda.

In this study, a cross-sectional survey method is used. Quantitative data were gathered from a sample of 371 respondents in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and a section of women entrepreneurs in Uganda's capital Kampala. From the literature review, six hypotheses were formulated and tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). A research model is developed and presented.

All hypotheses, except for one, were supported. Procurement policy had a significant influence on evaluation criteria, contract management and most importantly, on the competitiveness of WOBs. Within the procurement process, evaluation criteria had a significant influence on the competitiveness of WOBs, while the influence of contract management on competitiveness of WOBs was not statistically significant. We, therefore, concluded that public procurement can indeed enhance women empowerment through a gender-responsive procurement policy. Above all, pre-contract award interventions such as streamlining evaluation criteria to ease access of WOBs to public procurement contracts seem have the most significant impact to competitiveness of WOBs compared to post-ward interventions during contract management.

This study offers a research-based model that articulates the role of procurement policy as an enabler for competitiveness of WOBs in developing countries. The model proposes a combination of both policy (a direct influence) and interventions in the supplier selection process (an indirect influence) to boost the competitiveness of WOBs.

Technology competencies (TC) and human resources (HR) play a vital role in enhancing productivity in any industry. Yet the significance and interplay of these two factors in developing economies such as Uganda that are kick-starting oil exploration is not clear. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the underlying relationship between technology, human resources and productivity in the petroleum industry is established.

To examine the interrelationship among the independent factors (TC and HR) and the dependent factor (productivity), a questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents in Uganda. All the targeted respondents come from the oil exploration side of the industry in Uganda. SEM, a multivariate statistical analysis technique, was applied to analyze the underlying relationships among variables.

The findings suggest that TC and HR positively and significantly influence the petroleum industry productivity (PI). Both TC and HR explain a 32% variation of the observed improvement in productivity. The relationship between the independent variables (TC and HR) and dependent variable (PI) is summarized using the equation ΔPI = 0.36 TC + 0.25 HR, with TC having a more significant effect on PI than HR.

The study thus proposes to governments and oil companies in resource constrained environments that adoption of advanced technologies in oil exploration plays a relatively much bigger role and has an overarching impact on productivity especially in countries with small scale production, or in hostile environments or with unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs.

For developing economies with fewer resources that often face economic tradeoffs, the study examines the significance of TC and HR development in expanding the oil and gas sectors. This work, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is among the few studies that have examined the impact and the interplay of TC and HR on the productivity of emerging oil industries in developing economies such as Uganda.

The purpose of the paper is concerned with one of the main contributions from the field of management cybernetics, the Viable System Model (VSM) developed by Beer (1972). This paper analyses what happens in terms of the VSM when a firm engages in production offshoring.

The paper is conceptual and develops four propositions about the nature of variety balance that production firms face, and what adjustments they make in the original viable system, both in terms of the properties of one or more of the basic subsystems and in the network of couplings between them.

The paper shows the production offshoring organisation as a dynamic adaptive system in search of ways to cope effectively with external forces that undermine its viability. The paper discusses how VSM can advance production offshoring research by both supplementing and linking established approaches such as transaction cost economics, the resource-based view and the eclectic theory of international production.

This research highlights the effects of geographical expansion of the firm’s operation on the stability of the firm itself. Using the VSM perspective, the paper provides opportunities to systematically track the changes that occur in the production offshoring firm and diagnose what they imply for the viability of the system as a whole.

The purpose of this paper is to consider research that has been conducted on the offshoring of manufacturing activities, and more specifically to synthesize results regarding the question of how firms integrate and govern geographically dispersed production activities.

A set of 100 carefully selected articles on offshoring and offshore outsourcing of production published in international peer-reviewed journals during the past 15 years are systematically analyzed. The focus is on 34 articles that touch on issues of integration and governance of dispersed production facilities.

Offshoring and offshore outsourcing of production is a cross-cutting subject of research. Most research is recent and largely conceptual. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the decision to offshore is often followed by the need to build more integrated operations.

One of the major constraining factors of this research, like many literature reviews, is a limited sampling period.

The paper demonstrates the importance of both intra-firm relationships and governance in dispersed production operations. The authors suggest that new offshore plants need to learn and develop their own capabilities in new markets on one hand, while also developing governance structures to facilitate coherence within a production network on the other hand.

This is a valuable paper for researchers in offshoring and global manufacturing areas. While literature reviews in other areas such as information systems offshoring and services offshoring do exist, one specific to production offshoring was lacking. This paper should be seen as a systematic and concerted effort for research and knowledge in this area.

Based on in-depth case studies from a high-cost environment, we identify context-specific aspects as important motivating factors for decision-makers re-evaluating the previous offshoring decisions. This chapter sheds light on the complexity of backshoring motives by adding a meso level, illustrating how case companies’ sourcing decisions evolve alongside the institutional context at a regional level. Further, the chapter provides a deeper understanding of the motives that underlay backshoring decisions and argues that these motivating factors differ from a broader set of drivers that can be found within the existing frameworks of backshoring.

This paper aims to describe the impact of the labor market on the integration of Africa into the global supply chain (GSC).

The analysis of trends and comparison of data for 55 nations and territories in Africa using existing data from the World Bank and International Labor Organization, and government and nongovernment reports took place using qualitative content analysis methodology.

Africa’s labor market enhances the continent’s integration into the GSC despite challenges in other areas, with three pillars identifying the labor market’s strategic sourcing decisions.

The analysis is limited to trends analysis, some of which may have changed during the study.

The findings will enable the global business industry and governments to envision the potential and design Africa’s labor market competitiveness across the African continent. The findings also establish the necessity and opportunity for enhanced infrastructure to attract additional foreign direct.

The social implication of this paper is beyond the potential of Africa’s labor market. The paper illustrates how the African is setting to become the next sourcing hub for the global supply chain, allowing scholars to close any prevailing global sourcing gap in research.

This paper describes the potential of Africa’s supply of low-cost labor market and its integration in the GSC.

Manufacturing offshoring has received substantial attention within international business studies that have explored where activities are located and how they are governed. However, recent examples of manufacturing relocation to the home country/region have put the advantages of offshoring under scrutiny, since the location of production activities in high-cost countries may have positive impacts in terms of innovation and marketing opportunities. Despite the growing interest in offshoring and “relocations of second degree,” there is a lack of knowledge on the alternative strategies firms may implement after offshoring. This chapter aims to propose a comprehensive framework to summarize and classify the multiple alternatives firms may implement after the initial relocation abroad of manufacturing activities. Based on an extensive literature review and a comparative analysis of Italian case studies, the chapter suggests theoretical advancement in the theory of location of business activities, offering multiple post-offshoring strategic options that may be implemented individually or in combination. In so doing, the analysis also stresses the variety of strategic paths and the complexity of choices concerning manufacturing location, emphasizing reshoring as a nuanced phenomenon and exploring how domestic and foreign locations can complement each other and be mutually reinforcing.

The purpose of the paper is to report on a study that investigated the critical success factors (CSFs) in the supply chain management of essential medicines in the public health-care delivery system in Malawi.

The exploratory and descriptive study followed a qualitative and quantitative research approach. Data were collected by means of semistructured interviews and a questionnaire administered to suppliers of essential medicines, regulators, donors and logistics companies in Malawi. Data was analyzed using SPSS.

The findings revealed that the significant CSFs are knowledge of disease patterns and prevalence, skills and experience of personnel, adequate financial resources, collaboration with supply chain partners and an efficient procurement and distribution system.

There were a number of limitations in this study. Although every effort was made to carefully and purposefully select the participants for the in-depth interviews in the first phase of the study and the respondents for the questionnaire in the second phase of the study, they were not randomly selected. As such, the findings cannot be generalised to all stakeholders in the pharmaceutical supply chain in Malawi. However, they can be used as a basis for further research on the topic.

No previous studies that deal with the identification of CSFs in the Malawi pharmaceutical supply chain were found. Therefore, this research makes a twofold contribution to the body of knowledge in the field. First, it identifies CSFs; second, it could assist stakeholders in the public health-care service delivery system in Malawi with regard to how they can improve the supply of essential medicines.

The South African automotive industry, which is the most significant sector in the South African economy, needs to function efficiently to compete globally. The purpose of this paper is to report on a study that investigated the challenges faced by the South African automotive component manufacturers and their suppliers and provide a structure and identify the dependencies between these challenges.

Interpretive structural modelling (ISM) was adopted to explore the supplier relationship challenges and the dynamics and interlinkages between these challenges. ISM was deemed appropriate, as it is a multi-criterion decision-making technique suited for complex problems and provides an ordered, directional framework.

The findings revealed that advanced communication, rapid change in demand and dependence on a single customer are independent problems but have a lesser feedback loop and do not create instability by ripple effect. Interdependencies, on the other hand, create lesser ripples when tackled.

Findings of this study will be able to guide all the stakeholders: the policymakers and the automotive industry players to target the driving issue which can bring efficiency in the South African automotive supply chain. If the automotive components manufacturers (ACMs) are able to have more than one customer, their reliance on one will decrease and the systems will improve which shall benefit the industry. This methodology can also be used in future for determining the roadmap for complex issues.

The framework presented in this paper provides decision makers with a realistic picture of their situation by providing insight into the interrelationships, ranking them by importance and aiding in creating a roadmap for addressing identified challenges.