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The purpose of this paper is to investigate effects on global supply chain reconfigured in the customs duty rate of parts and specific material types brought about by Brexit and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The supply chain network is modeled and formulated using mixed integer programming. Numerical experiments are conducted using bill of materials with information such as the procurement cost of each part, 3D-CAD and an industry census.

The experiments indicates that if the customs duty rate increases by Brexit, manufacturers would be necessary to restructure supply chain configuration and locate the domestic factory and market. Additionally, when the UK leaves the EU and joins the TPP, there is a case where the total cost decreases in the global supply chain network compared to the baseline without Brexit. Therefore, it is reasonable for the UK to join the TPP.

The study shows how new trading rules from non-partnership countries can critically disrupt existing global supply chain equilibrium. Asian manufacturers should evaluate a move to more local sourcing, opening new facilities and setting up warehouses to stock finished goods or raw materials in different trading areas to overcome any barriers to the goods movement.

This study enables us to quantitatively evaluate what there are opportunities or cost increasing risks by the selection of supply chain configuration for Asian manufacturers by political and economic factors of each country, such as Brexit and participation in TPP.

The aim of this paper is to use the case study of Nairobi in Kenya in order to fill the gap of knowledge on the component ratios of new building costs that has been missing from international literature.

Using survey methodology that considered firms of contractors registered and operating in Nairobi Kenya, the paper compares its findings rendered in terms of percentage ratios: with theoretical propositions (e.g. Wood), with past studies (e.g. Knowles) and with practice guidelines in Kenya.

Overall it finds that there is no significant change in percentage component ratios considered from past studies and practice guidelines in Kenya leading to the conclusion that the building industry has not undergone any significant technical change during the periods under study, i.e. 1980‐2006.

The study is limited by the fact that it only manages to capture the contractors' views of the component ratios. Contractors may be inclined to hide their profits which can be a sensitive issue in the Kenyan market, which as a developing economy, may be riddled with corrupt practices such as tax evasion and imperfect business competition. However, the issues raised here can be used as base information for further studies on the topic. Additionally an analysis of variance was performed on the data to ascertain its credibility. Second, the data used to argue the paper's case is partially dated but remains useful. The trend shows that there has been no significant change in the composition of component ratios hence the data remains relevant to date.

The paper's findings would be useful to international readers especially now that international contractors are bidding for work in Kenya. The data would give these contractors a glimpse into the structural composition of building cost components in Nairobi.

The paper's original contribution concerns the component ratios of building costs that has been neglected in the existing literature. In Kenya some work had been done by Knowles, but this was restricted to office block buildings only, while this paper considers all buildings as shown in Table V.

The purpose of this paper is to define the local integration rate and how it is calculated to assess its relevance as a national performance indicator for the Moroccan automotive industry.

The research methodology first followed a systematic review approach through the analysis of published research articles and academic works. This study then followed a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with various actors in the Moroccan automotive industry. Finally, the findings of this work were reinforced by a case study to analyze the supply chain of a locally produced vehicle.

The results indicate that the local integration rate as calculated today overestimates the performance of the automotive industry and does not systematically guarantee a significant creation of value added.

Due to the confidentiality of the data in terms of turnover, payroll and purchase prices as well as the large number of suppliers in the different supply chains of the car manufacturer, the case study focused on only one of the six existing ecosystems.

On the basis of research work on the Moroccan automotive industry as well as interviews with various actors, the local integration rate is unanimously considered as a viable performance indicator. This study has not only led us to the method of calculating this rate by the Ministry of Industry but also demonstrated its limitations while proposing a new method of calculation to increase the value added.

The paper defines the term disability and how it fits among persons with visual disabilities. Specific provisions in the Persons with Disabilities Bill 2002 that may affect library and information services to visually handicapped students in learning institutions in Kenya are identified and listed. Establishment of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities to oversee all matters affecting the disabled is highlighted. The National Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities to provide financial assistance is equally cited. The author provides a detailed interpretation of the Bill with a bias towards provision of library and information services for visually handicapped people. The paper concludes that the Bill is likely to open up educational opportunities for the visually handicapped students in Kenya by widening the range of information sources.

The purpose of this paper is to reveal benefits and factors (elements) of proximity manufacturing that enhance triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability in the clothing industry and discusses previous proximity manufacturing studies.

A systematic review is used in searching and extracting data (primary studies artifacts and proximity manufacturing elements) from peer-reviewed articles. Extracted elements are gathered and analyzed in constructed tables under TBL. Four subgroups are inducted under the business bottom line.

This paper shows the potential of proximity manufacturing to enhance TBL sustainability, the scope of proximity manufacturing, and the trend and absence of existing studies. The most frequently mentioned elements are time-to-market, job creation, product quality, quick response, and trade policies. Governments and clusters are also important players.

Future research can further explore elements potentially improving TBL sustainability to fill gaps in existing studies, including how proximity manufacturing can drive environmental and social practices, and how governments can encourage proximity manufacturing in various markets.

Besides perceiving the benefits of proximity manufacturing, businesses may use the derived elements to make manufacturing decisions.

Public policies giving privileges to the locally produced garment industry have great potential to drive the economy and employment as well as sustain local clothing knowledge and the environment.

Proximity manufacturing strategies toward sustainability are under-researched academically and under-practiced industrially; this paper provides insight into sustainability benefits of proximity manufacturing.

This paper aims to analyse the factors affecting the performance of large construction projects in Sri Lanka. The causes, impacts and mitigations in association with the critical factors are explored and discussed.

The research focuses on the evaluation and perspectives of clients and contractors of large projects in Sri Lanka. Combined quantitative and qualitative methods were applied in this research. Initially, a questionnaire survey was conducted with clients and contractors involved in large projects to evaluate the factors affecting the performance of projects and to identify the ten most critical factors. Interviews with the clients and contractors of three large projects were conducted to examine the causes and impacts of the critical factors and the approaches used to mitigate them.

Significant differences in the factors were observed for more than 40 per cent of the total factors under study, the contractors assigning more weight to most of the factors than the clients. The study identified nine internal factors and one external factor as the critical factors. Of these, seven were related to the contractors, which suggested that the contractors have greater roles in defining performance. Lack of management and technical skills of the parties involved, human capacity, lack of understanding and knowledge of the local context, changes in government policies and political interference were identified as significant causes of the critical factors.

The study analysed the factors affecting the performance of large projects in Sri Lanka, which, at the time of research, had just ended a 26-year-long civil war and was pushing the construction of large projects to be competitive. The challenges faced in this effort were explored as lessons learnt that might improve the efficiency and effectiveness of infrastructure development in Sri Lanka. The combined quantitative and qualitative methods applied in this study are expected to provide new insights in the project performance research, especially the interviews of the critical factors to gain an understanding on how the factors occurred and manifested themselves in real projects. The findings are, however, expected to be applicable to other developing countries that are currently aggressively developing their large infrastructure.

The purpose of this paper is to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets with an updated Purchasing Portfolio Matrix (PPM) specifically for international sourcing. This data-driven PPM matrix is designed to provide a dynamic and process perspective that can help SMEs survive the disruptions caused by emergency situations such as the global COVID-19 pandemic.

This research reports on qualitative interviews with experienced informants from 15 SMEs in the manufacturing industry. The authors follow process-based research using a combination of retrospective and real-time case study approaches to gradually unveil the dynamics in segmentation and sourcing strategies in the international sourcing context during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The findings reveal the dynamics of segmentation and international sourcing strategies during global disruptions and unpack the underlying logic behind the dynamics that is specific to SMEs in emerging economies.

Existing literature on PPM predominantly focuses on static and normal sourcing circumstances. This paper addresses this gap by adopting a dynamic approach to study how sourcing strategies of SMEs from emerging economies evolve in a highly volatile environment from an international sourcing perspective.

It is no surprise that garbage is not garbage for some. It is money. This is why garbage has been overestimated to a point that money allocated for waste-to-energy (WtE) projects feed individual pockets. Many countries have already adapted WtE as a successful solution for both energy and waste crisis. Although in Sri Lanka six WtE projects were promised, the government abruptly decided that it would not have any more projects other than the two plants that were under construction. The purpose of this paper is to analyse barriers to the implementation of WtE projects in Sri Lanka.

An exploratory case study was selected as the research strategy to achieve the research aim. In total, two WtE megaprojects, which have been initiated implementation in Sri Lanka, were used as cases. A total of 12 semi-structured interviews with four personnel from each case and four government officials were used as the data collection technique. Data analysis was carried out using code-based content analysis. The barriers were extracted through analysis of case findings using an abductive analysis. The strategies to mitigate identified barriers were formulated based on attributes highlighted through case study findings and further validated through the opinions of three experts.

Barriers were analysed using the PESTEL framework to get ample insight into barriers that impact on the implementation of WtE projects in Sri Lanka. Less support from the government due to their less awareness on WtE, high investment and operational cost, lack of expert knowledge on WtE technologies in Sri Lanka, absence of a proper regulatory framework for implementation WtE technologies, lengthy process and delay in getting approvals from government process, poor attitudes of public and their protests due to the less awareness on WtE are the foremost barriers identified in this study. Further, strategies were proposed based on the empirical research findings to overcome barriers to facilitate the successful implementation of WtE projects in Sri Lanka.

So far only two WtE megaprojects have been initiated the implementation in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the scope of the study was limited only to those projects. Moreover, the type of waste considered in this study is municipal solid waste (MSW), which has become a bigger problem in Sri Lanka.

The current study unveils an analysis of barriers for implementation of WtE projects in Sri Lanka, including strategies for mitigating identified barriers. The findings would enable relevant stakeholders, i.e. policymakers, industry practitioners, investors, government bodies and researchers to make informed decisions on implementation of WtE projects and thereby promote successful implementation of WtE projects in Sri Lanka.

Productivity improvement is central to the growth and survival of an organisation. The results of a study carried out to measure productivity in a wire rope manufacturing company are described. Several models of productivity are developed and tested to draw out weak operational spots for the company. An illustration of how the results can be used to derive predictive models of company productivity and total unit cost is provided. Cause and effect diagrams are presented to establish the logical premises for taking action towards improvement of productivity in the operational areas.

Urbanization and globalization in India have led to the depletion of resources and degradation of the environment to meet the demands. Because of these issues, researchers and practitioners have begun to study various strategies to reduce the level consumption of resources to utilize it for present and future needs. In pursuit of finding solutions to the problems, sustainable building construction is found as the best key to avoid depletion of resources. Sustainable material selection is found as a vital strategy in construction. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

A three-phase methodology is proposed for framing the assessment model for construction industries to select materials for construction. In the first phase, a total of 23 sub-criteria of triple bottom line (TBL) and four brick materials as alternatives were identified. The second phase finds the weights and ranks of criteria and sub-criteria using the best worst methodology (BWM) the third phase involves ranking of materials concerning sub-criteria weights determined in phase II using Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS).

The objective of study is fixed to identify the criteria list for the selection of material in construction industries from the literature review especially for Indian construction industries; to rank the criteria for selection of materials with the help of the BWM approach; and to prioritize the identified materials in the view of sustainability with the help of Fuzzy TOPSIS in construction industries perspective. This study analyzed and choosing right sustainable materials by the three pillars of sustainability which are the environment, economic and social, also called TBL, for Indian construction companies by framing a sustainable material assessment model.

The results of this study facilitate to frame an assessment model for evaluating and selecting sustainable building materials.