Evaluating Competitiveness in the Supply Chain Management of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises

Abstract

This research investigated Supply Chain Management (SCM) in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand, Slovakia, and Poland and compared the SCM practices among the three countries. The sole purpose was to first determine the various factors that influence SCM operations and SCM practices in each of the countries and then find out whether there is a difference among the three countries in terms of SCM operations and practices. The study was conducted using primary data collected from SME management personnel from the three countries. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data using a 5-point Likert scale. The data was analyzed using multi-group Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results of the study indicated that supply chain management practices and operations adopted by the small and medium enterprises in Thailand, Slovakia, and Poland were invariant. The environmental sustainability elements in SCM and the social aspects of sustainability in SCM have positively influenced SCM practices in all countries. The study recommended that SMEs in the countries should consider adopting the factors that support SCM, operationalizing the SCM through enhancing the capabilities of the end-user, and vitally taking into consideration the environmental sustainability elements in SCM, such as environmentally-friendly production processes, taking action towards waste management, and adopting production processes that inhibit the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere by encouraging the implementation of policies that foster the use of renewable energy sources in production.

Determinants of Ai-Based Applications Adoption in the Agricultural Sector – Multi-Group Analysis

“…The measurement model was used to determine the relationship between the latent variables (constructs) and the observed variables (indicators). The structural model was applied to determine the causal relationship between the latent variables (Chin et al, 2003;Muangmee et al, 2022). The multi-group analysis evaluated the difference between Thailand and Poland regarding the determinants of AI-based applications adoption in the agricultural sector.…”

Effects of Supply Chain Management on Competitiveness and Performance: Empirical Evidence in Mexico

“…Certainly, the effects of globalization have influenced the full range of administrative activities and processes associated with the flow of goods and services to end users (Hult, 2004;Mudambi and Venzin, 2010). According to Muangmee et al (2022), the concept of SCM involves the effective management of the supply chain activities, including product development, sourcing, production, and operations, and managing the supply in organizations (Zimon et al, 2020). Equally important, SCM aims at the movement of goods and services from one end of the supply chain to the other, through different stages to improve efficiency, productivity, and the profitability of the entire process (Seth et al, 2015).…”

“…In addition, the SCM practice involves the activities and actions employed by SMEs towards promoting their business supply chains. Certainly, something that add significant value to the customers is precisely the SCM practices to provide products, services, and information (Muangmee et al, 2022). In fact, Monnagaaratwe & Motatsa (2021) consider that the adoption of SCM initiatives by corporations has been one of the key business strategies, which has resulted in companies to follow customer-centric approach in their operation to satisfy customer requirements.…”

“…In specific, innovation through SCM involves proposing new ways to drive business, such as better-quality products and cost reduction. In fact, many SMEs are interested on adopting SCM to be able to ensure better quality products and diminish operational costs with the end goal of improving their business efficiency and add value to consumers in the short and long term (Muangmee et al, 2022). It is convenient to highlight that industry in general, and the manufacturing industry in particular, are influenced by permanent technological transformation and challenges that preoccupy every corporation and that have powerful effects along the entire supply chain (Garcia-Buendia et al, 2023; Ghobakhloo, 2020).…”

Untitled

“…However, it is important to keep in mind that every global event brings with it both new opportunities and threats that can potentially affect the management of global supply chains (Kot et al, 2020). For the most part, companies are well aware of the definitions of supply chain risk management (Muangmee et al, 2022), however, recent events have shown that this knowledge is purely theoretical and in many cases focused only on their company or the closest links in its supply chain.…”