Investigating supply chain challenges of public sector agriculture development projects in Bangladesh: An application of modified Delphi-BWM-ISM approach

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the supply chain challenges of public sector agriculture development projects in Bangladesh using the modified Delphi, Best Worst Method (BWM), and Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) methods. Based on these three widely acclaimed statistical techniques, the study identified, ranked, and identified interrelationships among the challenges. The study is unique not only in terms of research findings, but also in terms of methodology, as it is the first to use the three MCDM (Multicriteria Decision Making) tools to examine supply chain issues in public sector agriculture development projects in a developing country context. A literature review and two modified Delphi rounds with 15 industry experts’ opinions were applied to identify and validate a list of 11 key supply chain challenges. To determine the priority of the challenges, a panel of eight industry experts was consulted, and their responses were analysed using the BWM. Then, another group of 10 experts was consulted using ISM to investigate the contextual relationships among the challenges, resulting in a five-layered Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) and MICMAC (cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) analysis of the challenges. According to relative importance (global weights), "improper procurement planning (0.213), "delay in project initiation (0.177), "demand forecasting error (0.146)", "lack of contract monitoring mechanism (0.097)", and "lack of competent staff (0.095)" are the top five ranked key challenges that have a significant impact on the project supply chain. Regarding contextual relationships, the ISM model and ISM-MICMAC analysis identified the "political influence" challenge as the most influential, and also independent of the other challenges. The findings are critical for project managers in managing challenges because understanding both relative importance and contextual relationships are required to address the challenges holistically. Additionally, these findings will benefit policymakers, academics, and future researchers.

Procurement challenges in public-sector agricultural development projects in Bangladesh

“…The process involves three of the five process groups within the project lifecycle (Fig. 1) (Khan et al, 2022;Project Management Institute (PMI), 2017): planning, executing, and monitoring and controlling. Since the procurement plan is a component of the project management plan, it is carried throughout the project's lifecycle.…”

“…As a result, many of the government regulatory agencies in the country have recently expressed increased concerns about the issues of development project implementation, particularly in regard to conducting procurement. Also, the international development partners who fund and oversee programmes in the country express similar concerns (Ahsan and Paul, 2018;Khan et al, 2022).…”

“…The procurement is determined by the project scope, project plan, and project procurement plan. Like other forms of public procurement, it adheres to government rules and guidelines in order to source goods, services, and work while ensuring value for money (Ahsan and Paul, 2018;Khan et al, 2022;Project Management Institute (PMI), 2017). The projects are highly complex due to difficulties relating to natural, political, and/or social factors, which often complicate project elements, such as communication management, stakeholder management, and procurement management (Cusworth and Franks, 2013;Gasik, 2016;Golini et al, 2015).…”

“…Since the development projects are designed to increase productivity or increase a country's returns on investment in agriculture, they significantly contribute to effective agricultural development. This is essential not only for economic development but also for food security and agricultural sustainability (Gil et al, 2019;Khan et al, 2022). Likewise, as an agrarian and developing country, the government of Bangladesh implements agriculture development projects not only to increase crop productivity but also to ensure the country's long-term agricultural viability.…”

“…Agricultural development projects face a specific set of challenges (i.e., environmental hazards) compared to other types of projects (i.e., construction projects) because most of the projects are season-specific and implemented with the common goal of increasing crop productivity, which is entirely or partially dependent on environmental factors (Khan et al, 2022). As a result of such critical project scopes, procurement may also be impacted (Ahsan and Paul, 2018;Khan et al, 2022a).…”