End-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling management: improving performance using an ISM approach

With booming of the automobile industry, China has become the country with increasing car ownership all over the world. However, the end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling industry is at infancy, and there is little systematic review on ELV recycling management, as well as low adoption amongst domestic automobile industry. This study presents a literature review and an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach is employed to identify the drivers towards Chinese ELV recycling business from government, recycling organizations and consumer’s perspectives, so as to improve the sustainability of automobile supply chain by providing some strategic insights. The results derived from the ISM analysis manifest that regulations on auto-factory, disassembly technique, and value mining of recycling business are the essential ingredients. It is most effective and efficient to promote ELV recycling business by improving these attributes, also the driving and dependence power analysis are deemed to provide guidance on performance improvement of ELV recycling in the Chinese market

How transition led to internationalization?

Since 2002 Russian metallurgical firms have been investing abroad. Taking advantage of the very positive economic climate in the sector, they settle in peripheral as well as in core countries of the world economy. Russia has upgraded from the 50th to the 24th rank between 1995 and 2004 as far as FDI outward flow is concerned [CNUCED, 2005]. Although the Russian FDI stock is still quite limited if compared to other countries, it is five times greater in 2004 than it was in 2000 [BCR, 2005]. The emergence of Russian transnational corporations is a new step in the post-soviet transformation: after the break-up of the old system and a chaotic moment of reorganization, some firms are now building global strategies of growth. This paper addresses this unexpected outcome of the transition process while giving evidence of the trajectory of the metallurgical branch. However, it also focuses on another point. Why do firms internationalize? The scope of the Russian metallurgical shift, its simultaneity and its quickness represent a great opportunity to discuss different hypotheses suggested by the literature and to try to learn from the transition process on that point. This article puts forward an institutional and systemic perspective on multinational corporations. We focus on three kinds of determinants of the internationalization: dynamics of growth based on the resources of the firm, an advantage seeking behavior in order to improve the firm's position in front of its international competitors and a complex interaction vis-a-vis the Russian political power.transnational corporations ; Foreign direct investment ; Metallurgy ; Russia

Fuzzy linear programming for supply chain management in steel industry

Linear programming is one of the frequently applied tools in supply chain management. However, managers and decision makers may lack information about exact values of most of the parameters used in the optimization models. Fortunately, fuzzy linear programming comes up with a powerful tool to deal with this kind of incomplete data. In this paper, the exible approach of fuzzy linear programming is proposed and used to solve supply chain management of steel manufacturing company. This approach reformulated some constraints from conventional linear programming to fuzzy linear programming and provides alternative solutions to decision makers. The results obtained indicate that the fuzzy linear programming gives more exibility to the decision maker to achieve some aspiration level in order to choose what he considers as the best optimal solution.Scopu

A Conceptual Framework of Reverse Logistics Impact on Firm Performance

This study aims to examine the reverse logistics factors that impact upon firm performance. We review reverse logistics factors under three research streams: (a) resource-based view of the firm, including: Firm strategy, Operations management, and Customer loyalty (b) relational theory, including: Supply chain efficiency, Supply chain collaboration, and institutional theory, including: Government support and Cultural alignment. We measured firm performance with 5 measures: profitability, cost, innovativeness, perceived competitive advantage, and perceived customer satisfaction. We discuss implications for research, policy and practice

How can South Africa, a resource rich and labour-abundant economy, employ upstream and downstream mineral beneficiation as a way of developing its economy further? A critical focus on the chromium mineral value chain as a case study

Thesis (M.Com. (Development Theory and Policy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences.South Africa has been referred to as a country of “geological superlatives” because of its rich and diverse mineral resource base. Despite its unique endowment of precious metals and mineral resources, the country has fallen short of translating these resources into the required economic linkages that will lead to sustainable employment creation and economic emancipation for the majority of its people. Whilst the country has established, successful critical upstream industries based on its natural resource advantage, it has not managed to develop successful downstream value additions in most of its strategic value chains, most notably the chromium mineral value chain. This paper explores the significance of the chromium mineral value chain in the context of South Africa’s economic development trajectory, the dynamics between the mining and manufacturing sectors, the ongoing structural constraints, and the implications all these have on stainless steel fabrication. South Africa is a dominant player in chrome, consuming approximately 80% of the world’s chromite ore reserves and is undeniably one of the major producers of ferrochromium globally, with production accounting for approximately 34% of total world production. Despite a mature ferrochromium industry that boasts world-class ferrochromium manufacturing facilities and contributes massively to the domestic and global economies, a declining market share to China threatens the sector. The availability (or lack thereof) of power supply, high energy costs, uncompetitive domestic prices amongst other structural issues are contributing to this decline. The challenge remains in government, the mining industry, labour and all other affected stakeholders to engage robustly in order to preserve a value chain that possesses enough potential to enhance the development of the country, both socially and economically

Integration of Environmental Management and SCM

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is a rather new phenomenon in the Operations Management/Operations Research literature. In the design of Sustainable Supply Chains the increase of transparency across the chain is essential and can be obtained through identification and traceability. Sustainable production often means a change in resource-areas and modes of transportation. Investment in sustainability implies innovations in supply chain management with accompanying costs and profits. We present a framework based on product and process innovations that provides insights in the relevant research questions for integrating Environmental Management and SCM. The framework is applied using the literature and practical case studies in this area

Metals, Machinery, and Mining Equipment Industries in South Africa: The Relationship between Power, Governance, and Technological Capabilities

The metals, machinery, and mining equipment industries have been at the heart of South Africa’s industrial ecosystem. Their central position is associated with the long-term importance of mining, with which there are extensive demand- and supply-side linkages. This chapter reviews key turning points in the development and restructuring of these value chains in post-apartheid South Africa, from 1994 to 2019. The overall record is of a basic steel industry that performed better in terms of value added relative to the more diversified downstream industries, despite government industrial policy targeting more labour-intensive downstream industries. The downstream machinery and equipment industry struggled to compete with imports in the 2000s and 2010s and only partially engaged with digitalization. In explaining these developments the grand bargains struck by the state with the main company producing basic steel and the use of procurement as a demand-side industrial policy are critically examined. The chapter also provides micro-level evidence of the evolving relationships between mining houses; engineering, procurement, and construction management services companies; and input suppliers along the value chain. Overall, it is argued that the relatively poor performance of this industry grouping in South Africa has been due to power asymmetries along the value chains, upstream concentration, high levels of fragmentation in the domestic ecosystem, the lack of key institutional ingredients, and poor policy design. Lessons for resource-endowed middle-income countries are discussed, and policy challenges for upgrading and diversification are presented

Overall Equipment Effectiveness within Counterfactual Impact Evaluation Concept

Counterfactual impact evaluation (CIE) is a scientific quantitative approach mainly based on experiments and quasi experiments. CIE is trying to prove a causal relationship between outputs and outcomes. CIE does not take into account coherence of external incentives of companies with internal incentives that have or may have an impact on the behaviour of enterprises. The paper sets up internal evaluation indicators for businesses, counterfactuals useful for creating a more complex metrics evaluating businesses in the area of performance. The aim of the paper is to present model situation using the elementary principle of counterfactual impact evaluation based on “the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)”.JEL Codes - M11; M21; M2