The Current State of Supply Chain Management and Development of Rural Labor Resources in Kazakhstan

Labor resources remain the main factor of production and the national wealth of the state, while improving the efficiency of the supply chain management and the use of labor resources is currently the main task of the economy. This is particularly true of labor in agricultural production, because it is this sector that ensures the food stability of the state. Thus, the purpose of this article is to consider the innovative methods of supply chain management and labor regulation, which are applied in agricultural organizations in general and in women's work in particular. To achieve this goal, a set of complementary research methods, statistical and comparative analysis, a systematic approach to the study of economic phenomena and processes were used. This article describes the main approaches to the innovative methods of supply chain management and to labor incentives, aimed at increasing the motivation and interest of employees. A regression model of the human resource potential of the agricultural region was also constructed, which makes it possible to predict changes in the rural labor force in the region

Witnessing Economic Growth in Kazakhstan through Sustainability and Manufacturing Performance: Mediating Role of Supply Chain Performance

At the present time, a number of organizations consider the implementation of sustainable activities as not just a competitive gain however as well as a requirement for enduring existence. Thus, it is vital that the researcher comprise the factor of sustainability in assessing the performance of the supply chain of an organization. But very little investigations have examined the influence of sustainability and manufacturing on economic growth, with the mediating impact of supply chain performance. The existing article demonstrates a unique methodology for assessing the performance of the supply, which could be utilized by Kazakh manufacturing companies. Relied on the past studies and on the opinions of the experts, the researcher recognized the functions of the supply chain which impact the supply chain, sustainability and manufacturing performance, and the economic growth. In this study, the scholar of this study designed a survey-based questionnaire and surveyed the experts of the manufacturing organizations. Total of 267 participants filled out the survey. The results of this study show that all the research hypotheses of the study are accepted.

The relationships between shop floor management and QCCs to support Kaizen

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to develop and redefine the ‘classic’ roles of shop floor management and Quality Control Cycles (QCCs) in Kaizen. In specific, it aims to examine the linkage between shop floor management and QCCs, and test the relationships among shop floor management, QCCs and long-term Kaizen improvement outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – This study employs qualitative method by using a questionnaire to obtain data from 371 respondents in nine Sino-Japanese automotive joint-ventures. The data are analysed with the method of canonical correlation approach. Findings – The study identifies important factors to assist the adoption of shop floor management and QCCs for Kaizen. The analysis on the survey indicates that not all the shop floor management tools could help to identify improvement opportunities. QCCs are effective in addressing large problems and challenging current policies in companies, however, they have low impacts on individual learning. Research limitations/implications – The data of this study comes from nine Sino- Japanese automotive joint ventures. Therefore, the sample selection is limited in these companies. The findings are able to be applied for improving the similar problems which identified in this study. Practical implications – The study has the following practical implications, include the first one which is small shop floor problems can be identified and rapid solved continuously at source by shop floor management. The second one is QCCs, or other similar group-based improvement approaches take long to be fully addressed and implemented. Thirdly, practical solutions can be achieved from small and gradual changes, and they can prevent the results backsliding to the pre-improvement stage. Finally, QCCs are hardly to achieve a better improvement alone. It requires other Kaizen approaches to support. Originality/value – This study is probably the first to explore and investigate the implementation of the four building block tools of shop floor management in real business practise, and more specific the first to discuss the relationship among shop floor management, QCCs and long-term improvement outcomes based on empirical data from Sino-Japanese automotive joint-ventures

Predictor Model of the Supply Chain Effectiveness based on Critical Success Factors in a Commerce Retail Industry

The business environments of the globalized economy present increasing complexity under highly variable conditions of volatility, risk, and uncertainty that exert intense pressures on retailers; some of them develop programs for the improvement of the supply chain. This paper is about determining the factors of the supply chain and the development of a structural equation model. The first section presents the background, the description of the problem and a literature search of the Supply Chain factors and their classification. The Methodology section explains the development of a questionnaire as a measuring instrument based on the identified factors. The validation of the questionnaire was with the Cronbach alpha index, and then it applied to a sample of retailers in central Mexico. Using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling Approach, the development of a structural model identified the key driver factors related to the improvement of the Supply Chain. In results report the most important factors: 1) supplier’s quality of the goods, 2) internal factors, 3) after-sale service, and 4) road infrastructure and 5) commercial environment, for commerce retail industry in México.Os ambientes de negócios da economia globalizada apresentam complexidade crescente sob condições altamente variáveis ​​de volatilidade, risco e incerteza que exercem intensa pressão sobre os varejistas; alguns deles desenvolvem programas para a melhoria da cadeia de suprimentos. Este artigo trata da determinação dos fatores da cadeia de suprimentos e do desenvolvimento de um modelo de equação estrutural. A primeira seção apresenta os antecedentes, a descrição do problema e uma pesquisa bibliográfica dos fatores da Cadeia de Suprimentos e sua classificação. A seção Metodologia explica o desenvolvimento de um questionário como instrumento de medição baseado nos fatores identificados. A validação do questionário foi com o índice alfa de Cronbach e, em seguida, aplicado a uma amostra de varejistas na região central do México. Utilizando a Abordagem de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais de Mínimos Quadrados Parciais, o desenvolvimento de um modelo estrutural identificou os principais fatores impulsionadores relacionados à melhoria da Cadeia de Suprimentos. Nos resultados relatam os fatores mais importantes: 1) qualidade do fornecedor das mercadorias, 2) fatores internos, 3) serviço pós-venda, e 4) infraestrutura rodoviária e 5) ambiente comercial, para o setor de comércio varejista no México

Head for feminism, body for fashion: fashion and feminism

Fashion and feminism have been connected for a couple of decades in the history of the United States. However, they are often looked at separately by historians. Many historians focus on the history and evolution of fashion while others research and analyze the feminist movements throughout the United States. The current state of the field for a focus on the relationship between feminism and fashion is minimal in regard to the United States. The focus lies on either fashion or feminism and not the relationship between the two. My thesis, however, focuses on the relationship between fashion and feminism and how the feminist movement in the United States used fashion as a catalyst and method to showcase change. My research begins in the 1960s, during the second wave of feminism, and continues until the 1980s, which falls at the end of the second wave and the beginning of the third wave of feminism. Using my research, my thesis showcases the dynamic between fashion and feminism and directly links fashion as an instrument of change in the feminist movements

Buyer Engagement and Labour Conditions in Global Supply Chains:The Bangladesh Accord and Beyond

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (‘the Accord’) has received both praise and criticism concerning its implications for corporate responsibility and power. This article contributes to the debate by situating the Accord within a broader set of activities that buyers are engaged in to promote better labour conditions in their supply chains. The authors identify three approaches of buyer engagement: auditing, capacity building and advocacy. Drawing on interviews conducted with European brands and retailers, the article shows how buyers perceive the merits and challenges of these approaches, and whether and how they discharge responsibility and power through these activities. The study shows that the Accord is seen primarily as part of the auditing approach with a key feature being its use of collective leverage as a means of enforcement. While greater buyer power has not necessarily been accompanied by greater responsibility, the article highlights heterogeneity among buyers in how they take up different approaches, painting a more nuanced picture of buyer responsibility and power

Uneven development, uneven response: the relentless search for meaningful regulation of GVCs

The regulation of employment in global value chains (GVCs) is a story of the interaction of corporation and state in transnational space, where uneven international development has allowed the commodification and exploitation of international labour. Global standards are well articulated by bodies such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UN. We know what ‘decent work’ should look like as well as what all workers should enjoy as basic employment and human rights. Yet, internationally, the different mechanisms of private and public regulation fail at the point of implementation and across the world we see no fundamental shift in the condition of labour in terms of its capacity for social or economic upgrading. This article examines the regulatory mechanisms, and outcomes of regulation, of industrial relations in GVCs. It commends a future research agenda to illuminate the interaction between different sources of standards and rules and the complexities of intersecting private and public regulation, in the pursuit of enforceable, meaningful regulation of work and employment in international supply chains

Beyond the Workplace: "Upstream" Business Practices and Labor Standards in the Global Electronics Industry

Despite decades of debate and efforts to improve global labor standards, multiple problems still persist. Whether arguing for a more active role for the state, persuading firms to adopt codes of conduct, improving monitoring and sanctioning processes or seeking a higher degree of commitment between supply chain actors, scholars still lack an adequate explanation for why labor problems do not show improvement. Existing theories, while they will help, are not sufficient to solve this issue because they are focused on the production side of markets—the result both of an intellectual and policy bias towards production and the tendency to look for solutions where problems occur. Using a case study of Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) supply chain, qualitative and quantitative data from field visits to plants in South East Asia and a unique dataset of HP’s code of conduct audits, we demonstrate that even under the most-likely conditions that favor previous theories of labor standards, code of conduct violations, in particular excess working hours, exhibit widespread persistence. Having explained this, we demonstrate that this persistence is the product of a set of policies and practices designed and implemented upstream by global buyers and their lead suppliers

Do Labour Standards Improve Employment Relationships in Global Production Networks? A Cross-sector Study in Brazil

Research on private regulation of labour standards in global production networks often highlights their continuing failure despite the fact that lead firms no longer consider them as mere window dressing. Fewer analyses delve into their on-the-ground effectiveness to benefit workers. This article joins a context-specific approach with quantitative analysis to examine whether labour standards used in private regulation improve employment relationships in suppliers of global production networks. Based on a single-country case study of Brazil, we look at the extent of their adoption by suppliers across sectors, their complementarity with national labour institutions, and whether the adoption of labour standards at supplier site level is likely to support labour agency. Our findings show little effectiveness of labour standards against those dimensions. The presence of labour standards at supplier level alone has no significant impact and varies greatly across sectors. It is only if workers are aware of the presence of such standards that it might support their agency when union membership is taken as proxy. Yet, the correlation could also be the other way round: awareness of labour standards depend on being a member of a union in the first place

Does digitalization enhance the effects of lean production on social performance?

© 2024, [Emerald]. This is an author produced version of a paper published in International Journal of Operations & Production Management uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self- archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at the link. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it