134 research outputs found

    Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport Perishable Goods Facility: preliminary feasibility study

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    This report comprises a preliminary feasibility study for the establishment of a perishable freight facility at Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport (BWWA). Scoping research undertaken by the University of Southern Queensland in late 2014 identified the establishment of a perishables facility as part of the BWWA development as a vital ‘missing piece’ if export opportunities were to be realized. A cold storage and distribution facility is essential to ensure the integrity of the fresh produce cool chain

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    Hidden power: gender relations in export-oriented tasks and access to resources for Uganda's horticulture sector

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    The aim of the study is to investigate gender relations in the production and export marketing of horticulture produce in Uganda. The study uses gender as an analytical tool in critiquing the Neoliberal reforms that advocate trade liberalization. This is done through examining the construction and perpetuation of unequal power relations within the tasks as well as access to production and market resources needed for effective participation in export trade. The study fills a gap in knowledge by providing an explanation of the factors that hinder effective participation of female and male tanners and traders. It reveals the failure of the assumptions of price, supply and demand as organizing principles in a market economy as those ignore the practices of politics and gender dynamics that shape the production and distribution of products for export trade. In order to reveal hidden control and influence of decisions, the study investigates the manifestation of power in the marketing channel at three sites: the household site (for production); the collection site (for purchase and assembling); and the exportation site (for export arrangements and air freight). Examples are given through a case study of female and male farmers, collectors and exporters of horticulture produce, in particular hot-pepper and okra, in Uganda. The unequal power relations that are examined, show how women and men create a hierarchical setting within the same site, as well as through the interactions they make by linking to the other sites. While female and male tanners require the tasks and resources provided by the collectors, collectors also need the resources given by exporters. Within such a context, this study, shows how gender analysis can be used to examine the dynamics of the relations between women and men who interact within tasks and resource acquisition between the different sites. The question of power therefore becomes a key concern as some categories of men, and sometimes women who are in positions of control of resources, have the "power to" influence decisions on allocation of tasks and acquisition of resources. Yet, such power to influence actions concerning who should perform the tasks and who can have access to resources, is so hidden that revealing it requires examination of its manifestations as well as the way its is exercised differently by men compared to women. Those practices, through which power manifests, create conflicts and hierarchical differences between tanners, collectors and exporters that show gender as well as status differences. Female collectors and exporters can manage to control resources, recognize these power practices, and react by resisting and manipulating them according to their own interests. Unfortunately, in most cases, both female and male tanners cannot challenge decisions of the exporters. Such dynamics create differential access to production and market resources. The characteristics that enable women as well as men to have influence are investigated in addition to what leads to the subordinate position that others experience. Gender theory is applied and focuses on two arguments: the extent to which men exercise power over women in ways that show how power relations are manifested through the gender division of labour and the way tasks are organised; and how power relations are manifested through different positions that women occupy compared to men in the different sites in ways that enable mostly men to have the power to influence decisions and command allocation of resources. Gender analysis is used as a methodology that enables examination of power practices that are hidden in the way tasks are organized and resources acquired in the different sites at a specified time period. Although these sites are self-contained, the findings indicate that actors also have opportunities to move across and between sites. The ability to participate in more than one site is therefore a means of rescue from practices that disempower women, thus hindering their participation in export trade. The findings do not only affirm the claims by gender critique of macro-economic theories that the markets are not abstract entities, but also provides examples that show how markets have a gendered structure. Women and men engage in relationships of cooperation, conflict and manipulate decisions of others who seek to access resources. Women who undertake activities in more than one site have power to make choices and influence decisions that would otherwise have had adverse effects on their export-oriented activities. Women who are able to access resources are sometimes those who exclude and exploit other women of lower status, just as higher-status men do to those below them. Such women decide to take actions not necessarily with an intention of resisting male dominance but to develop defensive and creative ways through which they can promote their own agenda. Some men of lower status resist actions of exploitation and exclusion imposed upon them by men of higher status. In addition, they can overcome the informality of labour provision and contracts that exist in trade relationships by becoming decision-makers themselves and dealing directly with export trade. This study therefore makes contributions to gender theory in ways that illustrate how gender analysis is an effective tool in investigating the construction of unequal power relations for export trade within an African setting

    The role of collaboration in the UK green supply chains: an exploratory study of the perspectives of suppliers, logistics and retailers

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    Many companies around the world have started to realise that working alone will not be sufficient in their move towards a greener supply chain (SC). More specifically, recent UK government regulations on implementing strict CO2 reduction encourage SC operators to work collaboratively, in production and logistics or other operations, to achieve their green objectives. In this research, we look at some underlying factors of SC collaboration, focussing on suppliers, logistics and retailers, for the purpose of improving the environmental sustainability of companies’ SCs. To facilitate our study, we conduct case studies in two overseas supplier companies with the aim of providing a better understanding of how green issues imposed by European and UK customers influence the companies’ actions to meet agreed environmental goals. Based on the initial analysis of the case studies, we develop a conceptual framework which indicates that SC collaboration plays an important role in ensuring companies achieve environmental sustainability of their SCs. Subsequently, staff in middle-management and related roles in sixteen companies operating in the UK are interviewed. This allows us to understand their business practices in terms of SC collaboration with their suppliers and buyers to achieve the goal of CO2 reduction. Finally, drawing upon the information from company reports and websites, a number of UK leading retailers’ actions to reduce CO2 emissions are investigated. We develop a conceptual framework of SC collaboration for environmental sustainability to help companies improve their level of collaboration between suppliers and buyers in terms of meeting their environmental objectives. The proposed framework will serve as a base model for the companies using or considering SC collaboration to achieve their environmental agendas, in line with governmental green regulatory requirements

    Robust global supply chain planning under uncertainty

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    The New World Economy presents business organizations with some special challenges that they have never met before, when they manage their activities in the global supply chain network. Business managers find that traditional managerial approaches, techniques and principles are no longer effective in dealing with these challenges. This dissertation is a study of how to solve new problems emerging in the global supply chain network. Three main issues identified in the global supply chain network are: production loading problems for global manufacturing, logistics problems for global road transport and container loading problems for global air transport. These problems involve a higher level of uncertainty and risk. Three types of dual-response strategies have been developed to hedge the uncertainty and short lead time in the above three problems. These strategies are: a dual-response production loading strategy for global manufacturing, a dual-response logistics strategy for global road transport and a dual-response container loading strategy for global air transport. In order to implement these strategies, the two-stage stochastic recourse programming models have been formulated. The computational results show that the two-stage stochastic recourse models have an advantage in comparison to the corresponding deterministic models for the three issues. However, the two-stage stochastic recourse models lack the ability of handling risk, which is particularly important in today's highly-competitive environment. We thus develop a robust optimization framework for dealing with uncertainty and risk. The robust optimization framework consists of a robust optimization model with solution robustness, a robust optimisation model with model robustness and a robust optimization model with trade-off between solution robustness and model robustness. Each type of the robust optimization models represents a different measure of performance in terms of risk and cost. A series of experiments demonstrate that the robust optimization models can create a global supply chain planning system with more flexibility, reliability, agility, responsiveness and lower risk

    The role of retailers as channel captains in retail supply chain change: the example of Tesco

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    The large scale retailer with a strong retail brand and sufficient critical mass in the market place may reach a pivotal point in its development when the directors can address the question: “Does the company want to get directly involved in the functions of centralised buying, logistics and supply chain management?” This thesis takes one such company and expands in some detail about its growth towards excellence in the techniques of retail supply chain change. The evolution and critical decision moments provide an in depth case study for others to use as a benchmark. Its purpose is to examine the role of the retailer as a channel captain; a concept from an earlier marketing era, whose origins it reveals. It takes that learning together with contemporary supply chain thinking and examines real retail supply chain events in Tesco. The results of matching the new and old academic theory with practitioner events confirm that the channel captain is the retailer. It demonstrates that retailers can make the transition into that leadership position and apply supply chain management skills to competitive advantage. This can become a strategic tool both at national and international levels. The principles of this thesis could be used or applied in research in three areas: in depth with Tesco; in breadth, exporting expertise to other retailers; globally with retailers extending the operations internationally and suppliers seeking to trade with European retailers
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