International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

Tate, Wendy L.; Bals, Lydia; Marshall, Donna

2019 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-06-2019-390

The purpose of this paper is to compile a set of articles tackling supply chain issues in BOP contexts that address both demand and supply. Solutions are needed for global sustainability problems from medical aid and food availability to the ability to participate in supply chains for the global poor.Design/methodology/approachThe accepted articles in the special issue used a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to answer research questions in a variety of base of the pyramid (BOP) contexts. These approaches and results distinguish between demand (BOP market) and supply, or base of the chain (BOC), perspectives.FindingsThe findings in the eight accepted marticles are interesting and applicable across different BOP contexts. Compilation of the articles into the special issue and the accompanying editorial led to a comprehensive future research agenda that addresses demand-side issues by investigating the customers in BOP markets, and supply-side issues focusing on the suppliers and intermediaries (BOC) who supply BOP markets. Future research ideas include a focus on supply chain design issues situated at the intersection of the demand (BOP) and the supply (BOC) concerns that address the needs of the world’s poorest populations.Research limitations/implicationsAll of the selected articleshave societal implications related to addressing the needs of BOP populations. Many of these articles also have economic and environmental implications, the other two pillars of the triple bottom line. The detailed future research agenda developed in this editorial presents implications for researchers working in emerging and BOP communities to push research forward and further develop the foundational literature in the BOP context.Practical implicationsFrom a practical standpoint, each of the eight articles presents ideas for businesses that help address the needs of the global poor while enhancing global sustainability performance. The editorial summarizes these implications and provides new directions and examples of success in the BOP context. Managers are provided with techniques to address the supply and demand side of these growing markets.Originality/valueThe overall conceptual framework and positioning of the final papers into the BOP market, BOC suppliers and a combination of the two is novel and helps provide guidance to both scholars and managers.

Ahrens, Fred; Dobrzykowski, David; Sawaya, William

2019 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-02-2018-0048

Manufacturers find bottom of the pyramid (BOP) markets challenging to serve due to low margins and highly localized needs. As such, residents in BOP markets often go without products commonly available in developed countries. Going without medical equipment may negatively affect healthcare services. This study develops a supply chain design strategy that supports the production of medical equipment by preserving variety flexibility at low volumes that stands to create new market opportunities for manufacturers and improve healthcare for residents in BOP markets.Design/methodology/approachThe authors introduce a mass-customization model called options-based planning (OBP) which offers a framework to both leverage the efficiencies of high volume production models and provide products that are customized to local market needs. An empirical simulation, grounded in data collected from a large international manufacturer of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment, illustrates how an OBP production strategy will likely perform under BOP conditions and facilitate the delivery of healthcare equipment to BOP markets.FindingsOBP provides a means for manufacturers to provide the customization necessary to serve fragmented BOP markets, while enabling higher production volume to make serving these markets more feasible. The empirical simulation reveals the relative benefits of OBP under conditions of forecast uncertainty, product complexity (number of design parameters) and different levels of responsiveness.Social implicationsIncreased access to modern medical equipment should improve healthcare outcomes for consumers in BOP markets.Originality/valueThe MRI context in BOP markets serves to illustrate the value of the OBP model for manufacturers.

Duarte, André Luis de Castro Moura; Macau, Flavio; Flores e Silva, Cristiano; Sanches, Lars Meyer

2019 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-01-2018-0008

The purpose of this paper is to explore last mile delivery (LMD) to the bottom of the pyramid in Brazilian slums, its challenges and how practitioners overcome them. Urban logistics in precarious circumstances is central to the conceptualization.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, grounded theory methodology is developed, gathering data from companies delivering to slums in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Field notes, documents and interviews led to conceptual categories for LMD to slums.FindingsThe study indicates that while some standard urban logistics practices can be effective for LMD to slums, such unusual contexts often call for unusual solutions. A model is developed using grounded theory categorization, resulting in five dimensions for LMD to slums: employing locally, giving back, acknowledging criminals, vehicle and location.Research limitations/implicationsThe model is a qualitative proposition representing LMD to slums in two major Brazilian cities. Even though slums in different cities/countries may face similar conditions, additional studies are needed to confirm and replicate the model.Practical implicationsCompanies that successfully engage in LMD to slums must adapt and develop idiosyncratic practices.Social implicationsLMD to slums enables a larger portion of bottom of the pyramid consumers to access a wider range of products and work opportunities, contributing to their social inclusion.Originality/valueThe study provides an understanding of LMD in a new context. The model encourages companies to question their current practices, learning from effective LMD experiences implemented by successful practitioners.

Varga, Valeria; Rosca, Eugenia

2019 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-01-2018-0040

The purpose of this paper is to answer the following research question: how can intermediaries contribute to social impact creation through their interventions at different levels of distribution networks in the base of the pyramid (BoP) markets?Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts an embedded case study of an intermediary organization. The analysis focuses on the intervention of the intermediary on the distribution stages of supply chains in four different projects in the food sector in Ethiopia, Benin, Nigeria and Bangladesh.FindingsThe embedded case study reveals essential formal and informal roles undertaken by the intermediary organization to develop decentralized distribution networks based on local micro-entrepreneurs. The study proposes that efforts undertaken by the intermediaries toward knowledge sharing and capacity building among partners can enable the adoption of pro-poor strategies across the supply chain. Moreover, hybrid intermediaries can act as “guardians” of the mutual value creation approach since one of their key roles is to advocate the needs of the BoP.Research limitations/implicationsImportant implications for improving nutrition and food security in the BoP markets are developed based on the empirical findings. The findings open avenues for further research into the antecedents of retention rates in distribution networks based on local micro-entrepreneurs.Practical implicationsFindings have implications for different types of BoP initiatives by highlighting how intermediary organizations intervene to develop distribution models with a special focus on social impact.Originality/valueThis paper fills an important research gap by discussing social impact aspects in BoP supply chains by adopting the perspective of intermediary organizations.

Nilakantan, Rahul; Iyengar, Deepak; Rao, Shashank

2019 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-02-2018-0053

Financial inclusion remains one of the most promising avenues to bring about development for the poorest segments of society. A substantial body of work has looked into financial inclusion, especially in terms of microfinance, but much of it has been anecdotal and case-based. There is little scholarship that broadly investigates how microfinance-funded businesses choose to use the loans, especially given the ever-present competition for resources that such businesses face regarding which investment priority to pursue. In addition, the efficacy of these investments in terms of subsequent profitability remains unexplored, and so too does the influence of the entrepreneur’s embeddedness in the local community. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThis study reports the results from a field investigation of 927 women entrepreneurs who received a microfinance loan from a leading Indian microfinance institution. Logit and OLS regression models are employed in a moderation analysis by way of hierarchical regression.FindingsResults indicate that access to microfinance increases the likelihood that the enterprise invests in marketing infrastructure and operational scale. In addition, structural embeddedness has a weakening effect on this relationship for operational scale while having a strengthening effect on the relationship for marketing infrastructure. Finally, operational scale is related to enterprise profitability, while marketing infrastructure is not. These findings suggest that embeddedness in the community is associated with the entrepreneur making sub-optimal choices regarding microfinance utilization.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the simultaneous marketing and operational impacts of microfinance access. It is also the first study to relate these measures to the profitability of the enterprise, especially in the context of structural embeddedness in the network.

Koster, Mieneke; Vos, Bart; van der Valk, Wendy

2019 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-01-2018-0037

The purpose of this paper is to identify drivers and barriers for adopting Social Accountability 8000 (SA8000), a leading global social management standard.Design/methodology/approachThe approach involves combining insights from Institutional Theory with a focus on economic performance to study SA8000 adoption by suppliers operating in a developing economy (i.e. India). Data collection involves interviews with adopters and non-adopters, social standard experts and auditors, and archival data on local working conditions.FindingsThis study confirms that customer requests are the major reason for adopting SA8000 in order to avoid loss of business. It is noteworthy, however, that those customer requests to adopt SA8000 are often symbolic in nature, which, in combination with the lack of a positive business case, hinders effective implementation.Practical implicationsThe findings imply that symbolic customer requests for SA8000 adoption induce symbolic implementation by suppliers, a “supply chain effect” in the symbolic approach. Substantive requests in contrast lead to more substantive implementation and require customer investment in the form of active support and an interest in the standard’s implementation, context and effects.Originality/valueThis study is original in that it addresses social sustainability from a supplier’s perspective, using the lens of Institutional Theory. The value lies in demonstrating the “supply chain effects” that arise from the “quality” of customer requests: a purely symbolic approach by customers leading to symbolic implementation vs the merits of substantive customer requests which stimulate substantive implementation.

Jajja, Muhammad Shakeel Sadiq; Asif, Muhammad; Montabon, Frank L.; Chatha, Kamran Ali

2019 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-11-2017-0359

The purpose of this paper is to use institutional theory to develop the constructs of institutional pressures for social compliance and argue for a positive relationship between institutional pressures and Supplier Social Compliance Management System (SSCMS). Moreover, the authors theorize that the impact of institutional pressures on SSCMS is moderated by the supplier’s organizational culture. This is done in a particularly salient context, which is apparel manufacturing in a developing country.Design/methodology/approachThe hypothesized model is tested using data of 164 suppliers from the apparel manufacturing sector. PLS-based structural equation modeling is used to test the direct and multi-group moderation hypotheses.FindingsEmpirical examination provides evidence that institutional pressures have a positive impact on supplier social compliance and the types of organizational culture have varied moderation effects.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is based on cross-sectional data from one industry. Future research should collect data from diverse sectors in different countries.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that consistent pressures from various stakeholders can increase supplier social compliance. In addition, the partial evidence for moderation effect of organizational culture indicates that supplier’s internal value system’s alignment with social compliance pressures plays an important role in determining how supplier acts on social compliance initiatives.Originality/valueThe issue of suppliers’ adoption of social compliance management systems has become prominent as a consequence of the shifting of manufacturing to developing countries. However, comprehensive frameworks explaining antecedents of adoption of SSCMS using large-scale empirical data are limited. In addition, findings on the relationship between supplier social sustainability practices and their antecedents are inconsistent.

Rosca, Eugenia; Möllering, Guido; Rijal, Arpan; Bendul, Julia Christine

2019 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-01-2018-0042

The purpose of this paper is to explore mechanisms of supply chain inclusion in Base of the Pyramid (BOP) settings. It distinguishes micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSME)-led local supply chains on the one hand and multinational enterprises (MNEs)-led global supply chains on the other hand. This paper aims to answer the following research question: Which mechanisms of supply chain inclusion are employed empirically by MSMEs and how can these mechanisms influence social impact creation in MNE-led global supply chains?Design/methodology/approachA large-scale empirical study of MSMEs operating in BOP markets is performed and a cluster analysis conducted to systematically categorize supply chain inclusion. The cluster analysis and current literature yield theory-based implications for MNE-led global supply chains.FindingsThe cluster analysis reveals three meaningful clusters of supply chain inclusion in BOP markets and highlights two main aspects. They include direct vs indirect mechanisms of inclusion and diversity in supplier relationships with local organizations aimed at either “sourcing” local capabilities needed for inclusion or “outsourcing” the inclusion. Based on these aspects, two scenarios are proposed and evaluated for local-global supply chain symbiosis.Research limitations/implicationsThis study aims to contribute to the existing literature with a more fine-grained understanding of the inclusion of BOP actors in local supply chains and by proposing alternative trajectories for global supply chain inclusion.Practical implicationsThe findings outline several important decisions that managers need to make to include BOP actors in supply chain activities.Originality/valueThis paper contributes a novel, combined perspective of local supply chains (MSMEs) and global supply chains (MNEs).

Zomorrodi, Maryam; Fayezi, Sajad; Lau, Kwok Hung; McMurray, Adela

2019 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-01-2018-0045

Research has not yet captured nor synthesized the supply chain (SC) adaptations exercised by various base of the pyramid (BoP) initiators for successful BoP business. This is a crucial shortcoming that the study has taken a step to address, with the aim of advancing theory in BoP supply chain management (SCM). The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw on Carter et al.’s (2015) theory of the SC and use a multi-method approach combining systematic literature review and embedded case studies based on the secondary data.FindingsThe authors compare BoP SC adaptations of MNCs, local companies, NGOs, social enterprises and governments and develop propositions. The authors find that SC adaptations exercised by BoP initiators are influenced by their sense making of institutional and agency drivers at the BoP, and contingent on whether the poor are engaged as recipients or value co-creators.Practical implicationsThe authors develop a multi-initiator understanding of SC adaptations for BoP business. This is useful for BoP initiators who struggle to leverage their BoP business as well as for those who are considering entering the BoP. The authors offer these entities insights for aligning strategy and developing capabilities for BoP markets.Originality/valueThe authors develop an original model of BoP initiator-based configurations of SC adaptations for BoP business. As such, the authors contribute toward advancing BoP SCM theory and practice by mapping substantive concepts and their relationships associated with BoP SC adaptations.

Zomorrodi, Maryam; Fayezi, Sajad; Lau, Kwok Hung; McMurray, Adela

2019 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/IJPDLM-01-2018-0045

PurposeResearch has not yet captured nor synthesized the supply chain (SC) adaptations exercised by various base of the pyramid (BoP) initiators for successful BoP business. This is a crucial shortcoming that the study has taken a step to address, with the aim of advancing theory in BoP supply chain management (SCM). The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw on Carter et al.’s (2015) theory of the SC and use a multi-method approach combining systematic literature review and embedded case studies based on the secondary data.FindingsThe authors compare BoP SC adaptations of MNCs, local companies, NGOs, social enterprises and governments and develop propositions. The authors find that SC adaptations exercised by BoP initiators are influenced by their sense making of institutional and agency drivers at the BoP, and contingent on whether the poor are engaged as recipients or value co-creators.Practical implicationsThe authors develop a multi-initiator understanding of SC adaptations for BoP business. This is useful for BoP initiators who struggle to leverage their BoP business as well as for those who are considering entering the BoP. The authors offer these entities insights for aligning strategy and developing capabilities for BoP markets.Originality/valueThe authors develop an original model of BoP initiator-based configurations of SC adaptations for BoP business. As such, the authors contribute toward advancing BoP SCM theory and practice by mapping substantive concepts and their relationships associated with BoP SC adaptations.