ENHANCING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF MANUFACTURING SECTOR THROUGH SUPPLY CHAINS IN INDIA

Abstract

In today’s globalized world, manufacturing competitiveness has become a part of a company’s vision and policies. The companies strive to enhance their manufacturing competitiveness and publish competitive reports based on different guidelines and indicators. They highlight their efforts to achieve manufacturing competitiveness at the global level. Therefore, the issue of measurement of manufacturing competitiveness is an important part of the working of any organization. Moreover, the investigation of the relationship between the supply chain management performance (SCM performance) and manufacturing competitiveness of companies is an important topic for the academicians, researchers and policy makers. In the last couple of decades, a vast amount of literature has come up on the SCM performance and manufacturing competitiveness. It has been observed that managers face challenges in determining how far their manufacturing competitiveness is profitable. This gives rise to two crucial questions: First, how to measure the manufacturing competitiveness? And second, what is the impact of the SCM performance on the manufacturing competitiveness of an organization? To get answers to these questions, this study carries out a deep analysis and investigation to come up with a proposed model of manufacturing competitiveness in terms of the theoretical foundations and their implications for organizations, based on an empirical research. The existing literature on the subject contains several indices developed by different authors and researchers, using various dimensions, to measure manufacturing competitiveness. However, very few of them have used the new dimensions relevant to the manufacturing competitiveness of the Indian manufacturing industry. Hence, there is a need to pay attention to measuring manufacturing competitiveness using the new dimensions, and develop a scale or index for the measurement of manufacturing competitiveness in the specific context of the Indian manufacturing sector. The existing literature in the field shows various studies to explore the relationship between the SCM performance and competitive advantage, but the research on the relationship between the two using the new dimensions is still inconclusive in nature. The Indian manufacturing sector plays an important role in terms of both, contribution to the GDP and employment generation. The Government of India has recently focused on manufacturing ii competitiveness and a substantial literature has come up in this regard. However, the available literature has several gaps that need to be addressed, most notably, the need to examine the relationship between the SCM performance and the manufacturing competitiveness of companies in the manufacturing sector. The present study evaluates this relationship in the context of the Indian manufacturing industry. Based on the existing literature, it develops a conceptual framework that includes six factors of manufacturing competitiveness. The main objective of the research is to identify the SCM performance and measure its impact on manufacturing competitiveness. Data have been collected for the purpose through various brainstorming sessions and personal interviews with the academicians, industry experts and policy makers. Based on this data, both qualitative and quantitative models have been developed to analyze and measure the manufacturing competitiveness of the manufacturing companies. The study proposes a conceptual model to cover the measurement issues of manufacturing competitiveness. To achieve the objective of measuring manufacturing competitiveness, a scale has been developed using six factors. The development of the scale has passed through the three phases of pilot study, scale refinement and validation. To develop the scale, data have been collected from the upper and middle level managers working with various manufacturing companies in India. The research attempts to make a major contribution to the existing literature on the subject. The main contributions of this research to the existing body of literature are as follows:  The study presents a comprehensive literature review and taxonomical classification of the available literature. In particular, it discusses the theoretical background to the SCM performance, eco-innovation, supplier selection and manufacturing competitiveness.  The study develops a model covering two aspects: measurement of manufacturing competitiveness in the manufacturing industry, and evaluation of the relationship between the SCM performance and manufacturing competitiveness. To find out this relationship, a scale has been developed in two stages, i.e., item generation and selection, and scale refinement and validation.  At the primary stage, the items related to various factors have been extracted from the available literature. Different techniques, like content analysis, production of the primary pool of items, and evaluation of content and face validity through expert judgment have been applied for the purpose. Further, a pilot survey has been conducted for item analysis, and the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability test have been performed. iii  An initial refinement process has been done for the purification of the items. For this purpose, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and unidimensionality, convergent and discriminant validity assessments have been conducted. This scale has been developed for the measurement of manufacturing competitiveness of the Indian manufacturing industry.  Further, hypothesis testing has been performed using the structural equation modelling (AMOS). After testing, it has been hypothesized that there is a positive impact of the SCM performance on manufacturing competitiveness in the context of the Indian manufacturing sector.  In this way, the research fills the major gaps in the existing literature in the field of manufacturing competitiveness measurement. It has applied a modelling technique and developed a reliable and valid measurement scale for manufacturing competitiveness measurement. A scale comparable to the scale developed by this study has not been developed yet by any study in the available literature.