Comparative Study of Supply-demand Chain (SDC) Practices in Global and Local Companies from a Strategic Perspective

Description

Hong Kong manufacturing industries contribute directly and indirectly over 50% of Hong Kong GDP. The importance of manufacturing is once again recognized by the Hong Kong Government and the society recently. Hong Kong manufacturing companies are mostly suppliers of global companies in the USA and Europe. Both raw materials and finished products have to be transported globally. Therefore, global supply and demand chains (SDC) are the critical links for Hong Kong manufacturing companies to realize their values. In the past years, Hong Kong manufacturing companies worked very hard to adopt SDC practices. However, Hong Kong manufacturing companies are still suffering due to problems in delivery time, delivery quality, delivery flexibility and poor coordination with customers. It is high time to assess whether the SDC practices are producing benefits and whether the practices are consistent with those used in global companies.This project aims to conduct a comparative study of supply and demand chain practices in global and local companies. The project will study:which SDC practices contribute to business performance so that best practices can be identified;whether SDC practices are aligned with manufacturing strategies so that coherent strategy can be developed for SDC management;whether SDC integration enhances the achievement of the strategic objectives; andwhether SDC practices are different in global and local Hong Kong manufacturing companies so that best practices can be learned by Hong Kong companies.There are several novel points in this project. First, the project will cover both supply and demand chains and compare the SDC practice from both supplier and customers' points. Second, the project is conducted from a strategic perspective based on the alignment theory in manufacturing strategy. Finally, the project is a global one based on a very large international survey, which includes 700 companies from over 20 countries. Finally, it will produce a set of practical benchmarks for local companies to use. The project will contribute to the understanding of the relationships among SDC, strategy and performance. It will also produce a series of benchmarks for companies to compare against the best practices in SDC management. The results will be useful for global companies in selecting suppliers in Hong Kong/China and for local small manufacturing in collaborating with global customers. A large database on manufacturing strategy and practice will be available for Hong Kong researchers afterwards.