Competitiveness Indices of Different Tiers of Supply Chains

Traditionally, firms have calculated their monetary returns and evaluated competitiveness by return on investment (ROI). In this research, a competitiveness index is defined using the concept of ROI to analyze competition among firms in the same tier and competition from other tiers of the supply chain. The difference in competitiveness indices of different tiers will discourage firms from staying in the current tier, and encourage them to enter into other tiers in the supply chain. It should be noted that this movement (from tier to tier) will not affect just a single tier but all tiers of the supply chain. Hence, it is important to develop a novel approach to evaluate the competitiveness of individual tiers of supply chains.The purpose of this research is to develop a scientific approach to analyze how the competitiveness indices of different tiers influence the upstream and downstream participants, and affect the structure of the entire supply chain. The competitiveness indices of different tiers of different supply chains will also be compared.