![]() ![]() Industrial policy is back on the African policy agenda, with a number of countries following new strategies for rapid industrialization.IOS 13 and 14 bring a lot of improvements and changes. None have done so more eagerly than Ethiopia. The present paper draws on Justin Yifu Lin’s framework of New Structural Economics to assess Ethiopia’s industrial policies and engagement in the leather industry. Making use of two rounds of semi-structured interviews (20) with all of the foreign firms and more than a dozen local firms in the leather sector, as well as other key stakeholders, it examines seven steps the government took to build the industrial policy: Create a high-level focus on the sector make strategic use of international development partners attract a “lead goose” (Chinese) in the footwear sector build government capacity to support the sector strengthen business associations “shock-to-shape” upgrading improve input supply. Ultimately, while government interventions have led to improvements across several steps of the value chain, the paper identifies a number of factors that have prevented the country from fully realizing a latent comparative advantage in the leather sector. This study develops a quality function deployment model that integrates requirements and solutions through a qualitative information approach to break the current low-quality trap and ensure the improvement of the leather products manufacturing industry. This industry is a priority sector in Ethiopia’s industrial development strategy, but its performance is below par due to quality-related problems. Prior studies lack a model explaining the pathways to implement quality improvement interventions. The improvement of this industry requires qualitative assessment and is subject to uncertainty due to the linguistic preferences of decision makers. This study adopts the fuzzy Delphi method to arrive at a valid set of attributes and a fuzzy quality function deployment method to address their relationships. The findings demonstrate that 22 requirements and 16 solutions are valid measures. The top solutions include ensuring interdisciplinary design, employing process mapping, implementing quality-related standards and customer-centric operations, and establishing a quality-at-the-source attitude. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.Īs a global manufacturing sector, the leather industry has been a critical player in the international commerce market. With growing concerns about its sustainability, there tends to be an increasing number of studies in academic literature as well as grey literature (e.g. industry reports) focusing on leather supply chain management. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive review of the current research that illustrates the relationships between sustainable leather supply chain governance practices and their antecedents and consequences. This paper aims to identify the main themes of sustainable leather supply chains through a systematic literature review of 61 studies published between 19 identified from the Scopus and WoS databases and industry reports and propose a theoretical framework based on the thematic findings for future research. In these contexts, five themes were identified from the literature: drivers, practice, barriers, enablers and outcomes of sustainable supply chain governance in the leather industry. Ultimately, a conceptual framework identifying the themes and their linkages was developed. ![]() The article also suggests future research directions and managerial implications. ![]() How to achieve sustainable communities with decent work and economic growth without negative environmental impact, is at the heart of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and a top priority of many governments around the world. This article critically explores the role of government intervention for achieving sustainable local prosperity in frontier markets of developing countries, where such advancement is especially crucial. More specifically, we explore by an in-depth case study how multiple stakeholders cooperate to enhance local development and export from firms in the leather and leather products industry in Ethiopia. From a multistakeholder engagement perspective, including representatives of local businesses, United Nations, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and other development partners, we analyze how government interventions have resulted in unintended outcomes despite their good intention. We contribute with a new understanding of why development initiatives in frontier markets struggle with stakeholder integration, caused by power asymmetry and lack of institutional trust which prevents the achievements of sustainable development goals. ![]()
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