Country Of Manufacture Research Articles

Minimum Wage in Readymade Garments Industry in Bangladesh

Manufacturing Ready-Made Garment (RMG) is labour intensive and low wage based industry. Nowhere, this industry was static or permanent basically on account of wage. As soon as any country became developed, the apparel and textile industry left that country. RMG is highly focused on the relocation of production. The relocation take place from high wage regions to low cost production regions just like water flows down-stream always. This single sector is dominating Bangladesh economy Since ‘80s. In Bangladesh different sectors have different wage levels according to the nature of job. The Minimum Wages Board recommended or re-recommended minimum wages of the 42 industrial sectors. The minimum wage of this very sector is lower than other sectors within the country and among the RMG manufacturing countries as well. On the contrary, within the country, for the same sector – RMG, there are dissimilarity in the minimum wage. Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) declares the same for the industries inside Export Processing Zones (EPZ) which is higher than the declaration by Minimum Wage Board for outside EPZ factories. Minimum wage board has classified the non-EPZ workforces into seven grades according to their skills with seven different wage levels. Contrary, EPZs workers are divided into five categories. BEPZA has fixed higher wages and benefits compere to non-EPZ factories. Moreover, the study finds that the grading system has many loopholes which is not based on well thought and planned. There are so many posts and positions required to run an RMG factory that are not mentioned in the gazette. There is no guideline on how to measure workers’ competency for a particular grade and for how long a worker will be retained in the same grade. These loopholes are helping the employers to manipulate in determining workers’ grade. Minimum wage structure is applicable for whose positions mentioned in the gazette and entitled to all types of benefits mentioned in the law including overtime (OT) payment at double rate of wage. To avoid extra overtime payment factory management promotes or changes the designations like executive, supervisor etc. who are getting comparatively higher wage to keep them away from OT benefits. All those anomalies need to be addressed for properly.

Analysis on the Evolution Characteristics of China’s Manufacturing Industry Structure——Based on the Perspective of Global Value Chain

As the largest developing country, China has been the world’s leading manufacturing country for eight consecutive years.However, with the deepening of the academic research on the competitiveness of manufacturing industry and the development of global value chain, the views on whether China’s manufacturing industry is in the “low-locked” in the global value chain are different, mainly due to the differences in the measurement and evaluation methods of competitiveness.By constructing the global value chain index, this paper examines the global value chain potential and its changes in China from the perspective of macro industry, and provides a reference for the research model of the embedded potential and governance model selection in the global value chain of Chinese manufacturing industry.

Availability and rationality of fixed dose combinations available in Kaduna, Nigeria.

Background:Fixed-dose drug combinations (FDCs), are combinations of two or more active drugs in a single dosage form. Despite the advantages obtained from the use of these agents, there is increasing evidence questioning the rationality of several FDCs found in pharmaceutical markets-especially those in developing countries like Nigeria.Objectives:To describe the availability of FDCs in drug retailing outlets located in Kaduna Nigeria, and to assess FDC registration status and inclusion on national and international essential medicines lists (EMLs). Rationality of selected FDCs was also assessed.Methods:A cross-sectional survey was carried out from June to September 2018 in 60 registered pharmacies and patent medicine shops selected through multi-stage sampling. A data collection form was used to obtain information on the generic names and strengths of the active ingredients of the FDCs, their country of manufacture and evidence of registration with the Nigerian drug regulatory agency. To assess rationality, a scoring rubric developed from earlier studies was used. Data collected was coded and entered into a Microsoft excel 2016 spreadsheet for analysis. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) were used to report the data collected.Results:FDCs encountered included 74 oral tablets/capsules, 52 oral liquids and 23 topical semi solids. Majority of the available FDCs were registered by Nigerian drug regulatory agency (91.5%), although only 8.5% and 6.5% in total were included on the Nigerian EML and the WHO model list respectively. Of the 99 FDCs assessed for rationality, 58 (58.6%) were found to be rational. Irrational FDCs included drugs acting on the respiratory tract (29.3%), analgesics (26.8%) and anti-infectives (22%).Conclusions:A wide variety of FDCs were available in the study area, even though not all of them were rational. There is an urgent need for policy makers within the country to develop better detailed guidelines for FDC registration.

Estimating the Knowledge Capital Model for Foreign Investment in Services: The Case of Singapore

Singapore’s inward and outward investments with industrialized countries in both manufacturing and service sectors were skill seeking while outward investments to developing countries were labor seeking. Applying the Knowledge-Capital model, it was found that services Foreign Direct Investment is sensitive to skill differences. A ten percent decline in skill differences with industrialized countries resulted in a 4.25 percent rise in inbound manufacturing and 1.48 percent rise in inbound services investments. Meanwhile, a ten-percent increase in skill differences with developing countries resulted in a 30 percent rise in outbound manufacturing and 0.38 percent rise in services investments. Furthermore, when services are distinguished by skill-intensity, the impact of relative skill endowments on inbound Foreign Direct Investment in skill-intensive services is significantly different from the impact on other services. However, when services are disaggregated by “proximity” needs, we do not find any significant difference in the impact of relative skill endowments on Foreign Direct Investment.

Estimating the Knowledge Capital Model for Foreign Investment in Services: The Case of Singapore

Singapore’s inward and outward investments with industrialized countries in both manufacturing and service sectors were skill seeking while outward investments to developing countries were labor seeking. Applying the Knowledge-Capital model, it was found that services Foreign Direct Investment is sensitive to skill differences. A tenpercent decline in skill differences with industrialized countries resulted in a 4.25 percent rise in inbound manufacturing and 1.48 percent rise in inbound services investments. Meanwhile, a ten-percent increase in skill differences with developing countries resulted in a 30 percent rise in outbound manufacturing and 0.38 percent rise in services investments. Furthermore, when services are distinguished by skill-intensity, the impact of relative skill endowments on inbound Foreign Direct Investment in skill-intensive services is significantly different from the impact on other services. However, when services are disaggregated by “proximity” needs, we do not find any significant difference in the impact of relative skill endowments on Foreign Direct Investment.

A random survey of the prevalence of falsified and substandard antibiotics in the Lao PDR.

In 2012, a stratified random survey, using mystery shoppers, was conducted to investigate the availability and quality of antibiotics sold to patients in the private sector in five southern provinces of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos). A total of 147 outlets were sampled in 10 districts. The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content measurements for 909 samples, including nine APIs (amoxicillin, ampicillin, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, ofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline and trimethoprim), were determined using HPLC. All the analysed samples contained the stated API and we found no evidence for falsification. All except one sample had all the units tested with %API values between 75% and 125% of the content stated on the label. However, we identified the presence of substandard antibiotics: 19.6% (201/1025) of samples had their units outside the 90%-110% content of the label claim and 60.2% (617/1025) of the samples had units outside of the International Pharmacopoeia uniformity of content limit range. Amoxicillin had a high number of samples [67.1% (151)] with units above the limit range, followed by ciprofloxacin [58.8% (10)] and ofloxacin [57.4% (39)]. Ceftriaxone, trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole had the highest number of samples with low API content: 57.1% (4), 51.6% (64) and 34.7% (43), respectively. Significant differences in %API were found between stated countries of manufacture and stated manufacturers. With the global threat of antimicrobial resistance to patient outcomes, greater understanding of the role of poor-quality antibiotics is needed. Substandard antibiotics will have reduced therapeutic efficacy, impacting public health and control of bacterial infections.

Consumers’ Purchase Intentions of Bi-national Products: Effects of Country-of-Brand, Country-of-Manufacture, and Trusting Beliefs

The prevalence of bi-national products necessitates decomposing of COO into its dimensions—country-of-brand (COB) and country-of-manufacture (COM)—to enable a fuller understanding of how COO affects consumer perceptions and intentions. This study examines how consumers' trusting beliefs about a brand moderate the negative COB/COM image and purchase intention relationship. More specifically, this article hypothesizes that three trusting beliefs weaken the effects of negative COB/COM image on consumers' purchase intention. Data for this study were collected from 405 participants using an online survey tool. A hierarchical moderated regression method was used to test the hypotheses. The results suggest that consumers' trusting beliefs have a significant moderating effect on COM/COB and purchase intention relationships. More precisely, benevolence and integrity beliefs about a brand were found to weaken the negative COB image and purchase intention relationship, while benevolence and ability beliefs lessen the effect of negative COM image on purchase intention.

Recent sustainable trends in Vietnam's fashion supply chain

The integration of sustainable practices within the fashion supply chain has been one of the areas receiving increased attention due to global competition and stricter regulations. The concept of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) ensures that eco-friendly practices have been adopted by many global fashion brands. Fashion industries in developing countries such as Vietnam, one of the leading fashion manufacturing countries in South-East Asia, are under tremendous pressure to comply with sustainability norms. Therefore, this paper aims to review the recent trends in SSCM in Vietnam's fashion and retail industries. A four-step approach was adopted: collection of information through literature or data collection (Step 1), classification and codification (step 2), input of industry experts (Step 3) and analysis of the above three inputs (Step 4). The findings showed that although Vietnam is among the top five exporting countries of textiles and garments globally, the concept of a sustainable supply chain is new to many of the Vietnamese supply chain players. Four out of five stakeholders claimed that they are attempting to achieve sustainability by reducing environmental pollution, taking care of the labor force, and pursuing future sustainable materials as well as renewable energy resources. In addition, one of the stakeholders, the retailers, regularly focus on ethical practices in their sustainable sourcing. These practices help Vietnam to concurrently diminish its environmental impact and ensuing negative consequences as well as improve the country's social and economic sustainability.

Environmental Health Analysis: Assessing the emission levels of benzene from the fuel tanks doors of the vehicles in Tehran city

In this study, 350 vehicles in 20 different models were examined in one of Tehran’s Automobile Technical Inspection Centers. The laboratory tests indicate that longtime exposure to benzene has destructive effects on the blood cells, especially the bone-marrow cells. The concentration levels of benzene caused by the emission of gasoline vapors from fuel tanks doors were measured by PhoCheck EX5000 during a 5 to 15-minute interval for each car. The results indicate that the concentration of benzene caused by the emission of gasoline vapors from the fuel tanks door of the domestic cars was 10 times higher than the imported cars. In most of the imported cars, the amount of benzene in the three measured areas was negligible. This is due to the use of new technology and adaptation of strict environmental standards by the manufacturing country.

College and Enterprise Cooperate to Train Modern Craftsmen

In 2017, Government Work Report put forward that China should vigorously promote the spirit of cultivate many Chinese craftsmen, create more world-renowned Chinese brands and promote China's economic development into the era of quality. The transformation of China from a big manufacturing country to a powerful manufacturing country not only needs to improve the researching capability of science and technology, but also needs a very important supporting factor—modern craftsmen. Vocational colleges shoulder the responsibility of training technical and technical personnel. In the process of personnel training, both colleges and enterprises take the school-enterprise Community as the carrier. This paper aims to explore the modern craftsman training mode according to the current situation.

The Effect of Country of Manufacturing and Its impact on Consumers' Purchasing Decision

Jean-Noel Kapferer, an internationally recognized brand expert once asked the provocative question: How global are global brands? While there has been no definitive answer to Kapferer’s question to date, there has been significant research to understand the complex issues that underpin global brands. This paper is among one of those many efforts that aims to understand the effect of country of origin of various product categories on consumers. Due to unrelenting forces of globalization, consumers want standardized consumer products wherever they are and thus the concept of country of origin plays an unimaginable role in the field of international business and marketing. The aim of the paper is to establish whether the consumers are aware about the origin of product/s. In addition, this paper seeks to understand various factors that affect a consumer’s purchasing decision in relation with country of origin and brand trust. This has been done through a primary survey using a detailed questionnaire with 101 respondents. These respondents have been tapped on 5 broad product categories; cars, mobile phones, cosmetics, mobile accessories and electronics. The findings reflect that the country of livelihood affects the customers’ choice of buying a particular product.

The key factors of total quality management in the service sector: a cross-cultural study

PurposeLiterature refers to the key factors of total quality management (TQM) based on studies carried out in individual countries. However, few studies focus on studying the TQM factors in service companies based on multinational data. The purpose of this paper is to empirically identify the key TQM factors and their impact on internal and external customer performance measures across different countries.Design/methodology/approachThe research questions regarding the TQM factors and their effects were examined using a sample of service organisations from three countries (131 from Greece, 70 from Mexico and 151 from Spain). TQM factors and their impact on employee and customer satisfaction were analysed separately for each country. Exploratory factor analyses, coupled with multiple linear regression analyses, were conducted.FindingsThe key TQM factors identified are common among the three participating countries and can be summarised as follows: quality practices of top management, process management, employee quality management, customer focus, and employee knowledge and education. The adoption level of these five key factors of TQM varies across service organisations in different countries. The results also confirmed that some of the TQM elements are antecedents of customer- and employee-focused performance.Practical implicationsMultinational service organisations may use such an instrument to evaluate TQM implementation among worldwide operations and then benchmark their performance. In addition, an understanding of similarities and differences among countries would help managers around the world to address difficulties of TQM implementation related to the country culture.Originality/valuePrevious studies have compared key TQM factors across different countries in manufacturing, but overall, there has been a little attempt in the literature to analyse the adoption of TQM factors among service firms, as well the relationships between quality improvement and performance across different geographical regions.

Policy Suggestions for Korean Research Equipment Industry According to the State of Construction of National Research Facility and Equipment by Country of Manufacture : Focusing on Basic and Analytical Science Field

Policy Suggestions for Korean Research Equipment Industry According to the State of Construction of National Research Facility and Equipment by Country of Manufacture : Focusing on Basic and Analytical Science Field

Health risk assessment of cadmium, chromium and nickel from car paint dust from used automobiles at auto-panel workshops in Nigeria.

Nigeria's economic problems which inhibited local production has resulted in massive importation of used automobiles. Most of these automobiles need some repairs and reworking, having outlived their lifespan in the manufacturer's country. This study centers on the human carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk assessment of cadmium, chromium and nickel exposures from reworking of imported used vehicles. Scraped car paint dusts from 56 Japanese made cars were collected from 8 different panel beating (body works) workshops (A-H) in Southeastern Nigeria. They were homogenized, mixed, divided into fine particles, filtered and digested by standard method. The filtrates were assayed for cadmium, chromium and nickel with atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS, 200A), workshops F and D have the highest concentration (mg/kg) of Cd (3.58 ± 0.02) and (3.36 ± 0.04) and higher than levels in workshops A, B, C, E, G and H. Chromium (mg/kg) in workshops F and G were (2.87 ± 0.04) and (2.95 ± 0.06) and higher than the other workshops. Nickel in workshop A (3.84 ± 0.04) is close to other workshop values. The highest hazard quotients for adults were cadmium in workshops B (1.37E-01), D (1.69E-01), E (1.79E-01) (inhalation), chromium [workshops G (5.45E-02), F (5.29E-02) and C (5.24E-02) inhalation]. Nickel -workshop A (5.9E-03) for children (inhalation). HQ in children through ingestion is cadmium (3.72E-04) workshop F and ingestion- 3.21E-01(workshop F) while nickel is 1.06E-02 (workshop A).The highest cancer risks were in exponents -4,-7 and -8 (adult) and -3, -6 and -9 (children) for workshops A-H through inhalation, ingestion and dermal contact, exposures to scrap car paint dust may be of significant public health importance in Nigeria as it can add to body burden of some carcinogenic heavy metals.

Effects of country of origin, foreign product knowledge and product features on customer purchase intention of imported powder milk

This study aims to investigate drivers of purchase intention for imported powder milk by using the PLS-SEM approach to analyse a data survey of 449 customers in Vietnam. The findings indicate that ethnocentrism has no significant impact on perceived product quality. Meanwhile, the country of origin has a significant positive effect on perceived product quality, brand attitude, and purchase intention. However, as separating the country of origin in the first-order construct, information of the country's technology is preferred than that of the country of manufacture. Specifically, foreign product knowledge plays a crucial role in purchase intention. Customers will devote more time to seeking information of imported products before buying. Notably, the subjective norm is an essential predictor of purchase intention and product attitude, in which other people around customers can affect their determination and attitude. The research also conducted a qualitative approach to insight results to make recommendations for managerial implications.

EMERGING BIOSIMILARS IN ONCOLOGY: A REVIEW

Biosimilars are the biological medicinal products that produce the therapeutic effects in the human body similar to that of inner biological molecule. Biopharmaceuticals consist of nucleic acids, amino acids, polysaccharides, or combination of all compounds. In India, the steps have been taken to manufacture biosimilars with the lowest cost and least side effects. Globally, India is one of the major developing countries in manufacturing and marketing of biosimilars. The application of biosimilar was rapidly growing in treating various disorders such as cancer, inflammatory disease, and cardiovascular diseases. For the approval of biosimilars, in vitro studies become the necessity for representing comparison to a standard biological in terms of quality for experimental studies indicating similar pharmacokinetics, efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity. Huminsulin was the first DNA-recombinant protein accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1982. As currently there are no FDA-approved biosimilars for treating breast cancer, many biologic antibodies are under investigation.

Supply Chain of Subsidized Chemical Fertilizers in Nepal

A survey was conducted with different supply chain actors of chemical fertilizers for studying the supply chain of chemical fertilizers in Nepal in 2018. Chemical fertilizers in Nepal are imported from different manufacturing countries like Turkey, China, Egypt and India by global tender and by government to government negotiation especially from India. Potential demand for fertilizer in Nepal is about 7,00,000 MT of which actual supply in the year 2016/17 was 3,24,977MT. Average subsidy on chemical fertilizer in Nepal since 2008/09 is estimated to be NRs. 3,73,42,27,780 (43.78%). Procurement, shipping, warehousing at port, inland transportation, inland warehousing, local transportation, distribution and consumption are major supply chain functions of chemical fertilizer specific to Nepal. Final sell price of urea, DAP and MOP in Sindhupalchhok in the year 2016 was found 37, 15 and 23% respectively higher than entry point sell price. Non-conducive policy environment, ineffective regulation, lack of fund and poor infrastructure are major problems of fertilizer supply in Nepal. Illegal trading from open border of India and selling of subsidized fertilizers by unauthorized agro-dealers are other problems of this sector.Though government has been investing large revenue in fertilizer subsidy, expected results in productivity enhancement has not been met. Assured supply of quality fertilizer in time is more important even than the price of fertilizer. Therefore, emphasis is to be led on implementation of conducive policy, strict regulation and infrastructure development focusing on timely supply, judicious application, checking illegal trading along with the promotion of use of organic manures.

Residual value analysis of plug-in vehicles in the United States

Knowledge about the value of used plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), known as residual value, is critical for potential PEV purchasers, corporations, and governments who wish to consider the lifetime cost effectiveness of PEVs. We investigate the residual values of PEVs and compare them with those of other vehicle powertrain technologies using the “true market value” data from Edmunds.com, and considering U.S. federal incentives. We define the adjusted retention rate as the ratio between resale value and the manufacturer's suggested retail price, subtracting incentives. We develop statistical models to quantify the effects of powertrain technologies on residual value while controlling key factors, including vehicle size, brand, and market segments. We find that the long-range high-performance Tesla Model S holds value significantly better than any other vehicle type evaluated, including internal combustion engine vehicles. Hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are comparable to one another. They hold slightly less value than internal combustion engine vehicles, but significantly more than short-range (< 125 miles) battery electric vehicles. However, short-range battery electric vehicles have a faster improvement in 3-year adjusted retention rate than any other powertrain technology from model year 2013–2014. The other factor that significantly influences adjusted retention rate is the home country of the vehicle manufacturer (e.g., United States, Japan, or Germany).

Resource Allocation, Structural Change, and the Dynamics of Manufacturing Productivity in Indonesia

This paper analyzes productivity growth and its sources in the Indonesian manufacturing sector during the post‐Asian financial crisis period. Based on a plant‐level panel dataset over the period 2001–9, we find meager total factor productivity (TFP) growth in this country's manufacturing industries, merely achieving average annual growth of 0.03%, while TFP growth varies significantly across industries. Further decomposition suggests the need to effectively allocate resources across industries in order to promote aggregate productivity. Moreover, aggregate productivity growth coming from the total reallocation effect remains quite low, lending no support to the structural‐bonus hypothesis. Overall, TFP growth is mainly contributed by incumbents firms, whereas the contribution by firm mobility was larger in some years.

Research on structural dynamics in Chinese automobile standard citation network

China, who owns the largest automobile consuming market, is becoming the largest automobile manufacturing country. However, a gap still lies between China and other traditional automobile manufacturing countries in terms of design capability and production efficiency. Standardization can effectively promote technological innovation and industrial upgradation, which enhances the overall performance of the automobile industry. This paper aims at identifying the structural problem in the automobile standard citation network in China, since the citation relationship reflects the transmission and development of knowledge or technologies. To this end, a dynamic standard citation network model is developed for ease of extraction of standard data at any time points. A set of complex network metrics at both node and network level are chosen with rational explanations in the context of automobile industry. With the data collected from publicized Web sites, the topological evolution of this network is analyzed as well. We significantly show that the standard citation networks at different time periods are generally loosely connected and contain too many isolated nodes. Meanwhile, the critical nodes in the standard citation network also change dynamically. We suggest that these isolated standards should be integrated into the citation network through revision activities.