This study attempts to investigate the major antecedent factors that influence manufacturing SMEs intentions toward the implementation of supplier development activities in Iranian SMEs. In order to achieve this objective, the research constructs were developed. The conceptual framework underlying this study was based on the theories of supplier development activities and social capital.  These...

Recently Just-In-Time (JIT) production has attracted increasing interest throughout the Chinese manufacturing industries and its programs have been widely implemented. Currently, there are few studies conducted about JIT manufacturing implemented by small manufacturing firms in China, even though small firms are still dominant in many areas of manufacturing industries in China. This study analy...

This study examines the similarities and d@erences of outsourcing strategies of medium-sized manufacturing firms in the U.S. and Japan. Analyses of the questionnaire data, obtained from 234 Japanese firms and 94 American firms showed that: (I) Japanese Jirms tended to use more process-oriented R&D outsourcing, while American firms tended to depend on result-oriented R&D outsourcing; (2) Japanes...

Background Innovative biotechnology firms play major roles in the development of biotechnology industry because of their product innovations. Since 2005, the Malaysian government has increased support towards the biotechnology sector to drive this industry forward. The aim of this paper was to identify the challenges in developing biotechnology industry from the prospective of private biotechno...

A manufacturing industry contributes around 10% Malaysian economy. It provides economic opportunities for related industries and business. However, the number of accidents in manufacturing sector, including fatal accidents, has been increased from time to time. To understand the real situation, in this paper, we used a correlation network analysis to analyze 43 characteristics of worker’s behav...