Title: Enhancing the competitive advantages of Vietnamese coffee through the exploration of causal loop modelling in the supply chain

Authors: Thich V. Nguyen; Nam C. Nguyen; Ockie J.H. Bosch

Addresses: Systems Design and Complexity Management, School of Marketing and Management, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; Faculty of Economics, Tay Nguyen University, 567 Buon Ma Thuot City, Vietnam ' Systems Design and Complexity Management, School of Marketing and Management, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; SysPrac Pty Ltd., 24 Rawson Penfold Drive, Rosslyn Park, SA 5072, Australia; Malik, Geltenwilenstrasse 18, 9001 St. Gallen, Switzerland ' Systems Design and Complexity Management, School of Marketing and Management, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia; SysPrac Pty Ltd., 24 Rawson Penfold Drive, Rosslyn Park, SA 5072, Australia; Systemic Excellence Group, Marienstraße 20 D-10117 Berlin, Germany

Abstract: Coffee supply chain management is the global operational strategy for enhancing the competitiveness of coffee companies. Enterprises are attempting to find ways to improve their competitiveness by changing their operation strategy through methods that include the implementation of the supply chain management paradigm. However, a thorough and critical review of existing literature is yet to be carried out in order to identify pertinent factors and gain useful insights into the role and effectiveness of causal loop modelling in coffee supply chain management. In this paper, researchers develop causal relationships among different variables that present enablers and outcomes - operating within many identified feedback loops. The resulting causal loop model provides coffee production managers with a snapshot of the dynamic interactions among elements in the coffee supply chain, which helps to identify proactive action in implementing the coffee supply chain philosophy for increasing the competitiveness of coffee products. Based on this review and analysis, recommendations are made regarding the application of the causal loop method in coffee supply chain management. Important future research directions are also indicated.

Keywords: coffee supply chains; causal loop diagrams; CLD; competitive advantage; Vietnam; causal loop modelling; supply chain; supply chain management; coffee production management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2017.080629

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2017 Vol.26 No.1, pp.17 - 33

Received: 10 Sep 2015
Accepted: 25 Oct 2015

Published online: 01 Dec 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article