Thai durian supply chain characteristics, performance indicators, and analytic hierarchy process

Abstract

In managing agri-food supply chains, performance measurement is one of the strategic issues of a firm to achieve business success since it helps in determining courses of action through evaluation of earlier practices and benchmarking, addressing performance gaps, as well as redesigning a firm strategy and management system. In spite of its business vitality, little attention has been paid to this area of study. As Thailand is the top durian exporter in the global market, this paper aims to explore the characteristics of the Thai durian supply chain and identify the key performance indicators (PIs) of the chain. To fulfill such aims, focused interviews and face-to-face surveys were adopted to draw out the information embedded in the proficiencies of twenty-one durian specialists recruited by adopting purposive sampling, snowball sampling, and convenience sampling. Constant comparison method was used in analyzing the data in relation to supply chain characteristics and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis was done on the predefined list of performance indicators derived from the conceptual framework of agri-food supply chain performance indicators to determine the weight of importance of each indicator. It is found that the chain characteristics have changed from the previous study. Moreover, online trade and agro-tourism have emerged, horizontal and backward integration are revealed with the withdrawal of district collectors and collectors from other provinces in the industry. Regarding the PIs, only eight of eighteen indicators are found to be critically meaningful to the case of the Thai durian supply chain. However, further experimental and quantitative research is suggested for empirical validation and to resolve any idiosyncrasy in the research.