WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics
Print ISSN: 1109-9526, E-ISSN: 2224-2899
Volume 13, 2016
The Links Among the Cost Drivers of the South African Mobile Phone Industry and Supply Chain Cost-Reduction Approaches: a Network Diagram Perspective
Authors: ,
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to understand the perceptions of mobile-phone players regarding the cost drivers and supply chain cost reduction in the South African mobile phone industry, and to report the links among the cost drivers of the South African mobile-phone industry and supply chain cost-reduction approaches from a network-diagram perspective. Semi-structured interviews were held with eight willing managers of the mobile phone companies in a qualitative case study. Observation and documents were also used for triangulation purposes. The study found network building and network maintenance, handsets, logistics, technology, marketing and sales, as well as training and consulting, to be the cost drivers of the South African mobile-phone industry. The findings of this study suggest that mobile-phone companies should consolidate their strategic relationships and outsource their non-core businesses to specialised service providers. The network diagram designed in the light of the findings showed a set of relationships among the cost drivers of the South African mobile-phone industry and the various supply chain cost-reduction approaches.
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Keywords: supply chain, cost drivers, cost reduction, supply chain cost-reduction approaches, mobile phone industry, qualitative case study, network diagram
Pages: 427-443
WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics, ISSN / E-ISSN: 1109-9526 / 2224-2899, Volume 13, 2016, Art. #39