HONG KONG – A supply chain links producers and consumers through
a complex web of outsourcing contracts, with market leaders in
any product category orchestrating activities to produce
components profitably along its entire length. For example, an
iPad is designed in California – with chips from Japan and parts
from South Korea, Taiwan, and elsewhere – and finally assembled
in China for global distribution. But the ecology of supply
chains is not as straightforward as this depiction suggests.
Most studies of supply chains examine their operations, but take
for granted governments’ critical enabling role. Because the
non-delivery of government services would inhibit the proper
functioning of business supply chains, understanding how the
government-services supply chain works is vital. For example,
the Chinese economy’s transformation was enabled by the
synchronized delivery of government services to support the
logistics, finance, and manufacturing supply chains. This was a
complex task that involved different