Supply Road Trade Supply Chain Managing Challenges and Recommendations

SUPPLY ROAD TRADE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGING CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
NAME OF THE STUDENT
STUDENT NUMBER
NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY

Abstract
The Silk Road is a land bridge that is aimed to facilitate the business between China and Europe. The Silk Road is going through the challenge of reconstructing the supply chain post the collapse of Soviet Union. Several programs including Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation and Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus Asia have been implemented in past for overcoming the challenges of fragmentation and supply chain performance over Silk Road that Central Asia is witnessing. These programs could not deliver the anticipated results because they could not deal with the issues that extend beyond the national borders. The Government of the Central Asia has drafted and implemented plan of action and the focus areas of the plan of action is the global and regional connectivity along with the supply connectivity performance over the Silk Road. As the earlier initiates taken by the Government of the Central Asia were corridor specific. However, the issues that Silk Road is dealing with are not corridor specific
This research study is going to identify the aspects that exacerbated the inefficiency of Silk Road supply chain. Along with examining the factors that led to inefficiency the research study will also try to find the major drivers of change that can facilitate efficient trade on Silk Road considering the Logistics Performance Index.
For identifying the issues supply chain managing, interview process will be conducted with those individuals that are directly involved in the logistics managing such as cargo forwarders, custom brokers and truckers that actually witness the inefficiencies in the supply connectivity managing. As Kazakhstan known as heart of the Central Asia, the sample for the research process will be selected from Kazakhstan.
Answers to the research questions and conclusion for the research study are built on the finding of interview process.
Table of Contents
TOC o 1-3 h z u 1.Introduction PAGEREF _Toc22818181 h 41.1Background of a study PAGEREF _Toc22818182 h 61.2Problem Statement PAGEREF _Toc22818183 h 61.3Research Objectives PAGEREF _Toc22818184 h 71.4Research Questions PAGEREF _Toc22818185 h 72. Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc22818186 h 73. Methodology PAGEREF _Toc22818187 h 133.1 Research Approach PAGEREF _Toc22818188 h 133.2 Research Design PAGEREF _Toc22818189 h 143.3Data collection PAGEREF _Toc22818190 h 153.4Research instrument PAGEREF _Toc22818191 h 153.5Data analysis PAGEREF _Toc22818192 h 163.6Ethical consideration PAGEREF _Toc22818193 h 164.Findings PAGEREF _Toc22818194 h 17Theme 1 Supply Chain Connectivity PAGEREF _Toc22818195 h 17Theme 2 Factors that exacerbated the inefficiency of Silk Road supply chain PAGEREF _Toc22818196 h 21Theme 3 Major drivers of change for facilitating efficient trade on Silk Road PAGEREF _Toc22818197 h 24Theme 4 Coherence present between the measures in the plan of action drafted by the Government of Central Asia and Logistics performance index PAGEREF _Toc22818198 h 295.Discussion PAGEREF _Toc22818199 h 306.Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc22818200 h 38

IntroductionSilk Road is the longest overland route that connects China and Europe. The one end of Silk Road is present-day Central Asia that encompasses of all five separate states of Central Asia including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan (Alon et al., 2018). These all five independent republics compose the Eurasian land bridge that connects over with its trading partners situated over long distances. Over this path, the future prosperity of trade and growth opportunities relies highly on the effectiveness of exterior and interior supply chain connections (Wang et al., 2018). Supply chain managing is a concept that extends beyond the physical link between exporters and importers over this path.
It has been evaluated that most of the trade over this path goes by the ship from the Suez Canal. The connection shared between Europe and China in current times, is of foremost interest as it has the potential to offer competitive trade off of cost and time for the independent republics involved through maritime route (Khan et al., 2011). In order to take the advantage of this competitive edge many multinational companies have started their block trains on this route though Siberia and Manchuria. However, it has been estimated that the land bridge does not have the capacity to operate like that of the sea. The potential of the land bridge is equivalent to nearly 1 to 2 of what is carried by the sea (Tsai, K. M., amp Pawar, 2018).
Thus, there is a need to increase the reliability of the land bridge for complementing shipping and increasing the efficiency of the supply chain over the path involving production manufacturing of high value components used in the computer and automotive industries (Kundu amp Sheu, 2018). The most important reason to grow the efficiency of supply chain over this path is to sustain the economic growth regional economies in Central Asia republics. The regional economies in the Central Asia republics are dependent over Chin and Europe for trade in Asian exports and imports. Along with this dependence, their internal trade opportunities and local added value is also dependent on the supply chain of this land bridge (Kundu amp Sheu, 2018).
The supply chain connectively between the exporters and the importers on the trade path is highly dependent upon the quality of infrastructure adopted on the trade specific route. Along with the infrastructure there are other factors as swell that impact the quality of supply chain connectivity (Kundu amp Sheu, 2018). Those other factors include custom and border control, sophistication of services, transportation policies of the economy. All these factors have a direct impact on the logistic performance under trade over this path. Policies like cross border cooperation also play an essential role in facilitating international supply chains. The cross-border cooperation holds high relevance in the case of Central Asia as the regional economies in it depend on each other (Cullinane et al., 2018).
The loophole in the progress of transport technology of the Silk Road that despite the progress there still does not exists efficient connectivity between buyers and sellers which leads to costly series of sales along this entire route. This supply chain fragmentation reduces the efficiency of supply chain over the land bridge. The factors that lead to this supply chain fragmentation are presence of local intermediaries, intrusive border controls and unreliable transport services. It has been evaluated that when trade happens over this path happening of uncertainties like delay of shipments for weeks is quite normal (Gallo et al., 2017). Along with the shipment delays there are also many other security concerns that also reduce the reliability of trade practices over this path.
Thus, the two main characteristics of Silk Road supply chain is fragmentation and complexity. According to the World Bank (2014), the structure of the trade over this path was structured post the disintegration of soviet integration. Trade is linked country to country which increases the control in trade but hampers the trade facilitation. Policies like regional political considerations can also hamper the trade facilitation over the borders. As these regional political considerations can become obstacles for transit flows and regional trade at borders (World Bank, 2014).
1.1Background of a studyIn order to reduce the fragmentation and increasing the connectivity between the suppliers and buyers at Silk Road the government in Central Asia is moving on a Connectivity Agenda (Stapleton et al., 2012). It has also been evaluated that for reducing the fragmentation and increasing the efficiency of supply chain managing it is important to implement policies for national improvement in areas like service regulation, infrastructure standards and trade facilitation (Lee et al., 2018). Working on all of the above areas will require drafting and implementation of decisive collective action by the government.
1.2Problem StatementThe Government of Central Asia are aware of the fragmentation and inefficiency in the connectivity of the Silk Road Supply chain. However, so far, the actions that are taken by the government are not consistent with the agenda of the action plan. The purpose of allocating responsibilities to the independent agencies may not prove to be successful in working towards the agenda of improving the supply network. For example, the transport ministries are incentivized to improve the substructure of the regional economies over this path and not for expanding the national markets (Sheu amp Kundu, 2018).
Thus, there exist coordination issues in the decisive cation plan implemented by the government in Central Asia for improving the supply chain connectivity over the Silk Road.
1.3Research ObjectivesTo develop an understanding regarding supply chain connectivity.
To identify the factors that exacerbated the inefficiency of Silk Road supply chain.
To examine the major drivers of change to facilitate efficient trade on Silk Road.
To examine the impact of the measures in the plan of action drafted by the government of Central Asia on the supply structure performance connectivity over Silk Road.
For investigating the coherence between Logistics performance index and the measures in the Plan of Action.
1.4Research QuestionsWhat is meant by Supply Chain Connectivity
What are the aspects which exacerbated the inefficiency of Silk Road supply chain
What can be the major drivers of change for facilitating efficient trade on Silk Road
Is there coherence present between the measures in the plan of action drafted by the Government of Central Asia and Logistics performance index
2. Literature ReviewAs per the study of Shen amp Mikschovsky (2019), there is a major part that is played by non-public sector in improving the connectivity issues on the Silk Road as mentioned by the plan of action drafted by the Government of Central Asia. However, when the study evaluates the characteristics of the private sector it can be easily evaluated that the private sector majorly has commodity oriented structure of production therefore the region lacks in its strength and quality of export oriented manufacturers (Shen amp Mikschovsky, 2019). According to the country analysis conducted by the study, in other countries the private sector voice is composed of the viewpoints of custom brokers, forwarders and truckers whereas in the Central Asia no voice is given to the exporters of manufactures goods, custom brokers and the truckers who actually witness the supply chain inefficiencies (Shen amp Mikschovsky, 2019)
As per the study of Seele et al. (2019), there are various factors that intensify the inefficiencies of the supply chain over the Silk Road. On of the most prominent factor that has led to this efficiency is the lack of skills amongst the private and public sector mangers to manage the supply chain efficiency over the Silk Road (Seele et al., 2019) There does not exist culture of supply chain managing in public and private sectors. According to Prause (2019), the presence of internal logistics companies is important for an economy to get exposure to the best practices associated to the supply chain managing. There is limited presence of international logistics companies in Central Asia which also limits opportunity of applicability of best practices of supply chain managing over thee Silk Road (Prause, 2019) Central Asia is isolated from the knowledge related to international logistics. Thus, the study recommends that greater involvement of knowledge of international logistics and global logistics can help in facilitating long distance transmit of goods and will avoid country by country trade. Efficiency in global trade transmission can also help in increasing the spillovers of efficient trade across all the independent regional independent republics (Prause, 2019).
As per the study of Lee et al. (2018), several initiatives have been taken place on Silk Road in order to deal with the transportation and trade issues over this path. Th most prominent action amongst all the initiatives is CAREC. The act of CAREC have significantly contributed in dealing with the trade facilitation issues over this land bridge. The significant contribution of CAREC is that it helped in increasing the awareness and also addressing the major bottlenecks on the rails and roads that majorly facilitate the trade (Lee et al., 2018). However, the initiative could not achieve the anticipated results of facilitating efficient trade over the land bridge because this initiative only targeted the bottlenecks on the specific routes therefore could not deal with the issues like policy constraints and capacity of the route at the country wide level (Lee et al., 2018). There is need of initiatives in Central Asia that targets the issues faced by transit logistics and integration of cross border in order to facilitate efficient supply chain managing over the Silk Road. Another factor that increases the implementation of integration in trade is the regional politics challenges amongst the independent regional republics over the Silk Road Supply Chain (Nazarko et al., 2018).
As per the study of Lamberti amp Pero (2019), in order to work towards the connectivity issue over the Silk Road it is important to drive relevant transformations in such institutions which facilitate the business in these independent regional republics and the private sector. The changes are to be implemented in the institutions in a manner that it increasing the transport connections and trade that transits over a longer distance. Some of the recommendations that were included in the study is the formation of Eurasian Customs Union (Lamberti amp Pero, 2019). This Eurasian Customs Union will help in the implementation of integration rules and procedures that will comparatively efficient than the earlier initiatives taken for facilitating the commerce on the Silk Road. The implementation of Eurasian Customs Union will have a straight facilitation influences because the custom control between the Union members of the borders have been diminished (Lamberti amp Pero, 2019).
When the Custom Union will follow a single transit for the movement of goods which will simplify the trade within the non- Union countries, it will also help in increasing the efficient integration of the transport services and will improve the condition and the quality of the transport like trucks to operate across borders (Lamberti amp Pero, 2019).
According to a primary study conducted by Lam et al. (2018), the findings of the interview with the private sector reveals that the efficiency of the private sector definitely has a positive impact on the supply chain connectivity over the Silk Road. The Government of the Central Asia needs to adopt certain set of measures that is to be implemented internationally for increasing the reliability of land transport routes (Lam et al., 2018). The government needs to move beyond its current corridor approach for handling the increased capacity of the trade and for reducing the costs and lead times involved in the transportation in trade. According to a study conducted by Kundu amp Sheu (2018), many programs and support has already been issued in order to provide budgeting for the maintenance of the roads and the assets. However, the government needs to ensure proper implementation of such programs in order to ensure proper maintenance of the infrastructure and the assets over the Silk Road supply Chain. Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan can also implement road asset managing systems that will helps in introducing efficiency in aspects like budgeting and maintenance of roads (Kundu amp Sheu, 2018). Thus, in order to implement road asset managing systems, the government of independent republics will need sufficient financing for efficiently implementing road asset managing systems.
Another study on the similar field conducted by Fu (2018), suggests that the investments that the government is taking for integrating the rail and road networks should be economically evaluated in order to justify the rationale for the new links formed. It should be ensured that the development of the new rail and road links facilitates the cross border connectivity (Fu, 2018). The government should also take actions in order to evaluate the progress of the initiatives and contribution of the transportation links towards the efficient movement of goods and freights over long distances (Khan et al., 2011). Another recommendation that can be taken into consideration is the cost effectiveness of the initiatives adopted by the government along with examining the possible impact of the investment on increasing the efficiency of Eurasian Connectivity (Khan et al., 2011).
According to the study conducted by Gallo et al. (2017), there can be three measures that can possibly be adopted by the government of Central Asia in order to improve the connectivity over Silk Road. The first measure that can be adopted is improving the links of the road and railways networks situated at the north south and east west axis in order to efficiently cater the transportation demand and also to keep a check on the status of improvement with the initiatives like CAREC (Gallo et al., 2017). The another measures that needs to adopted for ensuring the connectivity over Silk Road is focusing on efficient implementation and maintenance of the policies for managing the supply chain managing practices over the land bridge of Silk Road. The government needs to regularly identify the need of resources. Adequate planning and finances for fostering the working of private companies and improve the trade connectivity over the Silk Road. Thus, there is a need to first increasing the credibility and reliability of the current pilots in order to increase the efficiency of private companies (Cullinane et al., 2018). Thus, there is requirement of the government to efficiently follow the commitment of providing adequate finances for increasing the efficiency of trade and the private companies in the Central Asia.
Another measure of improvement that needs to implemented in order to complete the connectivity agenda is linked to improving the internal communication across the regional network (Haksz, et al., 2011). The breakup of the Soviet Union led to disintegrated rail and road networks therefore there exists a need to focus on the internal communication within the independent regional republics for increasing the transit potential among the regions rather than just focusing on the strength of the regional network (Haksz, et al., 2011).
According to the study conducted by Cullinane et al. (2018), the issue of no presence of continuous rail transit traceability does not allow the transportation of containers and the goods from the origin to the transloading facility available at the border. Along with the rail transit traceability there does not even exist proper schedules for containers to be transported from one destination to another (Cullinane et al., 2018). The lack of the presence of proper schedules can eb regarded as an operational issue present over the Silk Road. However, this operational problem also exists because of the fragmentation existing over the path of trade. The small scale terminal facilities over the trade path make the transit of the freight and the goods inefficient over the land bridge.
The study conducted by Chan amp Reiner (2019), suggests actions that can be implemented in Kazakhstan in order to increase the efficiency of Euro Asian transit. One of the recommendations suggested by the study states that it is pivotal for Kazakhstan to establish alliances with international railways and freight forwarders in order to promote scheduling in its trade practices (Chan amp Reiner, 2019). The alliances with the international freight forwarders will help in expanding the scheduled consolidated services from and to Central Asia. Another recommendation by the study states that there should be limited terminals while transporting the goods to their final destination (Crandall et al., 2011). In order to determine the important destinations there is a need of discussion between the private terminal owners and the railway companies for deciding upon the prevalent and the important terminals and destination for the trains running destination countries of Central Asia. However, according to the study there is no need of small scale terminals in between for the block trains. In order to increase the efficiency of the supply chain there is need of establishment of a large terminal for continuous transit of goods and freights over the destination (Crandall et al., 2011).
The third strategy that can be implemented in the Kazakhstan is to implement a track and trace system for continuously tracing the progress of the trade transit. This trace system for the transit merchandise will be able to evaluate the efficiency of information exchange between the trading companies and the international freight forwarders (Tsai amp Pawar, 2018).
3. MethodologyThe research methodology is regarded as a significant aspect of as dissertation. The techniques and tools which will be used by the researcher are stated in this area which helps to carry out the research work effectively. The research approach, design and method for data collection are elaborated in this chapter. It also highlights the sample techniques used by the researcher to find appropriate answer for every research question and conduct a deep analysis of the factors that are leading to the supply chain managing issues over the Silk Road. In this section along with data collection tools and methods, the ethical considerations and limitations of the research will also be discussed.
3.1 Research ApproachThere are two approaches which can be used to conduct a research study. These approaches help in drawing the desirable result and obtain relevant answers to the research question. These approaches are inductive and deductive approach. In Inductive research approach, the researcher transits a specific observation into comprehensive theory in order to gain the deep understanding about the problem. The inductive approach is also known as theoretical approach because in order to gain in depth analysis the researcher analyzes the present theoretical literature about the topic. The inductive approach is suitable where the researcher wishes to collect and analyze secondary data. Inductive approach is suitable for the secondary data analysis because an efficient theoretical framework gives a strong base to the research study. Another present research approach can be deductive research approach. Under deductive research approach, the researcher moves from a broad theory to a specific conclusion for finding defined responses to the research questions. In case of a particular research study the researcher wants to collect in depth information about the factors that are increasing the inefficiency of the Silk Road supply chain. Therefore, inductive research approach will be helpful in finding broad answers to the research questions of the study.
3.2 Research DesignIt is critical for a researcher to decide upon a research design as it defines the strategies that are to be adopted by him in the entire research process. Research design is based upon the requirement of the research question. A researcher can adopt any of the two research designs. For current type of research study the descriptive and exploratory research designs are used. In the descriptive research study the researcher wants to understand a few and particular characteristics of the data based upon which the research questions of the study are answered. It helps the researcher in collecting accurate and precise findings of the study. In order to adopt the descriptive research study effectively it becomes important for the researcher to select the population of the study and collect secondary quantitative data. Descriptive research design supports the utilization of secondary quantitative data because according to this research design secondary quantitative data helps in increasing the reliability and credibility of the research findings of the study. Under quantitative analysis the researcher can utilize methods like questionnaire, survey method and interviews for collecting the data.
3.3Data collectionData collection method is the method that is used to collect the data for the research work. The data collections are alienated in two fragments that consist of primary data collection method and secondary data collection method. In the primary data collection method, the data collected by conducting survey and interviews in a specified region (Yeakley amp Caballero, 2016). The survey consists of some questions that are closed-ended or open-ended. The open-ended questions are sort of descriptive ones. On the other hand, the closed-end questions are consists of options that one have to choose between them. The secondary data collection method entails data that is taken from books, academics and other references. For this research work, the secondary data collection method is used for effective results.
Justification for choosing secondary data
For qualitative research work, the secondary data collection method is the most appropriate to research in a rational manner. Secondary qualitative research work will be used to conduct the research work. In the secondary data collection method the information is gathered from profound resources like peer reviewed academics, books, different research work etc. This method is effective as it will provide the data that is authentic and reliable. The data for this research work is collected from government department and supply chain managing system. The sample for the research process will be selected from Kazakhstan because Kazakhstan is considered to be the pivot of Central Asia.
3.4Research instrument
Research instrument is the quantifying tool through which usable data is obtained from the research work (Ponto, 2015). It is a fundamental tool that assembles the entire data that is collected throughout the research work (Etikan, Alkassim, amp Abubakar, 2016). For this research work qualitative secondary data collected. The reason for collecting secondary is to have the data that authentic and reliable for the research work. For this research work surveys and interview is the problematic way that may arise issue at the end. Secondary data collection method is the most effective and suitable choice to conduct the research work. The data is secondary research work is assembled from journals, publications, preceding research works that include books, papers, academic articles etc. Apart from that, the data can be collected from government officials that acquired hundred per cent authenticity. Internet and other media resources are also used in order to collect data. In this method the preceding research and data is evaluated on the bases of conclusion, statement and statement. The research work of authors are compared and analyzed to collect the most usable data from the article or paper. The data that is collected in printed and documented form. The validity of the research work depends on the author, website and the publication house that is selected for data collection. This is named as research instrument that comprises of books, journals, academics, ProQuest, Google scholar, government official sites etc.
3.5Data analysis
Data analysis is the technique that is used to analyze the data is collected in previous stages of research methodology. The data analysis technique will analyze the data so that appropriate is used that relates to the research work (Mihas, 2019). Data analysis is done by the various process in order to find authentic data for the research work. There are mainly two methods used in data analysis that comprises of qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. For this research work, qualitative data analysis is used. In qualitative data analysis, thematic analysis is used to conduct the research work. The thematic analysis is conducted in order to interpret and validate the data for the research work. This comprises of the theme under which the analysis is carried out. This is the most suitable choice for research work.
Justification for choosing thematic analysis
Thematic analysis is the most appropriate choice to conduct the research work. The thematic analysis is used to conduct the research work on the basis of the themes (Nowell, Norris, White, amp Moules, 2017). For qualitative data collection, this is the most appropriate choice to conduct the research in a rational manner. In this research, data is collected that is based on the themes. The themes that are generated to collect the task comprises of some particular and specific data from specific sites and peer reviewed. Apart from that, the thematic analysis will provide various precise and authentic data that is entirely related to the research work. The thematic analysis is able to provide data on the specific themes from the literature which helps the researcher and the reader in finding appropriate literature on the specific areas of the research study and it will also help in finding answers to the research questions effectively.
3.6Ethical considerationEthical consideration is the most important parameter while conducting any research work. The ethical consideration comprises of certain that need to be incorporated in the research work. As this is a very important parameter for the authenticity of the research. Certain norms need to be followed while conducting nay research work. Confidentiality should be maintained regarding the research work (De Vries amp Munung, 2019). Apart from that, the confidentiality of the respondent is also important to conduct research work. Linguistic that is used in the research work should be very appropriate. It should not be offensive in any case. The communication among the researchers should have high transparency. As well as the research should collect data from authentic sites that comprise of the transparency to the research. The research should not be conducted with any biased behaviour in the entire work. Ethical consideration is done in research work so as no other authority can question on the research work. This practice will help the researcher to collect data from authentic sites without any further complication in the research work. The data that is collected from the data collection methods should be related to the research work. No other data is added that does not relate to the research work. The information written from the secondary resources is properly referenced in order to give credits to the authors work and also to increase the reliability of the findings stated in the current study. Also, in order to further increase the reliability of the study the data sources like peer reviewed articoes and journals have been selected.
Methodology limitations
The research is conducted on a broad level with every possible manner but the research has some limitations. This limitation comprises of the approach, design and philosophy that is used in entire research work. There are various limitations of the research work that included
The research is based on the specific area and it does not provide the information and the impact on other areas. As the issue of supply chain managing is based on specific area in Australia. The research used qualitative data collection method that provides information regarding the books and journals that are directly involved in supply chain managing. The research work is not able to cover the data from the people that are indirectly connected to the supply chain managing. This is one of the major gaps in the methodology. The research methodology used in this research is data collection method. The secondary data collection method need more precise in collecting authentic data. The data collection method acquires large time collect the data. The primary data collection method can be used in the place of secondary data collection methods. It will provide fresh data for the research work. Overall the research cover all the scenario but some gaps still exist in the research that can be filled by using different methods.
Along with this, the another limitation of the current study will be that the findings of the current study are only accumulated through secondary qualitative data and no secondary quantitative data is included in the analysis which reduces the presence of empirical evidence in the present research study.
4.Findings
Theme 1 Supply Chain Connectivity
Supply chain connectivity is when the elements of the supply chain are connected according to the goals of the supply chain. It is important that elements of the supply chain are connected in a way that it leads to reduced costs and increase in the performance. It is also important that there should be consistent improvement in the performance of the supply chain. It is important that the first alignment of physical elements is done properly because lack of alignment can also result in huge costs to the organization (Alon, Chen amp Mandolfo, 2018). The wrong alignment of the physical elements can also result in difficulties in the resynchronization of the physical elements in the supply chain. The organization needs to conduct proper planning and investment in order to ensure that the physical elements of the supply chain are perfectly synchronized (Callaghan amp Hubbard, 2016).
An effective synchronization of the physical elements makes sure that the information flows perfectly between the nodes which helps the organization in order tracking and terminal identification. Connectivity in the supply chain is regarding the physical flow and information flow through along the intermodal transport (Chan amp Reiner, 2019). However, there are several core dimensions that needs to be taken care of while the integration of the physical elements takes place. It also requires transport infrastructure for the interpretability and physical connectivity in order to move the commodities from one location to the terminal. The transport terminal is another important infrastructure required where the commodities moved are reconciled according to the needs of the supply chain managing. In the context of supply chain managing, the logistic activities are performed at transport terminals according to the requirements of the supply chain managing. Another important dimension of connectivity is the commercial integration. According to the context of commercial integration is also becomes important to develop commercial arrangements in the supply chain like development of service level agreements along with the performance targets to be achieved along with the penalties to be imposed in the managing process. The benchmarking of the processes of the supply chain connectivity helps in reducing the costs involved in the managing process along with completing the movement of the commodities on time. The commercial integration in the supply chain connectivity helps in increasing the efficiency of supply chain managing along with achievement of the commercial goals of the organization. Therefore, it is important that commercial supply chain decisions are benchmarked in order to increase the supply chain effectiveness. However, it becomes difficult to increase the supply chain effectiveness because there are various actors in freight distribution which has an impact on the scale and potential of the supply chain managing which makes it managing a complex matrix.
One of the methods that can be adopted for increasing the supply chain connectivity is custom and security integration. Under the customs and security integration the main commercial aim of the connectivity is to move the commodities efficiently after careful inspections and prescreening. This process also helps in avoiding instances like transporting damaged products or risks involved in transferring dangerous commodities. Therefore, structuring of regulations can further help in further integrating the effectiveness of freight distribution system. Another method that can be adopted for increasing the efficiency of supply chain connectivity is promotion of effective modal choice along with avoiding the subsidization of modal preferences. It is also important to harmonize the regulations across jurisdictions. In order to increase the environmental performance of supply chain the strategy of certification and promotion of standards can be introduced in the supply chain managing (Gallo, Accorsi, Baruffaldi amp Manzini, 2017).
However, the literature that one of the loophole that can result into reduced effectiveness of supply chain connectivity is funding. Integration of planning and funding needs to be effective in order to increase the overall performance of supply chain managing. Limitation of availability of financial resources in the form of funding can become a hindrance in the transport chain connectivity. In order to increase the effectiveness of supply chain connectivity provision of investments all levels of coordination is required. Therefore, it involves financial and institutional arrangements in order to respond effectively and timely to the requirements of supply chain managing. However, if the financial resources are not able to meet the demand levels then it can lead to fundamental shifts in the pattern of global trade due to the reduction in the effectiveness of transport chain connectivity. It has been evaluated from the literature that public sector has always been lagging behind in providing the efficient amount of financial funding that is required for improving the terminal facility along with the transport chain connectivity. It is the government who can increase the effectiveness of regional transportation network through providing adequate amount of financial resources.
The study conducted by Crandall, Crandall amp Chen (2011), points out to the fact that along with the synchronization of physical elements in the supply chain organizational and supervisory competencies are also required in order to increase the productivity of tasks related to logistics in the supply chain managing (Crandall, Crandall amp Chen, 2011) It becomes important to have an individual that possesses the ability to managing the labor and employees working in the supply chain managing process in order to ensure that the physical flows are taking place on time and no issues related to labor is negatively impacting the performance of supply chain managing. Due to the increasing trend to labor issues in the supply chain managing the automation process got introduced that eliminates the certainty of labor related issues in the supply chain managing tasks and further increases the certainty of providing new opportunities that further help in increasing the productivity of tasks related to logistics managing. Along with automation the integration of information systems in the supply chain managing also has the ability to bring new opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of supply chain managing (Haiyan, Xi amp Yan, 2018). The integration of information systems along with the logistics operations can help in increasing the managing performance of supply chains. Methods like single window portals and port community systems can help in increasing the effectiveness of supply chain managing practices. Another invention that has emerged recently and can help in increasing the effectiveness of supply chain managing system is block chain technology that acts as distributed electronic ledger systems that further helps in increasing the effectiveness of logistics operation in the supply chain managing practices.
Theme 2 Factors that exacerbated the inefficiency of Silk Road supply chainFactors like no direct business connection between the sellers and the buyers along with supply chain fragmentation led to inefficiency of Silk Road supply chain. Due to no direct connection between the sellers and the buyers the process of selling commodities became costly in the cities involved in trade over the route. Other factors that have increased the inefficiency of supply chain managing over the Silk Road is intrusive local intermediaries and border controls that results into delay in the transportation of the commodities to its final destination. Reliable transportation is also lacking on the Silk Road which also has a negative impact on the delivery patterns over the road. Therefore, it can be evaluated that lack of efficient infrastructure has led to the exacerbated inefficiency over the Silk Road. Along with the infrastructural requirements security concerns are also alarming in the supply chain connectivity over the Silk Road. The factors like lack of transportation infrastructure have the ability to delay the process of commodities reaching to their final destination by weeks or months. Therefore, it becomes important to deal with the issues of complexity and fragmentation over the Silk Road supply in order to effectively manage the supply chain managing practices. In the Silk Road supply chain the trade is dependent upon long transit routes which further increase the complexity and fragmentation in the supply chain managing practices over the Silk Road. The literature also points to the fact that the inefficiency in the Silk Managing is also linked to the past in which preference was given to trade facilitation and not controlled managing of trade. Also, in the past the local services were promoted therefore, the local brokers and truckers were given protection over the foreign service givers which further increased the inefficiency in the Silk Road supply chain managing. The political considerations are also important considerations that are impacting the quality of regional trade and transit flows on the Silk Road. The political consideration impact the flow of goods on the borders which result in increase in the obstacles in the movement of the goods. Therefore, it can be evaluated that there needs further cross border integration along with infrastructure standards that enhance the trade facilitation and reduce the fragmentation of supply chain over the Silk Road. The service regulation along with decisive collection plan can help in increasing the efficiency of logistic chain in order to ensure cost efficient interaction between the importers and exporters. Another method is to ensure that there is perfect alignment between the interests of the independent agencies and the commercial benefits of supply chain. One example of alignment can be that the ministries of transportation can be motivated to build infrastructure and not just to increase the improve the quality of services offered by the ministries of transportation. Therefore, it can be stated that the region does not have knowledge about the international logistics and the involvement of the global logistics operators can help in increasing the efficiency of the supply chain managing practices. The initiatives such as CAREC have been implemented in order to deal with the bottlenecks in the supply chain managing over Silk Road and also helped in increasing awareness regarding the capacity and policy constraints which eventually helped in integration of the transit logistics and cross border logistics. However, the implemented policies could not be efficient enough in dealing with the bottlenecks because of the complexity of the political challenges existing in the region. Therefore, it can be evaluated that there is need of deeper cross border integration within the corridor initiatives regarding the trade and transportation.
However, the literature also points to the fact that recent development of Eurasian Customs Union has helped in encourages significant changes in the trade pattern taken place over the Silk Road and has helped in facilitating trade through the establishment of transport connections in the region. The establishment of Eurasian Customs Union has helped in the advent high degree of introduction of policies and procedures that helped in the increasing the ties between the sellers and the customers. The initiatives under this union proved to be the most effective than any other initiatives. Therefore, it can be evaluated that the direct facilitation impact of Eurasian Customs Union has helped in dealing with the bottlenecks existing in the supply chain over Silk Road. Through the establishment of Eurasian Customs Union the Customer Union member countries shared a common transit system that eased the flow of good through one territory to another. Another reason of why the development of the Eurasian Customs Union helped in facilitating the trade is that the Union further helped in the integration of the transport services and also helped in increasing the possibilities of the trucks for operating in the territories across border.
The literature also points out to the fact that in the year 2012, the government of Kazakhstan arranged an interagency committee in order to effectively address the issues pertaining in the supply chain managing practices on the Silk Road. The committee played a leading role in implementation of the policies that helps in increasing the efficiency of the Silk Road supply chain managing practices. Another important finding from the literature is that private sector has played an important role in achieving the Connectivity Agenda of Silk Road supply chain. However, it has been noticed that the Silk Road supply chain does not have organized base of export oriented manufacturers but has commodity oriented structure of production. Also, the Silk Road supply chain managing practices has not been able to become efficient because the private sector is mainly represented by local truckers, custom brokers, representatives and forwarders that lack the skills and information that is required for making the supply chain managing process effective and efficient. The players in the private sector have limited exposure of the best practices of supply chain managing that limited to their contribution to help in achieving the connectivity agenda.
Theme 3 Major drivers of change for facilitating efficient trade on Silk RoadIn order to increase the efficiency of trade on Silk Road it becomes important to increase the quality of transport and cross border connectivity. In order to support the programs of cross border connectivity it become important that the region has sufficient budgeting of road maintenance prepared. It is also important the available assets with the region has upgraded along with ensuring proper maintenance of the new assets held by the region. Therefore, it can be evaluated that proper maintenance of assets along with effective budgeting of road maintenance can be the major drivers to increase the efficiency of the supply managing practices over the Silk Road. However, it has noticed that in order to conduct effective budgeting of road maintenance the region might require technical assistance in order to introduce road asset managing systems that will help the region in effectively planning, budgeting and programming for dealing with the bottlenecks and also to increase the effectiveness of supply chain managing practices. In order to integrate technical assistance with the supply chain managing practices the region will be requiring adequate amount of finance to be allocated in maintenance of the roads. The government of the region will be responsible for allocating the required funding fir building new roads and integrating the rail and road networks at both regional and national levels. It is also important that before introduction any policies and actions for increasing the connectivity between the networks the economic evaluation of the policies are involved in order to effectively identify the benefits and costs involved with each action. There are many actions and policies implemented in order to raise the quality of the transportation links in the region. However, the element of the cost effectiveness is absent in the already introduced programs which reduces the capability of the programs to deal with the issue of inefficient supply chain managing practices over the region. Therefore, it becomes important to make sure that the cost effectiveness of the investments is done and the possible impact of the investment is evaluated before enacting the policies and procedures in the region. Another drivers of change can be improving the existing the links of rails and roadways along the north south axis and east west axis in order to effectively fulfill the transportation demand emerging in the present. Also, it is also important to evaluate the status of effectiveness of regional forums like CAREC. It is also important to identify the loopholes in such programs and do the required rehabilitation and upgrades in order to achieve the required commercial benefits of supply chain managing. It is also important for the government to focus on the quality of the policies and financial resources available with the region. It becomes important for the government to understand the region requires the adequate financing in order to meet the maintenance needs of the Silk Road along with the future commercial goals of supply chain managing practices over Silk Road. Therefore, it becomes important for the region to get adequate financing in order to ensure that timely introduction of planning tools take place. However, the region can also take help of the private companies in order to effectively manage the quality of the assets owned by the region and it is also important to timely evaluate the effectiveness of the current pilots already introduced in the region. Another major driver of change that can help in increasing the effectiveness of supply chain managing practices can be recreating the cross border road along with realizing the importance of the rail links. It becomes important for the region to realize the importance of the internal communication along with strengthening the regional network in order to realize the potential of the regional network. It is also important to look into factor of competition that will be faced by each regional country while working on common interest of developing the transit. The certainty of increase in the competition is high because each regional country has proclaimed that it wants the transit to go through its territory. It has been evaluated through the past experiences that while working for increased supply chain connectivity the regional countries have been able to achieve the motive of decreasing the transportation costs that has led to the creation of non conductive environment in which the importance of rail and roadway links was neglected. Therefore, it is important that along with cost effectiveness it is also important to consider the importance of the rail and roadways links along with the efficiency of the movement of containers in order to reduce the issue of rail transit traceability between the Customs Union and China. The issue of rail transit traceability between the Customs Union and China further makes it difficult to trace the transported items and commodities to the border from the region.
In order to change the condition of Silk Road supply chain it also becomes important to increase the reliability of the schedules for both freight wagons and containers. The reliability of the schedules is an operational issue which further leads to the fragmentation of small scale terminal facilities (Khan, Khan amp Chaudhary, 2011). Therefore, it can be evaluated that there are scheduled along with reliable services at both Eurasian transit and regional transit in order to reduce the fragmentation of small scale terminal facilities. One of the steps that can be taken in order to reduce the fragmentation is by establishment of alliances of railways and international freight forwarders in order to promote the concept of scheduled consolidated services by railways and international freight forwarders through the Central Asia. However, in order to introduce a concept like scheduled consolidated services by railways and international freight forwarders through the Central Asia, expanded scheduling of container block trains will be required. After the scheduling of container block trains it also required that the region should have discussions with the railway companies along with the private terminal owners in order to determine the optimal destinations of the new block trains. in this planning it is also possible that the region may also need to plan for a larger terminal in order to promote scheduled consolidated services (Cullinane, Lee, Yang amp Hu, 2018).
The continuous Track and Trace system can also become a significant driver of change for increasing the efficiency of supply chain managing practices over the Silk Road. It will be the responsibility of the international freight forwarders to establish a better protocol to ensure effective exchange of information in order to facilitate transit at the Custom Union border with which the interaction between the operators and the trading companies will be improved (Diener, 2015).
The biggest driver of change can be the increased role of private sector in the logistics services. it has been prevalent that the global logistics industry is not well integrated and well developed which limits the available range of provided services at the Custom Union Border. therefore, in order to increase the available range of provided services it is important that the freight forwarders and local companies including custom brokers are well linked through international linkages (Du, 2014). In present, the freight forwarders are operating under contract with the railways and have no exclusive connection with the international logistics companies which leads to poor supply chain managing practices in which the Central Asia only acts as a land bridge. No connection between the freight forwarders and the international logistics companies which becomes the major source of supply chain fragmentation in the regions of Russia, Kazakhstan and China. Therefore, the increased connection of the freight forwarders and the international logistics companies can increase the connectivity among the countries over the Silk Road through partnerships (Haiyan, Xi amp Yan, 2018).
It is also important to identify the main regulatory areas like establishment of professional standards for the domestic workers which have the ability to achieve the commercial goals of Supply Chain managing. It is also important that the established standards are consistent with the international standards which can be effectively done through technical assistance. With the help of technical assistance all the operators in the supply chain managing can be moved towards the newly developed standards (Sheu amp Kundu, 2018). It is also important to define the role of freight forwarders according to well defined standards that are in coherence to the international standards. It is also important that the role of freight forwarders should not just be a commercial agent for the railway companies. It is important that the regulations for the custom brokers and the freight forwarders should align with the international supply chain managing best practices (Fu, 2018).
The present trade facilitation framework over the Silk Route is under developed and is still trying to adopt the international best practices. Therefore, it becomes important to encourage the compliance of the private operators with the international best practices in order to effectively develop the trade facilitation framework. It is also important that the procedures like paper documentation and intervention of customs brokers should be avoided in the customs clearance process which will further smoothen the process of trade facilitation. Another factor that can facilitate trade is the removal of the restrictions on the movement of transit or trucks to the border.
Theme 4 Coherence present between the measures in the plan of action drafted by the Government of Central Asia and Logistics performance indexEfforts have been undertaken in order to evaluate the efficiency of trade supply chain and logistics performance in Central Asia. The findings of the evaluation revealed that the logistics performance is not solely dependent upon the infrastructure but also depends upon the processes and institutions of trade. The quality of services available for trade and processes by customers determines the efficiency of the trade supply chains. In the past the disintegration of the Soviet Union has led to the fragmentation of railway system (Haksz, Seshadri amp Iyer, 2011). With the fragmentation of railway system it was the new institutions that were given the responsibility of managing the borders which led to inefficient trade facilitation in the region. The most developed countries along with the Central Asia lags behind in logistics performance. The findings of the research depict that the bottlenecks in the logistics performance is significantly visible in the Central Asia. Along with infrastructural issues there also exist institutional issues in the supply chain managing over the Silk Road (Kumicz amp Pesch, 2017). The Border managing in Central Asia is highly problematic which requires reforms in the custom and trade facilitation. Another factor that leads to the inefficient supply chain is the high costs related to shipments as it has been seen that the affordability of the shipment is low in the small countries. However, it has been noticed that the tracking along with the timeliness is better in the countries which is close to the main markets. Therefore, it can be evaluated that the performance of the supply chain is effective in the large countries as compared to the small countries. Similarly, the performance of tracking the commodities is also better in the large countries as compared to the small countries. In the small countries located in the Central Asia the firms are able to achieve economies of scale which makes it highly productive with better infrastructure in the entire railway sector (Sotiriadis amp Shen, 2017). Therefore, the performance of the logistics is better in the large countries as compared to the small countries. The literature also points out to the fact that due to the increased awareness of policy makers regarding the logistics constraints the logistics performance tends to be positive in the larger countries as compared to the smaller markets. Therefore, it can be evaluated that the infrastructure improvement along with the increased awareness of the policy makers regarding the logistics constraints is required in order to increase the logistics performance in the smaller countries of Central Asia. Another important finding of the analysis is that better reliability along with infrastructure improvement can become the main drivers of improvement in the performance in the logistics managing in the Central Asia. Along with this, the improvement in the customs or quality of services can further help in increasing the reliability of the supply chain in Central Asia. Therefore, it can be interpreted that Logistics Performance Index can be used in order to measure the performance of the Supply chain managing over the Silk Road and there is perfect coherence between the measures in the plan of action drafted by the Government of Central Asia and Logistics performance index.
5.DiscussionAccording to the findings retrieved from the literature review and thematic analysis it can be retrieved that supply chain connectivity between the exporters and importers is significantly dependent upon the quality of infrastructure in the trade specific route (Alon, Chen amp Mandolfo, 2018). However, this findings of the literature is not in coherence with the finding of the thematic analysis because the finding of the thematic analysis point out to the fact that along with the infrastructure diverse other aspects affect the supply chain connectivity along with the supply chain managing practices overt the Silk Road (Callaghan amp Hubbard, 2016). The thematic analysis pointed out that the factors like custom and border control along with the transportation policies of the region and the overall economy impact the Silk Route supply chain managing practices (Chan amp Reiner, 2019).
The factors like transportation policies and sophistication of services have huge impact on the logistics performance over the Silk Route. Therefore, it can be interpreted that policies like cross border cooperation can help in increasing the logistics performance over Silk Route. Similarly, the literature also points out to the fact that cross border integration plays a pivotal role in the regional economies of Central Asia therefore it can be interpreted the government should allocate financial resources in order to improve the cross border integration over the trade path of Central Asia (Crandall, Crandall amp Chen, 2011). Another important finding of the literature review states that increased role of private sector in the supply chain managing practices can help in increasing the performance of trade over Silk Route as it has been noticed that the global logistics industry is not well integrated and well developed which limits the available range of provided services at the Custom Union Border (Chen,Wu, Qian amp Li, 2018). However, the finding of the thematic analysis point out to the fact that the main actors in the private sector does not acquire the required knowledge regarding the best practices of supply chain managing practices over the Silk Road (Lamberti amp Pero, 2011). Therefore, the increased participation of the private sector will not help the Silk Route in increasing its supply chain managing process. Another important finding of the thematic analysis is that in order to increase the available range of provided services on the border of the Silk Route is to increase the connection between the freight forwarders that are operating under contract with the railways with the international logistics companies. The effective connection between the freight forwarders and the international logistics companies can help in dealing with the subject of poor supply chain managing practices as today the Central Asia is only treated as a land bridge (Seele, Jia amp Helbing, 2109). Similarly, the literature points out to the fact that no inter linkage between the freight forwarders and international logistics companies is becoming the source of supply chain fragmentation mainly in the regions of Russia, China and Kazakhstan. Therefore, on the basis of finding of literature review and thematic analysis it can be interpreted that the connection between the freight forwarders and logistics companies can help in increasing the connectivity among the countries over the Silk Road through partnerships (Stapleton, Stadtler amp Van Wassenhove, 2016).
Another important finding of the literature review is that there exists loopholes in the progress of transport technology which loosens the connection between the buyers and sellers over the trade path and due to the inefficient connection between the buyers and sellers increases the cost of sales over the Silk Route which reduces the benefits of trading for the countries over the Silk Route (Shen amp Mikschovsky, 2019). The findings of the thematic analysis point out to the fact that factors like intrusive border controls and unreliable border controls is also increases the supply chain fragmentation. Therefore, it can be learnt from the findings of the literature review and thematic analysis that it becomes important for the Central Asia to remove the unreliable border controls in order to avoid the shipment delays in the trade practices over the Silk Route (Lam, Cullinane amp Lee, 2018). It can also be recommended that the presence of local intermediaries should be limited on the Silk Route because it increases the security concerns which also have a negative impact on the efficient flow of commodities and services over the Silk Route. However, the findings of the thematic analysis point out to the importance of connection between the freight forwarders and international logistics companies which will help in reducing the supply chain fragmentation along with increasing the logistics performance over the Silk Route (Nazarko, Kumicz amp Czerewacz-Filipowicz, 2016).
One of the techniques that can be found out from the findings of the literature is that custom and security integration can help in increasing the supply chain connectivity over the Silk Route. With the increase in the custom and regional integration the region will be able to achieve its commercial goals of supply chain managing over the Silk Route (Tsai amp Pawar, 2018). smoothening movement process of the commodities from the origin to the final destination. Another important finding of the thematic analysis point out to the fact that careful screening and prescreening can also help in increasing the quality of services given to the counties over the Silk Route (Wang, Jie amp Abareshi, 2018). By screening and prescreening the freight forwarders will be able to identify the damaged products and the certainty of moving damaged products will be reduced. For ensuring that the freight forwarders and custom brokers work according to the international standards set to increase the effectiveness of the freight distribution system. This finding of thematic analysis is in line with the finding of the study conducted by Singh (2019), which states that it is important for the actors to work according to the international standards and subsidization of modal preferences should be avoided over the supply chain in order to harmonize the regulations across jurisdictions (Singh, 2019). Also, it is recommended that the strategy of certification along with the promotion of standards can be used as a strategy in order to increase the quality of services offered at the border of Silk Route. The supply chain managing practices over the Silk Route can also integrate the environmental standards along with the supply chain managing practices for increasing the environmental performance of the trade practices over the Silk Route (Kundu amp Sheu, 2019).
The finding of the literature review and thematic analysis for increasing the quality if the services provided at the border it becomes important to region to ensure effective synchronization of physical elements in the supply chain organizational and supervisory competencies are also required in order to increase the productivity of tasks related to logistics in the supply chain managing (Lam, Cullinane amp Lee, 2014).
It becomes important to have an individual that possesses the ability to managing the labor and employees working in the supply chain managing process for ensuring that the physical flows are taking place on time and no issues related to labor having a negative effect on supply chain managing (Shen amp Mikschovsky, 2019) Therefore, it can be learnt the Silk Road supply managing issues requires effective leadership from the people who has knowledge about international standards and best supply chain managing practices. However, it has been evaluated through the findings of the thematic analysis that labor issues are also increasing which have a negative impact on the performance of supply chain managing (Kumicz amp Pesch, 2017).
An increase is the trend of labor issues has turned it obligatory for regions to adopt automated supply chain managing. Therefore, it becomes important for the region over the Silk Route to adopt automated supply chain managing process for increasing the performance of supply chain managing process and further increases the certainty of providing new opportunities that further help in increasing the productivity of tasks related to logistics managing (Sheu amp Kundu, 2018).
The integration of information systems along with the logistics operations can help in increasing the managing performance of supply chains. Methods like single window portals and port community systems can help in increasing the effectiveness of supply chain managing practices. Another invention that has emerged recently and can help in influencing the effectiveness of supply chain managing system is block chain technology that acts as distributed electronic ledger systems that further helps to grow the efficiency of logistics operation in supply chain managing practices (Nazarko, Kumicz, amp Czerewacz-Filipowicz, 2017). Therefore, it can be evaluated from the above discussion that it is essential to the Silk Route supply chain managing process to acquire technical assistance along with good leaders with the knowledge of finest practices of supply chain managing to increase the logistics performance of the Silk Route Supply chain (Zhang, Yu amp Zhang, 2019)
There are infrastructure needs in the region of Central Asia which was impacting the logistics performance over Silk Route according to the findings of the literature review. However, the findings of the thematic analysis point out to the fact that along with the infrastructure considerations it was also political considerations that was impacting the quality of the regional trade and flow of transit over the Silk Road (Gallo, Accorsi, Baruffaldi amp Manzini, 2017).
The political policies impact the transit flow and increase the obstacles in the flow of commodities from the origin to the destination. Therefore, the Silk Route requires cross border integration in coherence to the infrastructure standards and the helps in increasing the logistics performance and also helps in reducing the fragmentation in the trade route over the Silk route (Li, Qian amp Zhou, 2017). The Central Asia can also appoint members for service regulation in order to ensure that the physical elements of the supply chain are perfectly aligned in order to ensure that there is limited fragmentation in the supply chain (Prause, 2019). It also becomes important for the region that while implementing any solution for increasing the performance of supply chain managing, cost effectiveness of the available solutions to be done before finally implementing the technique or procedure for increasing the supply chain managing performance over Silk Road (Redi amp Fernandez, 2018). The cost effective solutions will also make the trade cost effective between the suppliers and the customers. Therefore, it becomes important for the region to understand that cost effectiveness of the strategies is importance to be done for achieving commercial goals regarding supply chain managing over Silk Road (Lam, Cullinane amp Lee, 2018).
Similarly, the literature also points out to the fact that one of the factors that make trade ineffective is the high cost of trade interaction between the suppliers and the consumers due to weak inter linkages and cross border interactions which decreased the efficiency of trade by increasing the cost of trade (Kumicz amp Pesch, 2017). Therefore, it becomes important for the region to employ the approach of cost effectiveness in order to facilitate trade and to achieve the commercial benefits of supply chain over Silk Road. However, the thematic analysis also points out to the fact that there should be perfect alignment between the commercial interests of the supply chain and interests of the international agencies (Lamberti amp Pero, 2019). Therefore, it becomes important for the government of the Central Asia to ensure that the government provides enough financial resources towards improving the cross border linkages between the regional countries.
The government can also aim for aligning the interests of the transportation companies with the commercial benefits of transportation in order to increase the motivation level of the ministries of transportation to increase their quality of services (Kundu amp Sheu, 2019). The findings of the literature point out the fact that the involvement of global logistics operators can also be included in the supply chain managing practices in order to ensure that transportation services are of high quality over the Silk Route. However, the literature points out to the fact that there are many initiatives taken by the government like CAREC initiative (Lee, Lee amp Feng, 2018). However, the initiatives could not be effective enough in bringing the change due to the bottlenecks in the program itself. Therefore, it is important that the effectiveness of such programs is evaluated timely in order to ensure that the program will be able to achieve its expected results (Khan, Khan amp Chaudhary, 2011). It is also important that to identify the constraints that is limiting the effectiveness of such programs so that solutions could be implemented timely in order to increase the effectiveness of the programs for the region and achieve the desired results (Du, 2015).
The findings of the thematic analysis also point out to the fact that awareness regarding the policy constraints and the capacity constraints should be increased among the partners of the supply chain managing along with the government of Central Asia which can motivate the government to look into these matters which eventually help in increasing the financial support towards the issues found on the Silk route trade path (Diener, 2015). Therefore, it can be said that the governments role in increasing the trade effectiveness over the Silk Route is limited which is reflected from the limited financial resources towards the implemented polices like CAREC. Therefore, it can be evaluated that there is need of deeper cross border integration along with greater financial resources is required within the corridor initiatives regarding the trade and transportation (Cullinane, Lee, Yang, Z., amp Hu, 2018).
Through the findings of the literature review and discussion analysis it can be interpreted that the issues of low infrastructure standards and weak cross border integration is persistent in the supply chain managing practices over the Silk Route (Fu, 2018). The participation of the private actors is encouraged in the region in order to increase the effectiveness of the supply chain and eradicate the issue of supply chain fragmentation (Chen, Wu, Qian, amp Li, 2018). However, the findings of the thematic analysis depict that the actors of the private sector does not have the knowledge regarding the international best practices of supply managing practices in the region of Central Asia (Haiyan, Xi amp Yan, 2018) It is also important that the established standards are consistent with the international standards which can be effectively done through technical assistance. With the help of technical assistance all the operators in the supply chain managing can be moved towards the newly developed standards. It is also important to define the role of freight forwarders according to well defined standards that are in coherence to the international standards (Haksz, Seshadri amp Iyer, 2011). Therefore, it becomes for the Silk Road supply managing system to incorporate people that have knowledge regarding the best practices of supply chain managing and the environmental standards as well.
6. ConclusionThe present research was aimed to discover the meaning of supply chain connectivity in the setting of Silk Road. Other purpose of the research was to identify the factors that are leading to ineffective supply chain connectivity and supply chain managing activities over the Silk Road.
Cost reduction and performance are two major considerations when we speak about the Supply Chain or Supply Chain connectivity. An effective alignment of physical factors or elements is in greater advantage to get the positive outcome of the concept. Coming to the part of connectivity, which is very important as far the flow is concerned of physical elements or the information. Transport infrastructure will be considered as another matter to be concerned of while the process. Commercial integrations are equally necessary to ensure the proper carrying out of Supply Chain Managing. These arrangements are considered quite important for a smooth flow from terminal to another and so on. Performance targets do play a very crucial role during the whole phenomenon as by benchmarking the required standards we can easily reduce the cost, increase the standards. This all stated clearly about the importance of connectivity in the supply chain process. Custom and security integration are another two criteria of supply chain connectivity, they help in moving the commodities after the careful inspection and prescreening and avoids the risk of damage in transferring the commodities. Therefore, while understanding the supply chain connectivity through literature it could be evaluated that Silk Road should emphasize on the alignment of the physical elements in Supply Chain to facilitate trade and provide excellent services. For providing quality services, Supply chain managing over Silk Road can also adopt standards to deliver excellent services along with achieving the economies of scale that helps the region in reducing its costs associated to trade fir the regional countries connected over the route of Silk Road.
Through the analysis conducted it can be easily concluded that the Silk Road is indeed suffering from a lot of obstacles which is hampering the effectiveness of the Supply Chain. It becomes significant for the government and the supply chain operators to look into matter and make sure those efficient financial resources are allocated for dealing with the obstacles identified. It is also important to evaluate the cost effectiveness of the solutions before implementing to increase the effectiveness of the supply chain controlling practices over the Supply chain.
The Central Asia for increasing the effectiveness of the supply chain managing can also appoint members for service regulation in order to guarantee that the physical elements of the supply chain are perfectly aligned as it is significant to increase the supply chain connectivity to reduce the costs associated with trade and also to increase the available services in the region. Also, the increased service regulation is also significant to guarantee that there is limited fragmentation in the supply chain .However the implementation of the service regulation solutions will not be effective if its implementation increases the costs for the supply chain operators but the solution produces limited benefits for the supply chain connectivity. Therefore, it also becomes important for the region that while implementing any solution to increase the performance of supply chain managing, cost effectiveness of the available solutions to be done before finally implementing the technique or procedure for increasing the supply chain managing performance over Silk Road. The evaluation of the solutions will not only help the organization in increasing its quality of services provided over the Silk Road but will also help in increasing the ties between the suppliers and the consumers. Therefore, it can be evaluated that the cost effective solutions will also make the trade cost effective between the suppliers and the customers. Therefore, it becomes important for the region to understand that cost effectiveness of the strategies is importance to be done for achieving the commercial goals of the supply chain managing over the Silk Road. The region needs to establish a team with the knowledge of international standards along with the finest practices of the supply chain managing practices so that the team will be able to evaluate the costs and benefits of the solutions against the best practices of the supply chain managing practices. In this way the trade path and quality of the trade over the Silk Road could be improved.
However, nothing could be done without the financial resources from the government of the Central Asia. Therefore, the integration of planning and funding needs to be effective to increase overall performance of supply chain managing. In present time, this region lacks financial resources which are also limited with the region which is also limiting the effectiveness of the solutions already implemented in the region. Therefore, the region requires support from the government of Central Asia in terms of financial resources for increasing the quality of supply chain managing practices over the Silk Road.
Limitation of availability of financial resources in the form of funding can become a hindrance in the transport chain connectivity and it can be easily identified that for increasing the efficiency of supply chain connectivity provision of investments all levels of coordination is required. Financial and institutional arrangements at all levels of planning can help in responding effectively and timely to the requirements of supply chain managing. Through the study it can also be found that if the financial resources are not able to meet the demand levels then it can lead to fundamental shifts in the pattern of global trade due to the reduction in the effectiveness of transport chain connectivity. It has been evaluated from the literature that transport chain connectivity is lacking in the public sector because of the unavailability of the efficient amount of financial funding that is required for improving the terminal facility along with the transport chain connectivity. It is the government who can increase the effectiveness of regional transportation network through providing adequate amount of financial resources. Therefore, it becomes important for the supply chain operators in the Central Asia to contact the government and also increase the awareness regarding the bottlenecks underneath supply chain managing over the Silk Road also the government could be informed regarding the benefits that the increased trade could bring to the economies. In this way, the government of Central Asia can feel encouraged to provide financial resources for improving the quality of supply chain managing practices over the Silk Road. Factors like infrastructure needs can also be improved with the help of increased financial resources with the region. However, issues like high tariff and political considerations will still remain a loophole that can have a negative impact on the quality of the trade facilitation over the Silk Road and that can also increase the costs associated to trade due to the weak linkages between the suppliers and the customers over the Silk Road.

6. References
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