The impact of environmental uncertainty on the performance of the rice supply chain in the Ayeyarwaddy Region, Myanmar

Linn, Thuzar; Maenhout, Broos

doi:10.1186/s40100-019-0128-6

Agricultural and Food Economics

Table 3 Questionnaire items of uncertainty factors

From: The impact of environmental uncertainty on the performance of the rice supply chain in the Ayeyarwaddy Region, Myanmar

Uncertainty factors	Concept	Aspects of measurement	Code	Questions to the actors	References
Supply	Supply uncertainty is related to the unpredictability of the delivery of raw or packed materials in time, in the right amount or according to the right specifications. In this study, paddy is supplied from farmers to rice millers, and milled rice from millers to distributors and so on.	Quantity	SU1	Rice quantity from rice producers is unpredictable.	van der Vorst 2000; Li 2002; Paulraj and Chen 2007; Thongrattana and Jie 2009
		Quality	SU2	Rice quality from rice producers is unpredictable.
		Time	SU3	Rice producers’ delivery time is unpredictable.
Demand	Demand uncertainty is related to uncertainty about customers’ requirements as a combination of unpredictability of demand and product variety (van der Vorst 2000). Both the international and domestic demand are considered.	Quantity	DU1	The volume of customer demand is difficult to predict.	Li 2002; Paulraj and Chen 2007; Thongrattana and Jie 2009
		Quality	DU2	Customers’ rice preference changes over the year.
		Time	DU3	The lead time of customer order is unpredictable.
Process	Process uncertainty is related to the production system, including the uncertain ability to produce adequately a particular product or the uncertain availability of sufficient raw materials (van der Vorst 2000). In this study, the processor refers to any procedure carried out by supply chain members, such as producing, milling, quality control, and packing process.	Quantity	PU1	Yield of production or processing (e.g., producing, milling, packing) can vary.	van der Vorst 2000; Thongrattana and Jie 2009
		Quality	PU2	The quality of rice after processing (e.g., milled, stored) can change.
		Time	PU3	The throughput time of rice processing can vary.
Planning and control	Planning and control uncertainty relates to incomplete information about production, inventory and customer demand (van der Vorst 2000).	Quantity	PCU1	Information about stock level of rice and rice production capacity is inaccurate.	van der Vorst 2000; Thongrattana and Jie 2009
		Time	PCU2	Information about stock level of rice and rice production capacity is not on time .
		Time	PCU3	Information concerning changes to customer orders cannot be distributed on time.
Competitor	Competitor uncertainty refers to unpredictable actions by competitors in the competitive markets. This is related to reducing their product price, the time to market or the increasing product quality and variety (Li 2002). Uncertainty about competitors’ actions in the Myanmar rice industry is considered in both domestic and international markets.	Action	CU1	Competitors’ actions are unpredictable.	Li 2002; Thongrattana and Jie 2009
		Domestic market	CU2	Competition in the domestic market is intensifying.
		International market	CU3	Competition is intensified in different countries.
Government policy	Government policy uncertainty includes the unpredictable set of laws, regulations, administrative procedures, and policies formally sanctioned by the government, which can affect an organizations’ profitability (Badri et al. 2000).	Rice production	GU1	Government policies in rice trading (e.g., FTA, tax) directly affecting your firm are unpredictable	Javidan 1984; Badri et al. 2000; Bran and Bos 2005; Thongrattana and Jie 2009
		Rice trading	GU2	The grantee price from government regulation is unpredictable.
		New government	GU3	New government regulations are introduced unexpectedly.
Climate	Climate uncertainty is referred to the unpredictable occurrence of serious weather events affecting agricultural lands. These phenomena can lead to rice supply shocks, delays in the time of arrival of paddy to market or transportation disruptions (Curz et al. 2007).	Drought	CLU1	Drought occurrences affecting firms are unpredictable over the year.	Curz et al. 2007; Thongrattana and Jie 2009
		Drought	CLU2	The duration of drought is unpredictable over the year.
		Flooding	CLU3	Flooding occurrences affecting firms are unpredictable over the year.
		Flooding	CLU4	The duration of flooding is unpredictable over the year.

Source: Own compilation based on Thongrattana and Jie (2009)

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