Asad Ullah

There is diminished transparency, fragmented information exchange, and lack of trust among geographically dispersed stakeholders, which increasingly challenge global supply chains. The classic centralized systems of supply chain management are not always capable of being able to offer real-time traceability and data integrity which is dependable and effective in contract enforcement. The proposed study is a blockchain-based smart contract design that is focused on ensuring increased transparency, traceability and trust in global supply chain management. The suggested framework will combine automated smart contracts, cryptographic provenance tracking, permissioned blockchain consensus, and a decentralized trust score evaluation mechanism to overcome some of the major operation and governance challenges. A simulated assessment with a multi-tier global supply chain setting of 15 blockchain nodes and 12,000 transactions was performed through experimentation. The findings show that the proposed system attained an average transaction delay of 210 ms, which is very low compared to centralized systems (520 ms), with throughput being raised to 120 transactions per minute. End-to-end traceability performance also improved significantly, with a reduction in trace-back time to 8 s compared with 95s this represents a 100% tampering detection rate. The consensus mechanism ensured that the ledger integrity failed only at a rate of less than 1.1%, even when more than 30% of nodes were faulty. Risk-wise, the trust evaluation algorithm dynamically enhanced reliable supplier scores up to 12%, which facilitated the selection of reliable partners. On the whole, the results prove that smart contracts based on blockchains can drastically enhance the efficiency of operations, data integrity, and confidence in global supply chains, with the platform capable of providing a resilient and scalable backbone for the future supply chain management model.

Governments worldwide leverage their purchasing power to advance social, economic, and environmental agendas. Public procurement can be employed as a strategic instrument to support small and medium-sized enterprises. Many countries are showing a rising interest in leveraging public procurement to foster the integration of small and medium-sized enterprises into markets. However, access to public procurement contracts is a challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises. There are challenges posed by government policies that are frequently overlooked. Public procurement regulations cover procedures, methods, standards, and terms for inviting bids, evaluation, selection, negotiation, awarding, and payment of suppliers of goods and services. However, many small businesses fail to meet these procedures, methods, standards, and terms because of capacities and resource constraints. There are public procurement initiatives that are currently being implemented throughout the world to help small businesses gain access to markets. Nevertheless, these initiatives are still relatively new and unstructured. There continues to be a dearth of peer-reviewed research. This chapter delineates small and medium-sized enterprises from various viewpoints, underlines their importance, explains the frameworks for public procurement, and proposes government-led initiatives that could facilitate the integration of small and medium-sized enterprises into the market. It is concluded that governments should implement strategies aimed at assisting small businesses. These strategies may include noncompetitive practices, subcontracting initiatives, qualification criteria, preferential schemes, and award criteria. By doing so, governments can create a fairer playing field, promote the competitiveness of small businesses, and encourage their engagement in public procurement processes. This, in turn, will foster SME growth, spur economic development, and facilitate job creation.

Until a few years ago, logistics was considered a low-value-added sector, just an additional cost in the supply chain that directly impacted the economics of the activity. However, today that perception has changed, and its importance has become paramount. Logistics efficiency is therefore seen as a differentiating strategic element in an organization and an undeniable competitive advantage for companies. In this research, the researchers aim to highlight the components of logistics services, identify the factors affecting the performance of logistics services, and the Impact of Logistics Services on the Company’s performance. The methodology adopted for conducting this study is qualitative as the literature pertaining to the topic of study has been searched and explored to arrive at conclusions. The main findings of the study suggested that logistics service providers should invest in logistics services, adopt best logistics practices, and collaborate with their customers to improve their logistics services and meet the changing demands of customers. Overall, the effectiveness of logistics services is a complex and multifaceted topic that requires a comprehensive understanding of supply chain management principles, transportation and warehousing technologies, and customer service practices. Ongoing research in this area is critical for businesses looking to optimize their logistics operations and improve their competitiveness. Additionally, future research could explore the specific logistics services that have the greatest impact on the performance of logistics service providers.