Production management issues in developing nations

Globalization has diluted the disparity between production management issue s in developed and developing countries. Pronounced differences between pro duction management in the first and third worlds still exists though. This paper points out both common issues and issues only detectable in developin g countries. Global competition has affected the way organizations now do their business . The customer is now the focus of all businesses. Businesses which enter g lobal markets take these elements of value seriously. Production and operat ions manage ment is an important activity in the value chain and helps to p osition a firm in the value chain system. This paper examines the role the following activities play in production ma nagement in developing countries: value chain management; lead time compres sion; appropriate technology manufacturing systems; quality issues; the the ory of constraints; supply chain and distribution management; contract desi gn, manufacturing and marketing; concurrent engineering; configuration mana gement and change management. This paper concludes that production in developing countries is challenging and exciting.