Importing and Exporting: A Longitudinal Study of Process Component Importance and Expertise

Import and export processes are important components of international and global supply chains. Errors made during the import or export process, most often with regard to information flow or noncompliance with government regulations, often result in increased cycle time and/or costs. Yet these processes are often not given much attention, either in supply chain management executives' strategy or in academic research on supply chain management. This article describes the roles of the import and export processes in the supply chain. The article then compares several common elements of import and export processes, not only with each other, but with the expertise that major firms possess relative to how important a particular element may be considered over time.