Yue Wang

2000-2004 BAEcon, International Economics and Trade, Donghua University, China.
2004-2007 MSc, Human Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
2009-present PhD Human Geography, University of Manchester.

Exploring retail transnational corporations (TNCs) and supply chains transformation in Shanghai, China.

Supervisors: Neil Coe and Martin Hess.

With loosened policies for leading foreign retailers and new consumption patterns due to improved living standards, China has become one of the most attractive market destinations for retail Transnational Corporations (TNCs). The influx of leading retail TNCs into Chinese markets not only provides keen competition to domestic retailers, but also brings their advanced management skills and technologies to the host country. The upgrading of local supply chains is one of the outstanding changes resulting from the procurement activities of retail TNCs. This research focuses on these local supply chain transformations and also considers their impacts on the local economy.

The project aims:
(1) To explore the various shifts of procurement activities in Chinese markets in order to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the current supply chain transformations.
(2) To gain insights into the procurement performances of leading retail TNCs in order to reveal shifts of the procurement systems adopted by foreign retailers.
(3) To evaluate the impacts resulting from the transforming procurement systems across three different kinds of commodities, namely: fresh apples, fresh milk and own-branded edible oil.

In order to demonstrate the various shifts of procurement systems in China, the research location should have an affluent consumer market and rapid retail development. Thus Shanghai has been selected as the location as it is the largest industrial city and the economic powerhouse of China. Swift urbanisation, especially the development of Pudong New Area, as well as the support of local government to retailing make Shanghai a highly suitable city for this research. Though the supply chain networks may extend well beyond Shanghai, the city is one of the biggest end-point of consumption in China. Furthermore, most leading retail TNCs have already set up their headquarters in Shanghai which will easily provide more comprehensive information for the researcher when the research is being conducted.
A mixed methodology combining secondary data collection with semi-structured interviews will be implemented in this research. The range of business data sets for both retail TNCs and local suppliers will help to profile the procurement activity transformations in China during the last three decades. Utilising semi-structured interviews can also help to reveal and demonstrate the procurement activities adopted by specific retailers that may not have been previously recorded.

Funding:

• School of Environment and Development (UoM) Postgraduate Research Funding Award(10/2009-9/2012).
• Universities’ China Committee in London Research Grant (9/2010).

External Activities:

• Treasurer, Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Postgraduate Forum Committee 2011-2012.