McCormick+Schmitz Handbook for value chain research on - PACA

end up with no more than four or five. Understanding the most important <strong>chain</strong>s well is
more important than attaining complete coverage.
Having identified the main markets, work towards the following:
• List the functions (activities) that make up the <strong>chain</strong> (retailing, advertising,
warehousing, shipping, production etc.)
• List participants per<strong>for</strong>ming each function; obtain rough estimate of number of
enterprises and workers involved; list key contacts (<strong>for</strong> example, if three <strong>for</strong>warding
agents undertake all consolidation and shipping, the managers of these companies can
probably provide you with an excellent overview of the relative importance of various
destinations, fluctuations in the course of the year, key players in the distribution
system)
• On a large sheet of paper, list main final markets across the top and main functions
down the left side
• With the main axes of the map in place, you can then start drawing the map. The
boxes (see figure 8.1) represent enterprises, but since representing each enterprise
with a box is not practical, write the number of enterprises (and/or workers) in the
box.
• The next tool we can employ <strong>for</strong> drawing the map is drawing lines between
enterprises in the different functions. In the first instance, the concern is just to show
the flow of materials and services along the <strong>chain</strong>. We can then indicate the type of
inter-firm relationship which prevails in the various <strong>chain</strong>s or parts of <strong>chain</strong>s. As
suggested above, one can use very simple symbols (one-, two-, three- or four-line
connection) in order to indicate how close (distant) or/even (uneven) the relationship
is.
8.6 Next steps
In this chapter we have tried to draw an initial map of the entire <strong>value</strong> <strong>chain</strong>. In Chapter 9
we try to make this map more precise and show how it can be used <strong>for</strong> different purposes,
<strong>for</strong> example, to show where male and female employment is concentrated along the <strong>chain</strong>,
or how average earnings differ along the <strong>chain</strong>. Then in Chapter 10, we turn to drawing
sub-maps, that is detailed maps of particular parts of the <strong>chain</strong>. We will concentrate on
two such maps. One is concerned specifically with displaying that part of the production
process which involves homeworkers: How many layers of homeworkers are there? How
many workers are typically engaged in the domestic establishments? Do they work
exclusively <strong>for</strong> one manufacturer or several? Such aspects can be displayed in an easy
and graphic way. Another map to be constructed concerns the design stage: Who makes
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