This study develops an effective method to measure value chain performance and rank them based on qualitative criteria and to determine the ranking order of the various forms of performance under study. This approach integrates the advantage of grey systems theory and TOPSIS to evaluate and rank value chain performance. Grey-TOPSIS approach has been applied to measure and rank the value chain performance of various firms. The results indicate that the proposed model is useful to facilitate multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem under the environment of uncertainty and vagueness. The model also provides an appropriate ranking order based on the available alternatives. The Grey-TOPSIS approach that will be useful to the managers to use for solving the similar type of decision-making problems in their firms in the future has been discussed. Even though, the problem of choosing a suitable performance option is often addressed in practice and research, very few studies are available in the literature of Grey-TOPSIS decision models. Also, Grey-TOPSIS model application in the tea processing firms is non-existence hence this study is the very first to apply this model in evaluating value chain performance in the tea processing firms.

A value chain is a chain of necessary activities that a company operating in a specific industry executes in order to deliver a valuable product or service for the market. Value chain plays essential role for development of a successful business unit. This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the effects of value chain on capabilities of knowledge production, implementation and distribution. The impact is also studied for effective knowledge implementation for economic development. Using historical economic data of World Bank database gathered from member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the study has detected positive and meaningful effects of Value Chain Presence on Knowledge Economy Index and Knowledge Index.