Assessing The Epic Framework: Guatemala

The EPIC framework was developed by Srinivasan, Stank, Dornier, and Peterson (2014) to assess supply chain readiness from Economic, Political, Infrastructural and Competence perspectives and was applied to 55 countries, a monumental undertaking. However, the framework needs further validation by applying it to other countries and using other raters. This research does both. Guatemala, for example, was not included in the 2014 EPIC ratings yet Guatemala is ideal for studying supply chain readiness given their participation and an anticipative role in CAFTA-DR (Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement). Using Guatemala as a case, professionals in teams of three to six individuals in Germany and the United States applied the EPIC framework to judge supply chain readiness. The findings may serve as a model for businesses entering these sometimes operationally challenging markets. Areas for future research are included.