Barriers to product returns and recovery management in a developing country: investigation using multiple methods

There is growing recognition of the value that can be recaptured from unproductive assets resulting from returned merchandise using product returns and recovery management (PRRM). This is important as organizations can no longer ignore or accumulate returns at the back of the warehouse. This paper identifies the barriers that impede PRRM among manufacturing firms in Malaysia, and provide useful summary data and analysis to entice firms to consider adopting PPRM. This study reviewed 38 journal articles, which were subsequently validated through field interviews using multiple case study method. The content analysis reveals that the two major obstacles are financial and resource constraints, which fall within the category of internal barriers. However, the results of the interviews with six manufacturers in Malaysia indicate that external barriers are the main obstacles that hinder the adoption of PRRM, thus suggesting that there may be a subtle difference between the results reported in academic research and managers' perceptions of the barriers of product returns and recovery management. The external barriers, such as customers' operational performance and perception, are perceived by managers to be detrimental to the adoption of PRRM, which is contradictory to the academic findings. In addition, financial and resource constraints impede the adoption of PRRM. This suggests that further study should be conducted by expanding the sample size to continue to empirically explore the barriers of PRRM. This study helps policy makers in emerging countries in general and Malaysia, in particular, in setting appropriate policies and strategies to improve product returns and recovery of manufacturing firms.