ABSTRACT
In the immediate postcrisis environment all major distribution channels were subject to a marked downturn in business. Within the pivotal automotive industry the wholesale and retail outlets that survived the downturn were still cutting their monthly orders to the tune of 50 percent and more through the regional trough of 1998. Though still replenishing their stocks, many such outlets were notoriously plagued by bounced stocks and overdue payments, and saturated with bad financial accounts. More generally, the ASEAN distribution setup was depicted as a huge house of cards just waiting to collapse. In this sense the economic crisis was viewed less as a nightmare and more as a timely catalyst for change. Many foreign corporations had for some years deliberated how best to reform their own incumbent supply chain inefficiencies, seeking ways around the locally embedded inefficiencies.
