| Abstract | Remanufacturing represents a significant means of encouraging sustainability and is an option for the treatment of End-of-Life (EoL) products. Although the remanufacturing approach is gaining popularity in practice in developing countries, remanufacturing research is in its infancy, with most studies being conducted in China, India or Brazil. Due to the sparse volume of relevant empirical studies, this dissertation aims to bridge the existing gap through investigating the significant factors influencing firms’ decisions to conduct remanufacturing activities using three prominent industries in Thailand as case studies. These are composed of automotive parts, photocopiers, and agricultural machinery. This study combined qualitative and quantitative approaches involving the use of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. A sample comprising representatives of 41 remanufacturing firms was investigated in the data collection process. Our results show that on average across all three industries, the most powerful determinants driving the decision making of firms to conduct remanufacturing are factors connected to the area of business feasibility. These are followed by elements of firm’s strategic factors and policy factors. Within business feasibility, financial aspects are ranked as the most crucial factor for encouraging firms to undertake remanufacturing, followed by product maturity, the availability of skilled workers, and technical aspects. Environmental regulations within the context of policy factors are determined as representing the least important variable affecting firms’ decisions. Most firms emphasize profitability as being the key driver when deciding to launch remanufacturing initiatives, rather than environmental considerations. All industries perceive product specifications as affecting the decision to conduct remanufacturing in terms of ensuring a lengthy product lifespan, slow technological change, and the worthiness of remanufacturing investment. As the industries under consideration are labor intensive, skilled workers are needed in their remanufacturing processes. In terms of technical aspects, design for remanufacturing is considered as a driving factor influencing production costs and the potential for a product to ultimately be remanufactured. Firm-specific characteristics and the structure of industry matter in rating the factors influencing a firm’s decision to conduct remanufacturing. For example, large-sized firms tend to place a greater weight on corporate image, business and marketing benefits, brand protection, IP protection, and environmental regulations than smaller-sized firms. Foreign owned firms also perceive corporate image, business and marketing benefits, together with brand protection, as more crucial than Thai-owned firms. Financial aspects, concerns about cannibalization effects, and the rules and regulations in setting up remanufacturing tend to be more crucial for automotive parts firms than those involved in the photocopier and agricultural machinery industries. Several areas can be addressed to promote remanufacturing in Thailand. They include ensuring a comprehensive development of policies and strategies, governmental support concerning infrastructure, human resource development (HRD) and systematic research and development (R&D) initiatives. The establishment of such extensive policies and standards is needed in this initial stage within Thailand in order to stimulate firms to pursue remanufacturing more intensively in order to achieve the potential benefits to be accrued from its adoption. |