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The purpose of this paper is to explore cargo theft risk and security for different product types at different locations along a transport chain.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore cargo theft risk and security for different product types at different locations along a transport chain.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a system-theoretical approach. The research method is deductive, as the analysis is based on secondary data and results from a questionnaire. The results are analysed based on supply chain risk management (SCRM) theories.
Findings
Due to substantial interaction effects, the type of product and transport chain location must be considered to determine the correct level of security. Specifically, the product type is more significant, since the general cargo theft risk is higher. Furthermore, the transport industry has three perspectives on security responses to cargo theft, namely, demanded, needed and actual security, which differ depending on the product type and transport chain location.
Research limitations/implications
This database is structured according to the global Transported Asset Protection Association organisational structure, which implies that there are three main databases: Europe, Middle East and Africa, Americas, and Asia-Pacific.
Practical implications
This study has both research and practical implications, as it examines security within freight transport from three perspectives, linked to general cargo theft risk and goods owners’ requirements.
Originality/value
This study addresses the contemporary SCRM problem of cargo theft using actual crime statistics and the industry understanding of required generic security levels.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to examine the patterns of reported cargo thefts at non-secure parking facilities in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) with respect to stolen…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the patterns of reported cargo thefts at non-secure parking facilities in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) with respect to stolen value, frequency, incident category, and modi operandi.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a system-theoretical approach that emphasizes on a holistic rather than an atomistic view. The research method used in this paper is deductive; the analysis is based on data obtained from the incident information service (IIS), a database of transport-related crimes from the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) in the EMEA region. The results are analysed and discussed within a frame of reference based on supply chain risk management (SCRM) and criminology theories.
Findings
We found that 97 per cent of all attacks during a stop occur at non-secure parking locations. Cargo thefts at these locations are more of a volume crime than high-value thefts. Seasonal variations were seen in these thefts, and the most common type was an intrusion on weekdays during winter.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited by the content of and the classifications within the TAPA EMEA IIS database.
Practical implications
This paper is directly relevant to the current EU discussions regarding the creation of a large number of secure parking facilities in the region.
Originality/value
This is one of the first papers in the field of SCRM that utilizes actual crime statistics reported by the industry to analyse the occurrence of cargo theft by focusing on the non-secure parking aspect in the transport chain.
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Keywords
The aim of this paper is to analyze and explain why cargo theft continues to occur in the transport network despite all implemented countermeasures.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to analyze and explain why cargo theft continues to occur in the transport network despite all implemented countermeasures.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a logical deductive hypothesis using theories from several scientific fields. This hypothesis is then tested empirically. Credibility is substantiated with the use of several independent official statistical sources and verified with both open‐ended qualitative interviews and a quantitative, comparative, geographically controlled survey.
Findings
Theft risk arises from different theft opportunities that will always be present in the transport network. The theory of crime displacement provides one likely explanation as to why the absolute reduction, instead of a theft pattern alteration, is very difficult to achieve. The result in this paper substantiates research results in criminology that indicate that causality in crime displacement is hard to establish.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited by the lack of reliable information sources about criminal activities against logistics business. Secondary sources, like official crime statistics, are at best untrustworthy but more likely filled with large parts of hidden statistics.
Practical implications
The common‐sense feeling about the crime displacement theory that exists in the logistics business needs to be modified. This paper maintains that the understanding of the relationship between potential perpetrators and theft preventing measures is a key issue to reduce theft problems within the transport network.
Originality/value
This paper is a step towards bringing theories from criminology into the scientific field of logistics and supply chain risk management.
Details
Keywords
L. P. Barreto, A. S. Silva and R. C. Ferreira
Identifying and managing supply chain risk is crucial for the competitiveness of a company. However, research focused on the risks of supply chain operations in Brazil is scarce…
Abstract
Identifying and managing supply chain risk is crucial for the competitiveness of a company. However, research focused on the risks of supply chain operations in Brazil is scarce. The purpose of this study is to analyze and assess the risk of cargo theft in the country. The methodology adopted is deductive and based on an analysis of historical data from January 2015 to November 2017, aiming to evaluate risk based on probability and impact. The findings unveil a scenario of criminality of transporting goods in Brazil, where the use of force, violence, and threats to steal goods is most likely to occur en route or when parked in key locations on the way to the distribution center. On the other hand, the higher impact cargo crimes are concentrated en route to the customer. This chapter provides a better understanding of the risks of transporting goods by road in Brazil and contributes to a more efficient supply chain design by identifying the risks and assessing the primary locations of the crimes along with their modi operandi and the period of the day during which the crime occurs.
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Keywords
Pei-Ju Wu, Mu-Chen Chen and Chih-Kai Tsau
Cargo loss has been a major issue in logistics management. However, few studies have tackled the issue of cargo loss severity via business analytics. Hence, the purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Cargo loss has been a major issue in logistics management. However, few studies have tackled the issue of cargo loss severity via business analytics. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to provide guidance about how to retrieve valuable information from logistics data and to develop cargo loss mitigation strategies for logistics risk management.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes a research design of business analytics to scrutinize the causes of cargo loss severity.
Findings
The empirical results of the decision tree analytics reveal that transit types, product categories, and shipping destinations are key factors behind cargo loss severity. Furthermore, strategies for cargo loss prevention were developed.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed framework of cargo loss analytics provides a research foundation for logistics risk management.
Practical implications
Companies with logistics data can utilize the proposed business analytics to identify cargo loss factors, while companies without logistics data can employ the proposed cargo loss mitigation strategies in their logistics systems.
Originality/value
This pioneer empirical study scrutinizes the critical cargo loss issues of cargo damage, cargo theft, and cargo liability insurance through exploiting real cargo loss data.
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Keywords
André Filipe Guedes Almeida and Gabriel Caldas Montes
Due to the fact that crime and violence affect the economy and the business environment, and since the economic environment affects entrepreneurs' expectations and therefore their…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to the fact that crime and violence affect the economy and the business environment, and since the economic environment affects entrepreneurs' expectations and therefore their decisions, this study analyzes the effect of both violence and crime on the confidence of entrepreneurs from the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Design/methodology/approach
Making use of time series methodology, the authors provide OLS and GMM estimates for the effects of violence and crime on the business confidence index of entrepreneurs in Rio de Janeiro. The analysis of the Rio de Janeiro case is relevant since Rio de Janeiro is the second state, after São Paulo, with the largest participation in the Brazilian GDP, and crime and violence have very high indicators in this state. The analysis comprises the period between January 2012 and July 2018 (monthly data).
Findings
The results suggest that violence and crime negatively impact business confidence in Rio de Janeiro. The estimates reveal that, among all economic and noneconomic variables, the third variable with the greatest impact on business confidence is “cargo thefts.” An increase of one standard deviation in this variable reduces business confidence by approximately 2.48 basis points, while increases of one standard deviation in “violent deaths,” “commerce thefts” and “extortion” reduce business confidence by approximately 1.24, 1.46 and 1.47 bp, respectively. The impacts caused by these violence and crime variables are greater than the effect caused by an increase of one standard deviation in the real interest rate.
Practical implications
The findings reveal that a stable economic environment with economic growth is as important to business confidence as the adoption of policies aimed at increasing public security through the fight against crime and violence.
Originality/value
If on the one hand the literature provides evidence that crime is harmful to the economy, on the other hand no study has so far analyzed the impact of crime and violence on business confidence. This type of analysis is relevant since confidence is an important aspect in the expectation formation process and thus to production and investment decisions and economic activity. Thus, this study is the first to analyze the effects of crime and violence on business confidence and consequently, the first to explore the consequences of crime on the economy through the expectations channel.
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Keywords
Martin Kuehnhausen and Victor S. Frost
Security and accountability within the transportation industry are vital because cargo theft could amount to as much as $60 billion per year. Since goods are often handled by many…
Abstract
Purpose
Security and accountability within the transportation industry are vital because cargo theft could amount to as much as $60 billion per year. Since goods are often handled by many different parties, it must be possible to tightly monitor the location of cargo and handovers. Tracking trade is difficult to manage in different formats and legacy applications Web services and open standards overcome these problems with uniform interfaces and common data formats. This allows consistent reporting, monitoring and analysis at each step. The purpose of this paper is to examine Transportation Security SensorNet (TSSN), the goal being to promote the use of open standards and specifications in combination with web services to provide cargo monitoring capabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper describes a system architecture for the TSSN targeted for cargo monitoring. The paper discusses cargo security and reviews related literature and approaches. The paper then describes the proposed solution of developing a service‐oriented architecture (SOA) for cargo monitoring and its individual components.
Findings
Web services in a mobile sensor network environment have been seen as slow and producing significant overhead. The authors demonstrate that with proper architecture and design the performance requirements of the targeted scenario can be satisfied with web services; the TSSN then allows sensor networks to be utilized in a standardized and open way through web services.
Originality/value
The integration of SOA, open geospatial consortium (OGC) specifications and sensor networks is complex and difficult. As described in related works, most systems and research focus either on the combination of SOA and OGC specifications or on OGC standards and sensor networks. The TSSN shows that all three can be combined and that this combination provides cargo security and monitoring capabilities to the transportation and other industries that have not existed before.
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Keywords
Kenyth Alves de Freitas, Barbara Bechler Flynn, Ely Laureano Paiva and Amrou Awaysheh
This paper investigates how companies become resilient to supply chain (SC) piracy through using transactional and relational governance mechanisms to develop strategies effective…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates how companies become resilient to supply chain (SC) piracy through using transactional and relational governance mechanisms to develop strategies effective in environments characterized by weak regulative institutions and mistrust.
Design/methodology/approach
This study developed case studies of nine large manufacturers with operations in Brazil.
Findings
The companies employed transactional and relational governance mechanisms to learn from past incidents, anticipate, and respond to the threat of SC piracy, becoming more resilient over time. Transactional governance mechanisms reduced risk triggers through technology, while relational governance mechanisms enhanced trust between SC and non-SC members, allowing the members to build social capital.
Practical implications
The authors provide practical guidance for managers and policymakers in developing risk management strategies based on technology and collaboration to reduce SC piracy in environments characterized by mistrust.
Social implications
SC piracy is a serious problem for global operations and SCs in many low-cost manufacturing locations. Besides the cost and service level consequences, the authors also highlight worker safety consequences, including the potential for kidnapping, psychological trauma, injuries, and death.
Originality/value
This study focuses on the little-researched topic of SC piracy. The authors examine the negative effects of a weak institutional environment, while most prior research focuses on the positive effects of a strong institutional environment. The authors position transactional and relational governance mechanisms as essential elements of SC risk resilience.
Details
Keywords
Kenyth Alves de Freitas, Barbara Bechler Flynn and Ely Laureano Paiva
This paper explores how a firm that is established in an environment characterized by uncertainty can engage with weak regulative institutions by developing operational and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores how a firm that is established in an environment characterized by uncertainty can engage with weak regulative institutions by developing operational and institutional capabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
We employ a multiple case study approach with seven leading multinational firms in Brazil in industries that vary in industry concentration.
Findings
Firms choose among alternative strategies for engaging with regulative institutions as an ongoing process, based on their assessment of four characteristics of the uncertainty they face and their capabilities. Strategies that require a firm to exert greater effort to adapt to institutions or influence institutions have a greater potential to catalyze for developing operational capabilities. Although firms in industries with different concentrations behave similarly in individually adapting to regulative institutions, firms in decentralized industries are more likely to collaborate to influence institutions, which enables them to both access public agents through network partners and better negotiate their own interests.
Practical implications
This research guides managers in developing institutional engagement strategies to reduce the potential consequences of institutional uncertainty in their supply chain. It also suggests types of institutional capability aligned with decentralized vs concentrated industries.
Originality/value
We extend the construct of institutional engagement strategies from the context of entrance to a new international market to an ongoing process in firms that are established in an environment characterized by weak regulative institutions. We also examine the role of industry concentration in the application of institutional engagement strategies.
Details