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4th party logistics service providers and industrial cluster competitiveness: Collaborative operational capabilities framework

Nachiappan Subramanian (Nottingham University Business School China, University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China)
Angappa Gunasekaran (Department of Decision and Information Sciences, Charlton College of Business, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA, USA)
Thanos Papadopoulos (Kent Business School, University of Kent, Chatham, UK)
Pie Nie (Nottingham University Business School, The University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, China)

Industrial Management & Data Systems

ISSN: 0263-5577

Article publication date: 8 August 2016

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Abstract

Purpose

Firms within industrial clusters are subject to challenges such as globalization, limited resources, volatility of international markets and financial instabilities. 4th party logistics (4PL) service providers are supporting individual firms to overcome such challenges by using collaborative operational capabilities from within an industrial cluster to their enhance competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to focus on China and proposes a collaborative operational capabilities framework to illustrate the role of 4PL in industrial cluster competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper follows an extensive literature review and structured interviews in two types of clusters, drawing on resource-based view and importance-performance matrix analysis.

Findings

The paper proposes six elements (that is, synergy of logistics, expansion of industrial chain, financial ability, creativity and innovation ability, cooperation of companies and flexibility of supply chain) that comprise collaborative operational capabilities, and highlights the role of “creativity and innovation ability” and “supply chain flexibility” in the use of 4PL for industrial cluster competitiveness in Chinese context.

Research limitations/implications

The paper focusses on China and hence it could also be tested in the developed countries’ context with the support of large-scale empirical data to investigate further its usefulness and to identify other constraints.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the 4PL literature in that it proposes a framework that extrapolates the importance of 4PL in industrial cluster competitiveness in China.

Keywords

Citation

Subramanian, N., Gunasekaran, A., Papadopoulos, T. and Nie, P. (2016), "4th party logistics service providers and industrial cluster competitiveness: Collaborative operational capabilities framework", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 116 No. 7, pp. 1303-1330. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-06-2015-0248

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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