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To examine the strategic posture of third‐party logistics (3PLs) providers in mainland China.

A sample survey, obtained by mail, of 3PLs firms in mainland China. Key informant data are used to operationalize Porter's competitive strategy and provides a framework to identify logistics strategies pursued by 3PLs providers. Various aspects of 3PLs providers are compared by different strategy types.

Identified four logistics strategies pursued by 3PLs providers in mainland China. Differentiation strategy outperforms cost leadership strategy. Companies pursuing cost leadership are shifting towards differentiation strategy to cope with the intense competition faced in mainland China's immense logistics markets.

Bias may exist due to the mail survey. In‐depth studies on strategy formulation of 3PLs providers could be carried out to examine what factors influence the strategy formulation and explore the strategy evolution path.

This study is a very insightful source of information about 3PLs in mainland China for logistics managers, investors and policy‐makers. It provides guidance for 3PLs executives to formulate logistics strategy, adjust business objectives and prioritize operations, and for logistics users to select appropriate logistics providers. There are also suggestions for government to improve the business environment for the logistics industry. The study provides a basis for research on logistics management in mainland China.

This study is a pioneer and comprehensive study of mainland China's 3PLs providers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine 3PLs providers in mainland China.

Numerous studies have made it clear that many businesses, both in Australia and overseas, have not yet adopted a marketing plan as a basic operational tool. A mail study was conducted to survey the use of marketing plans in different types of Australian companies. Analysis of the survey results indicated that: (1) the prime responsibility for preparing and approving marketing plans varies between company type, (2) the time period of marketing plans varies between company type, (3) companies with high sales turnovers tend to incorporate a longer time horizon into their marketing plan, (4) no relationship was found between awareness and usage levels of planning tools and company type, and (5) companies with high sales turnovers have an average level of awareness and use of planning tools. Recommendations are made based on these findings.

As organizations globalize to reach new markets and achieve higher production and sourcing efficiencies, logistics will play an increasingly important role in moving materials and products throughout the organizations’ supply chains. For many companies, third party logistics providers (or logistics providers) represent a viable and effective alternative to fulfilling their own logistics requirements. Amidst growing competition, the logistics providers must strategize to determine how they want to position their logistics services in terms of cost, quality, features, and value‐added to their customers. This research represents the first study that examines the different strategic postures of logistics providers using Porter’s competitive framework and analyzes the business performance, technologies, operations objectives, and future plans of each strategic type. The differences among the strategic types generate new managerial insights and implications for logistics managers and executives.

Product innovation is central to the success of most companies. The rewards of a successful innovation programme are highly visible in terms of sales, profits and growth. But not so apparent are the strategies that underlie these product innovation efforts. This monograph is about the ingredients of a winning new product strategy — about strategic decisions on markets, technologies, products — that result in a successful innovation programme.

Due to its fast growth, cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) is becoming a popular internationalization model, especially in those destination markets with impressive e-commerce development like China. However, CBEC also brings new logistics challenges and uncertainty. This paper aims to understand how companies cope with logistics uncertainty in this field and whether the different types of uncertainty influence the risk management strategies adopted to face them.

A survey targeting online exporters to China and third-party forwarding logistics service providers (3PFLs) is conducted. A structural equation model (SEM) analysis is performed to test the possible relationship between the adopted risk management strategies and the types of uncertainty. The type, industry and size of the company, as well as the distance between the company's home country and China, are used as control variables in the study. Survey results are enriched via interviews with some of the respondents.

The risk management strategies adopted are dependent on the type of logistics uncertainty that the companies face and, to a minor extent, on the industry the company operates in. Conversely, no significant influence is exerted by other types of control factors, i.e. home country, company size or company type.

The paper investigates logistics uncertainty and risk management approaches in the novel context of CBEC. A systematic review of relevant sources of uncertainty is offered to help both scholars and practitioners understand the current complexities of CBEC. From a theoretical perspective, the paper models the investigated concepts in light of the contingency approach. From a practical perspective, results can be of interest since the list of proposed items can support risk identification and evaluation while the interviews with managers can provide insights on risk management practices.

The basic purpose of this paper is to establish and test the relationship between organizational culture and strategic alliances in a manufacturing supply chain that consists of alliance companies (manufacturers) and alliance partners (suppliers and customers). The relationships have been analyzed from the manufacturer's perspective.

This paper specifically addresses: the relationship between the culture type of alliance company and the degree of integration (trust, communication, and commitment) between the alliance companies and partners; the relationship between the culture type of alliance company and value creation in the alliance company; and the relationship between the degree of integration and value creation in the alliance company. A questionnaire was constructed and distributed to 109 companies that had some form strategic alliance with their suppliers and/or customers. The data collected were tested using analysis of variance and correlation analysis.

The culture type of the alliance company has a significant effect on the degree of integration and value creation. The degree of integration has a significant relationship with value creation. Specifically, the following have been found: ad hocracy culture favors a higher level of communication and commitment with the suppliers; hierarchy culture favors a higher level of commitment with suppliers and helps build a higher level of trust with customers and suppliers; and clan and ad hocracy cultures help in achieving a higher degree of value creation.

Identifying the link between the culture and strategic alliances in a supply chain can help decision makers choose the right kind of alliance partners and decide appropriate strategies that need to be adopted to form and maintain alliances.

Many newly established Internet loss-making enterprises (NEILEs) are always willing to expand overseas within a very short time from their establishment. This phenomenon is becoming a hot research area. This paper aims to explore why these enterprises are always willing to expand overseas rapidly even if they are facing severe and persistent losses, and to study the different rapid internationalization modes and the international market entry ways for NEILEs.

This paper constructs a theoretical framework with the dual situation of negative attainment discrepancy and advantageous slack resources to explain the rapid internationalization of NEILEs. Furthermore, cross-case comparative analysis method, based on interviews, questionnaires and secondary data collection, is adopted to reveal the rapid internationalization modes and the international market entry ways of such enterprises.

Whether blocking competitors or seeking opportunities or both, NEILEs' goal of rapid internationalization depends on the severity and persistence of negative attainment discrepancy. When the severity and persistence of negative attainment discrepancy are very significant, moderate and mild, NEILEs choose sniper-type, opportunity-type and dual-type internationalization target mode in turn; it is very important for NEILEs to match advantageous slack resources and international market entry ways to achieve specific internationalization goals.

This paper enriches the understanding of NEILEs' transnational entrepreneurial behavior in the era of digital economy. The theoretical contribution of this paper is that the authors build a theoretical framework based on the logical starting point, the logical fulcrum and the logic ending point for understanding the rapid internationalization of NEILEs.

This study demonstrates that NEILEs can also expand into foreign markets according to their own characteristics. Undoubtedly, they need to choose appropriate internationalization target mode and international market entry way in line with the extent and duration of their losses, and their advantageous slack resources.

In this paper, the authors construct the rapid internationalization theory of NEILEs based on the dual situation of negative attainment discrepancy and advantageous slack resources in digital economy era. Moreover, the authors discover the behavioral characteristics and patterns of NEILEs' transnational entrepreneurship.