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The purpose of this paper is to examine customer knowledge sharing between a buyer of a logistics service and the logistics service provider (LSP). The authors attempt to fill the gap in current research by investigating inter‐firm customer knowledge sharing.

A survey study was conducted. Data were collected from buyers of logistic services. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression were used to analyze data and test hypotheses.

Results suggest that open and fluent communication mediates the relationship between customer knowledge sharing and satisfaction with a logistics service provider. In addition, the close relationship with the logistics service provider is needed to strengthen the relationship between customer knowledge sharing and satisfaction with the logistics service provider.

This study provided new empirical evidence concerning inter‐firm customer knowledge sharing. The authors suggest that logistic service providers should be incorporated into the customer knowledge management process to ensure open and fluent communication about customers.

This study provides practical insights for companies that sell logistic services.

Customer knowledge sharing has been largely studied in an intra‐firm context, for instance information sharing between marketing and research and development departments. This research extends the concept of customer knowledge sharing to the inter‐firm context.

The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that affect the adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in Saudi Arabia’s logistics services industry. The specific focus is the influence of key variables in multiple domains: technology (complexity and compatibility); organization (top management support, firm size, quality of human capital and integration of supply chain strategy); and environment (information intensity, competitive pressure, trading partner pressure and regulatory pressure).

Data were obtained by distributing a survey instrument to a target sample of 459 Saudi logistics company employees whose positions meant they were well placed to explain the operations and technologies used in their organizations. In total, 459 useable responses were received, which also constituted the final sample for the analysis. The survey was validated using confirmatory factor analysis, and the study hypothesis was tested using binary logistic regression.

Of the firms represented in the data collected, 70% had not adopted RFID technology. Cost issues, technical issues and lack of industry standards were identified as the main factors hindering the decision to adopt RFID. The results of the binary logistic regression show that top management support, quality of human capital, firm size and trading partner pressure are the variables that most influence whether or not a firm adopts RFID technology.

According to the analysis, it is imperative that the industry adopt RFID given that this technology can provide strategic and operational advantages. Based on the findings, small and medium enterprises in the logistics services industry require governmental support in terms of providing funding, training and a supportive regulatory environment. Support of this nature would encourage logistics services companies to adopt new technology and move toward applying the global standards developed in the industry to date. Finally, in order to execute a clear and complete strategy across the supply chain, companies must collaborate with trading partners in implementing RFID.

The body of research on emerging markets does not include any empirical studies focused on the adoption of new technologies and innovation in the supply chain. Although researchers discuss applications of technologies in operational and supply chain processes across multiple industries, most of the published research on RFID technology focuses on European and North American contexts. This study is, therefore, much needed for its fundamental contribution to identifying and understanding the factors that affect RFID adoption decisions in emerging markets.

With the growing trend toward the use of international supply chain and e‐commerce, logistic service providers for product warehousing, transportation and delivery are placing great emphasis on information technology (IT) to be competitive globally. Realizing that the current service tracking system merely supports order status tracking within a service provider, applies mobile agent technology for online order tracking across the global logistic alliances. Utilizes a three‐tier architecture for mobile agent technology and develops a prototype system for global logistic service tracking. Demonstrates the concept and technology proposed. The online service tracking services enable customers to monitor the real‐time status of their service requests and therefore becomes key tool for modern enterprises to compete successfully in a global marketplace.

With the function of reconstructing and promoting traditional industries in China, logistic service industry (LSI) still consumes a great deal of energy. The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyse the relationship between energy consumption of logistics and its influential factors in China, and through this, identify the most important factor and give a significant research of this factor afterwards.

Using a quantitative analysis of the industry composition of energy consumption and the structure of energy consumption in LSI, the serious condition of China's energy conservation of LSI was found. Correlated analysis and co‐integration analysis were adopted to identify how these factors affected the energy conservation of LSI and how to construct environmental logistics in China.

The paper found mileage traveled by train is the most important factor of energy consumption in LSI, while traveling miles of highway is the second. The former was negative correlation with the total of energy consumption while the latter was positive correlation.

Because of the deficiency of data in China, this research is based on the data of 30 years, which is not testified as long enough for this research. This would indicate that the conclusions of this paper are approximate values. A closer look should be taken at the effectiveness of some of the other factors suggested in the previous research on this topic.

The paper outlines ways to effectively construct environmental logistics in China which would promote the energy conservation and sustainable development of this country. Since the total consumption of energy in China accounts for a certain proportion of the world, this will benefit other countries as well.

This paper is one of the first of its kind to develop and empirically analyze the relationship between energy consumption of LSI and its influential factors in China. It uniquely contributes towards helping us find approaches to constructing China's environmental logistics and will have far‐reaching implications for other developing countries.

This teaching case is specially designed for students who are in their advanced stage of their undergraduate business degree program. It can also be used in a Master of Business program.

This teaching case documents that roller coaster ride of failures and success of OneLogix (a niche logistic service providers) from its birth in 2000 till present day. It seeks to present a rich contextual information about how difficult it is for businesses to survive and become profitable in South Africa.

On completion of the case, students will be able to analyze the external environment of an organization, determine what factors will impact the organization’s profitability and survivability, analyze the evolution of an industry, apply and discuss how the evolution of an industry can affect an organization’s profitability and survivability, explain the difference between entrepreneurial versus efficiency management approach, discuss how each approach will conflict the other and identify ways that can harmonize the two approaches, explain strategies for organization to develop capabilities to be responsive to changes in its business environment and compose and apply strategies according to the contextual information provided within the teaching case.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy

This study aims to apply a Lean Six Sigma framework to support continuous improvement in the maritime industry (shipbuilding, logistics services and shipping companies) during COVID-19 pandemics. By applying the concepts of Lean Six Sigma and supply chain resilience, the most suitable continuous improvement method for the maritime industry is developed to maintain a resilient supply chain during COVID-19.

A specific shipbuilding, logistics services and shipping company in Indonesia is chosen as the research object. The Lean Six Sigma framework reveals the wastes through the supply chain resilience concept, and implements internal business processes to maintain optimal system performance.

The paper identifies important implementation aspects in applying Lean Six Sigma to shipbuilding, logistics services and shipping. The DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve and control) approach is applied to achieve supply chain resilience. Resilient measures are generated for the case companies to maximize performance during the pandemics.

This paper provides a new insight for integrating Lean Six Sigma and resilience strategies in the maritime industry during COVID-19 disruptions. The authors provide some insights to sustain the performance of the maritime industries under study.

This study is part of the first research in the maritime industry that focuses on continuous improvement during COVID-19 using Lean Six Sigma and supply chain resilience.

In this Industry 4.0 era, third-party logistics (3PL) industries face huge cost pressure to deliver their service. With increase in competition among the players, constant mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been taking place to sustain competitive advantage. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the growth dynamics among the 3PL service providers.

In this research, the system dynamics methodology was applied to the study of the growth of 3PL industry in Singapore. A population growth model incorporating the predator–prey interaction is developed to account for growth through M&As among 3PLs and their interaction phenomenon are modeled through modified Lotka–Volterra method. The two-species system model consisting of small and medium logistics service providers (SMLSPs as the prey) and the lead logistics providers (LLPs as the predator) are gauged according to the firm size.

Results from the baseline model indicates that Singapore’s logistics industry looks very optimistic for SMLSPs for another 6 years from 2018, while the LLP population will achieve a peak at about 12 years from 2018. Further sensitivity analysis through macroeconomic and microeconomic changes reveals increase in trend of M&As. By varying competitive pressures between firms, results indicate that the LLP population experiences a decreasing rate of increasing SMLSP population falls.

The research provides guidance for logistics and supply chain managers to better understand the critical factors that impact and determine competitive dynamics. The paper further recommends managers to build sustainable logistics strategies to retain competitive advantages.

The research contributes to both economic and social dimensions of logistics sustainability of how resilient the industries are during uncertain conditions. Some of the limitations of this research include the geographic coverage of the study region and other methodological aspects. The research value thus helps policymakers for developing strategic policies for sustainable industrial growth.

Collaborative solutions are increasingly being proposed to generate value in supply chains. Concurrently, firms have progressively outsourced logistics operations to logistics service providers (LSPs). However, many questions remain unsolved regarding the role played by LSPs in supporting supply chain collaboration (SCC) in triadic rather than dyadic contexts. This study aims to explore the relational mechanisms that LSPs can leverage to foster value creation through collaboration, elaborating on an existing theory about SCC by focussing on logistics triads.

By leveraging the view of the network theory, a multiple case study approach was adopted. Seven cases having logistics triads as units of analysis were identified and analysed within the Italian grocery supply chain, allowing for empirical investigation with a middle-range approach to extend the previous theory.

LSPs are pivotal actors that can actively promote SCC. LSPs can exploit large volumes and asset availability to increase efficiency while improving logistics flexibility and developing regular and trustworthy relationships with the other triad members. Building upon their logistics capabilities and the relational mechanisms in place, LSPs can help manufacturers collaborate with retailers by improving mutual trust and communication, acting as trust builders or trust conductors within the triad.

The study explores the role of LSPs in logistics triads, extending the previous literature. It highlights that LSPs facilitate not only supply and demand integration but also relational integration between firms. Trust emerges as a fundamental building block for SCC, as LSPs can look beyond economic benefits to foster partnerships that empower the co-development of original collaborative solutions.

Supply chains are becoming more complex and uncertain, yet existing theories are predominately based on empirical research of dyads overlooking triadic settings. This study aims to bridge the gap between supply chain theories and praxis, this study examined multi-sourcing triads in terms of coordination, collaboration and integration.

Transaction cost economics, resource-based view in conjunction with social capital theory and agency theory were used to develop a research framework. Abductive, comparative research examined four triads. The triads comprised four retailers (EU, USA, Japan and one with a global presence), one third-party logistics provider (3PL) and 103 suppliers in textiles and the clothing industry.

All multi-sourcing triads achieved efficient coordination via network configuration showing varying degrees of collaboration and integration. Three research propositions were developed as follows: transaction complexity and dynamics necessitate triad coordination and control by the 3PL; relational and structural embeddedness emerge when actors invest in triad-specific resources and capabilities; information, relational and structural asymmetries may trigger bridge transfer and affect triad integration and performance.

Empirical research on multi-sourcing triads complements existing research on logistics and service, transitive triads to uncover how triad coordination, embeddedness and power asymmetries affect supply chain performance. Future studies should examine the interrelationships between triad embeddedness, asymmetries and relational capital.

Compared to logistics or service triads, B3B triads excel in relational and structural embeddedness and offer unique production-distribution solutions that create value to end-consumers and triad actors.

B3B triads are a unique conceptualization in supply chain management that extends the concepts of logistics triads and service triads.