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This study examines the relationships among trust, commitment, logistics outsourcing relationship quality (LORQ), relationship satisfaction, strategy alignment and logistics performance considering selected manufacturing firms in a developing country, Uganda.

Drawing on insights from the commitment-trust theory and strategy alignment literature, and using a cross-sectional survey design with a self-administered questionnaire, and applying the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to analyze quantifiable data obtained from managers of 103 manufacturing firms in Uganda outsourcing logistics operations, the study examined the logistics performance effects of trust, through commitment, LORQ and relationship satisfaction.

The study findings reveal that trust influences logistics performance, indirectly through its effects on commitment, LORQ and relationship satisfaction, sequentially, and that the positive effects of relationship satisfaction on logistics performance strengthen with improvements in LORQ. Strategy alignment exerted a strong positive influence on LORQ.

The study findings have important implications for theory development and literature. The study applies the commitment-trust view to both theoretically and empirically examine logistics outsourcing as a competitive strategy to enhance logistics performance, and thereby providing a theoretical base for future research. However, this research is confined to manufacturing firms in Uganda, and the results are not necessarily generalizable to other contexts.

The study findings provide insights for logistics managers regarding the role of trust, commitment, LORQ, relationship satisfaction and strategy alignment in enabling successful logistics outsourcing relationships, and how drawing on these, managers can improve firm logistics performance.

This study contributes to logistics management literature by empirically examining the relationship of trust, commitment, LORQ, relationship satisfaction and strategy alignment with logistics performance, considering manufacturing firms in a developing country, where these aspects have not been largely explored before. It highlights the need to build trust, promote greater commitment of logistics user firms in logistics outsourcing relationships as well as aligning logistics outsourcing strategies to improve LORQ and enhance logistics performance. Additionally, the study provides for the first-time new evidence for the moderation effect of LORQ on the influence of relationship satisfaction on logistics performance. The study findings suggest advancing further scholarly discussions on logistics outsourcing as a critical strategy to enhance firm logistics performance within a developing country context. Due to limitations in logistics infrastructure, and existing low-level technologies, logistics in developing countries still revolves around conventional materials handling, packaging, inventory and transportation operations, and logistics outsourcing is new, thereby presenting an interesting research context for empirical investigations on logistics in general, and logistics outsourcing in particular.

This study aims to examine the relationship between institutional logics and specifications quality, and how this relationship is mediated by the legitimacy of the procurement process and stewardship behaviour.

This study draws on insights from institutional logics theory, and legitimacy and stewardship behaviour literature. We conducted an extended literature review to gain a comprehensive understanding of “institutional logics” and their manifestations in organizational contexts, utilizing the 2000–2024 data collected from the EBSCO, Scopus and Web of Science databases, complemented with Google Scholar. We gather that institutional logics manifest in several forms, and that while some organizations may thrive on a single logic, in certain contexts institutional logics can manifest in combinations – “multiple logics or hybrids”. Based on this understanding, we developed testable research hypotheses, predicting the influences of institutional logics – professional logic, efficient service logic and delivery (market) logic, on legitimacy, stewardship behaviour and specifications quality. We then carried out an empirical study, adopting a quantitative cross-sectional survey design with a self-administered questionnaire to test the hypothesized relationships. The empirical data were obtained from 162 procuring and disposing entities in Uganda and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique.

The study findings reveal that institutional logics exert a strong positive effect on the legitimacy of the procurement process and on stewardship behaviour, which, in turn, both positively influence specifications quality.

The study findings have implications for theory and practice. The study findings provide useful insights that support the conceptual and theoretical development of institutional logics theory and applications in procurement literature. In addition, the study findings enhance procurement managers’ understanding of the mechanisms through which institutional logics can foster specifications quality. However, considering the fact that the study was conducted in a single country context, and focused on the public sector only, the findings of the study might not be generalizable globally.

This study contributes to established knowledge about quality management and procurement by examining the legitimacy of the procurement process and stewardship behaviour of those involved in procurement processes as mechanisms through which procuring entities are able to use institutional logics to enhance specifications quality. In addition, the study highlights areas for future research that may be explored to increase understanding of the value of institutional logics in ensuring specifications quality, and the link between specifications quality and the general performance of procuring entities.

This study examines how compliance with government and firm's own policy and reverse logistics practices relate with firm environmental performance.

This study draws on insights from stakeholder theory, and follows a two-phase research approach. The first phase utilized an extended literature review that seeks to provide a qualitative and comprehensive understanding of the research problem. The 2001–2023 data was collected from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, complemented with Google Scholar. The second phase involved an empirical study—adopting a quantitative cross-sectional survey design with a self-administered questionnaire to validate the theoretical conceptualizations deriving from the literature review. The empirical data were collected from 203 food and beverages manufacturing firms in Uganda and analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach.

The study findings suggest that compliance with government policy positively influences firm environmental performance, both directly, and indirectly through fostering reverse logistics practices, and that the relationship between compliance with government policy and reverse logistics practices is contingent upon compliance with the focal firm's own policy.

The study findings will enhance the theoretical and conceptual development of the ideas that underpin stakeholder theory and applications. The Ugandan government will come up with better mechanisms for enforcing compliance with policy regulating the application of reverse logistics practices. In addition, the study advances the use of multi-method approaches in investigating interesting research aspects requiring in-depth examination. However, considering the fact that the empirical study was conducted in a single country context, and focused on firms more or less from the same sub-sector, the findings of the study might not be generalizable globally.

This study provides useful insights to logistics and supply chain managers involved in reverse logistics activities in food and beverages manufacturing firms. These managers can know how to leverage reverse logistics practices to enhance environmental performance of firms amidst environmental policies in the industry where they operate.

This study contributes to the built body of knowledge in operations, logistics and supply chain management literature; understanding about reverse logistics practices as a mechanism through which compliance with government policy influences environmental performance of firms. The interaction between compliance with government policy and compliance with firm policy is essential in explaining the performance effects of reverse logistics practices. In addition, the study advances the use of multi-method approaches in investigating interesting research aspects requiring in-depth examination. Complementing extended literature review with and empirical research to investigate reverse logistics practices influences on firm environmental performance, and incorporating the role of policy in explaining this relationship should make considerable contribution. Besides, the study highlights important areas for future research.

Background: The study focuses on the challenges encountered during the distribution of food and face-mask items during the first COVID-19 lock-down by various relief supply chain actors.

Methods: Data were collected from forty (40) relief actors through online (via Zoom and telephones) and face-to-face interviews, between January 2021 to March 2021. Data was coded based on per-determined themes after which it was further processed using Atlas ti. v7.57 to generate patterns.

Results: The study established challenges related to needs identification, procurement, warehousing, transportation, handling, beneficiary verification, and last-mile distribution. Additionally, the media and politics coupled with the emergence of new actors and governance issues were part of the challenges identified.

Conclusions: The identified challenges were internal and external to the relief supply chain; hence actors could have control over some while others were beyond their control. The findings could inform practitioners and policymakers on what challenges are likely to affect their operations, especially during a pandemic, and design appropriate coping mechanisms.

Theory is an essential prerequisite in the development and maturation of any scholarly discipline. This study offers insight into theory development in reverse logistics (RL) studies, provides a synopsis of the theories employed in RL studies, and presents a comprehensive framework for choosing and applying theories in RL studies.

Using the systematic literature review approach, 265 various RL articles were analysed to discover the trend in using theories in RL studies and classify the individual theories employed. The analysis of the theoretical classification is presented to explain the type and frequency of the usage of theories.

The analysis discovered 52 specific theories from the sample. These theories were categorised under various categories: competitive, inventory, economic, decision, etc. The institutional, stakeholder, transaction cost economies, resource-based view, natural resource-based view, dynamic capability, agency and theory of planned behaviour were some of the key theories discovered. Finally, a comprehensive framework is provided to aid researchers in choosing and utilising theories.

This study gives authors, reviewers and editors perspectives on utilising theories in RL studies. It will give them the impetus to develop theories in RL and limit the borrowing or extension of theories from other disciplines to RL studies.

To the best of the researcher's knowledge, this is the first attempt to comprehensively provide an anatomical perspective into theory usage in RL studies. Besides, this study's proposed framework for selecting and using theories is a novelty in the domain of RL.

This study mainly aims to explore the causal nexus between big data-driven organizational capabilities (BDDOC) and supply chain innovation capabilities (SCIC) and innovation performance (IP), then explore the indirect effect of SCIC and also test the moderating effects for both internal supply chain integration (ISCI) and external supply chain integration (ESCI) into the relationship between BDDOC and SCIC.

In order to test the conceptual model and the hypothesized relationships between all the constructs, the data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire by workers in Jordanian small and medium manufacturing enterprises. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the model.

The paper reached a set of interesting results where it was confirmed that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between BDDOC, SCIC and IP in addition to confirming the indirect effect of SCIC between BDDOC and IP. The results also showed that there is a moderating role for both ESCI and ISCI.

This study can be considered the first study in the current literature that investigates these constructs as shown in the research model. Therefore, the paper presents an interesting set of theoretical and managerial contributions that may contribute to covering part of the research gap in the literature.