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This paper aims to explore the conditions in a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) context characterized by new technologies. Innovations enhance disintermediation and pursue sustainability goals that drive customers’ willingness to use eco-friendly delivery options, namely, parcel lockers – in e-commerce and their impacts in terms of communication and transparency along the supply network.

The study conducted an extensive survey in Italy and Germany, collecting 1,010 usable responses. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data with the aim of identifying the factors that drive customers’ willingness to use parcel lockers and the effect on customers’ behaviour as determined by the disclosure of information about the environmental performance of different delivery options.

The results highlight several factors affecting the willingness to use parcel lockers, namely, performance and effort expectancy, social influence, technology anxiety, hedonistic motivation and environmental knowledge. The results also demonstrate that the disclosure of information about the environmental performance of different delivery options influences customers’ behaviour.

This paper faces several limitations, mostly related to the focus on just two countries, the use of cross-sectional data and the survey’s explicit reference to just one type of product. Nevertheless, the findings contribute to the discussion on the relevance of information sharing along the supply chain, providing favourable evidence in this regard. It also improves the stream of research concerning technology adoption in the context of e-commerce, highlighting factors that can lead consumers to use eco-friendly self-service technologies.

The results can support companies in understanding how they can design and manage the last mile of delivery to jointly achieve customer satisfaction, process efficiency and superior environmental performance.

This pioneering contribution studies the adoption of delivery solutions for e-commerce and its implications for the supply network.

This study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of the interdisciplinary literature on drones in last-mile delivery (LMD) to extrapolate pertinent insights from and into the logistics management field.

Rooting their analytical categories in the LMD literature, the authors performed a deductive, theory refinement SLR on 307 interdisciplinary journal articles published during 2015–2022 to integrate this emergent phenomenon into the field.

The authors derived the potentials, challenges and solutions of drone deliveries in relation to 12 LMD criteria dispersed across four stakeholder groups: senders, receivers, regulators and societies. Relationships between these criteria were also identified.

This review contributes to logistics management by offering a current, nuanced and multifaceted discussion of drones' potential to improve the LMD process together with the challenges and solutions involved.

The authors provide logistics managers with a holistic roadmap to help them make informed decisions about adopting drones in their delivery systems. Regulators and society members also gain insights into the prospects, requirements and repercussions of drone deliveries.

This is one of the first SLRs on drone applications in LMD from a logistics management perspective.

The recent pandemic period (COVID-19), while negatively impacting many companies, has contributed to the growth and adoption of online platforms such as marketplaces and e-commerce. This environment has led many companies, which previously acted only through offline channels, to adopt new technologies and online channels and develop new e-commerce strategies. Small and micro enterprises are most vulnerable due to their limited resources and lack of capabilities. For this reason, the main objective of this paper is to unveil the e-commerce implementation capabilities that micro and small enterprises should build and the challenges they must face when managing an e-commerce strategy.

The authors adopted an inductive qualitative research design approach focused on multiple case studies. The firms operate in the food and beverage industry.

The findings identify several e-commerce implementation capabilities that micro and small enterprises operating in the food and beverage industry should build to manage e-commerce strategies. These are related to outsourcing management, multichannel management, time management, internal stock management and marketplace choice. Moreover, the paper identifies key e-commerce implementation challenges these firms must cope with. These regard distribution management, potential loss of control, fresh product management and lack of resources, time and capabilities.

This research shows that proper capacity management in the implementation of micro and small enterprises e-commerce strategies is critical to achieving efficient results and preventing challenges that threaten such strategies. The research offers guidelines and frameworks for micro and small enterprises to understand how to manage e-commerce and face its challenges.

Drones will become part of daily lives similar to smartphones becoming a staple of modern living. Nonetheless, only several past studies investigated the intention to utilise drones for parcel delivery however, the intention to use drones among online shoppers was not fully explored. The study attempts to investigate the factors influencing the intention to use drones for last-mile delivery.

A total of 292 data were gathered via an online survey among online shoppers applying a snowball sampling method. Since the study operationalised the measures as composites, a combination of reflective and formative measurement, and the study focusses on predictive purposes, partial least squares structural equation modelling with SmartPLS 4 was applied to test the model developed based on the stimulus-organism-response model.

The analysis found that all the direct hypotheses were found supported. Moreover, Green support, green desire and pro-environmental behaviour positively and sequentially mediated future orientation and intention, whereas technology anxiety and perceived safety moderated the relationship between pro-environmental behaviour and intention.

The respondents only limit to the online shoppers in Malaysia which based on purposive sampling method, thus the findings cannot be generalized to another countries.

Besides enriching the literature on drone studies, the findings provided practical insights to online platforms and drone operators to develop an effective strategy to encourage online shoppers to shift from conventional delivery to drone delivery.

The study developed a new model for drone delivery studies using the S-O-R model in introducing orientation towards the future and green support as the stimulus, green desire as an organism and pro-environmental behaviour and usage intention as a response. The study introduced multiple sequential mediators, also contributing to the S-O-R model to predict online shoppers' behaviour towards drones as a tool for last-mile delivery. Another important contribution, technology anxiety and perceived safety were confirmed to have a moderation effect for the relationship between pro-environmental behaviour and intention to use drones for last-mile delivery.

Strategic integration of enablers and the realization of drone delivery benefits emerge as essential strategies for business organizations to enhance operational efficiency and stay competitive in last-mile logistics. This paper aims to explore the benefits of drone-based last-mile delivery in the Indian logistic sector by providing a framework for ranking drone delivery benefits (DDBs) due to the adoption of its enablers.

This study proposes a novel hybrid framework applied in the Indian logistic sector by integrating a sentence boundary extraction algorithm for extracting benefits from literature, a spherical fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (SF-AHP) for evaluating primary enablers, unsupervised fuzzy C-means clustering (FCM) for clustering benefits and a spherical combined compromised solution (SF-CoCoSo) for ranking benefits with respect to primary enablers.

The results reveal that technological and infrastructure enablers (TIE), government and legislation enablers (GLE) and operational and service quality enablers (OSE) are the most significant enablers for drone implementation in logistics. Top-ranked benefits increase the efficiency of last-mile delivery (DDB10), foster supply chain management and logistic sustainability (DDB16) and increase delivery access to rural area and vulnerable people (DDB17).

This research assists scholars, entrepreneurs and policymakers in the sustainable deployment of drone delivery in the logistics sector. This study facilitates the use of drones in delivery services and provides a foundation for all stakeholders in logistics.

The assessments involve considering judgment from a highly knowledgeable and experienced group in India, characterized by a large volume of inputs and a high level of expertise.

This study investigated the relationship between last-mile distribution or delivery (LMD) and commodity access through the mediating role of commodity availability and commodity security and the moderating effect of supply chain integration (SCI).

The study adopted the survey research design and employed the questionnaire instrument in collecting primary data from respondents in Eastern Regional Health Institutions in Ghana. The total number of valid responses received was 204. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was adopted to analyze the relationship between the study variables.

The findings showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between LMD and commodity availability as well as LMD and commodity security. Moreover, while the relationship between commodity availability and commodity access is positive and significant, that between commodity security and commodity access is positive but insignificant. Furthermore, there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between LMD and commodity access. The study discovered that the interaction between LMD and commodity access is insignificant and negatively affected by SCI.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous studies have empirically verified the effect of LMD on commodity access in the presence of mediating factors such as commodity availability and commodity security and SCI as the moderating factors.

The objective is to contribute to the development of strategies through the identification of sustainability practices. Thus, the research has a twofold objective: to unveil sustainability practices integrated into last-mile logistics activities by e-commerce retailers, analyze the interrelations among these practices and categorize them based on their significance for small Brazilian e-commerce retailers.

A literature mapping was conducted to identify sustainability practices in last-mile activities adopted by e-retailers, leading to the proposal of a meta-model. A total of 67 articles are part of the final sample. Subsequently, the study applied the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) multicriteria decision-making technique to structure the research problem through cause-and-effect analysis among practices, aiming to prioritize critical practices.

The results indicate a strong dependence on economic practices to enable sustainability in last-mile logistics. In the economic dimension of sustainability, operating costs and quality of services are effect variables and achieved the highest relation concerning the other practices.

The article provides theoretical contributions by addressing two complementary areas of knowledge: Stakeholder Theory and Sustainability, also aligning with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. In practical terms, it stands out for offering valuable insights into the implementation of sustainable strategies by identifying economic, environmental and social practices in last-mile logistics, particularly within the context of small businesses in the e-retail segment.

The results help e-retailers re-evaluate last-mile logistics processes from a sustainability perspective. This study aims to fill the knowledge gap in the current literature on adopting sustainable practices in small e-commerce retail firms.

Considering that one of the pillars of sustainability is a commitment to social development, this study contributes to understanding the view of small e-retailers on the independent goods delivery workers responsible for the delivery of goods.

The originality of this research lies in identifying economic, social and environmental sustainability practices adopted by e-retailers in last-mile logistics processes. Additionally, the study focuses on the small-scale e-commerce retail segment, an area that has been little explored in the Brazilian context. Lastly, the proposed meta-model contributes to addressing practices from the perspective of Stakeholder Theory and the Sustainability approach.

El objetivo es contribuir al desarrollo de estrategias mediante la identificación de prácticas sostenibles. Por lo tanto, la investigación tiene un doble objetivo: revelar las prácticas de sostenibilidad integradas en las actividades logísticas de última milla de minoristas de comercio electrónico, analizar las interrelaciones entre estas prácticas y categorizarlas según su importancia para los pequeños minoristas de comercio electrónico en Brasil.

Se llevó a cabo un mapeo de la literatura para identificar prácticas de sostenibilidad en las actividades de última milla adoptadas por minoristas en línea, lo que llevó a la propuesta de un metamodelo. Un total de 67 artículos forman parte de la muestra final. Posteriormente, el estudio aplicó la técnica de toma de decisiones multicriterio Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) para estructurar el problema de investigación mediante análisis de causa y efecto entre las prácticas, con el objetivo de priorizar las prácticas críticas.

El resultado indica una fuerte dependencia de prácticas económicas para implementar la sostenibilidad en la logística de última milla. En la dimensión económica de la sostenibilidad, los costes operacionales y la calidad de los servicios son variables de efecto y presentan una fuerte correlación.

La originalidad de esta investigación radica en identificar prácticas de sostenibilidad económica, social y ambiental adoptadas por minoristas en línea en los procesos logísticos de última milla. Además, el estudio se centra en el segmento minorista de comercio electrónico a pequeña escala, un área poco explorada en el contexto brasileño. Por último, el metamodelo propuesto contribuye a abordar prácticas desde la perspectiva de la Teoría de los Stakeholders y el enfoque de Sostenibilidad.

El artículo proporciona contribuciones teóricas al abordar dos áreas complementarias de conocimiento: la Teoría de los Stakeholders y la Sostenibilidad, alineándose también con las directrices de la Iniciativa de Reporte Global (GRI). En términos prácticos, destaca al ofrecer ideas valiosas sobre la implementación de estrategias sostenibles al identificar prácticas económicas, ambientales y sociales en la logística de última milla, particularmente en el contexto de las pequeñas empresas en el segmento minorista en línea.

Los resultados ayudan a los minoristas electrónicos a reevaluar los procesos logísticos de última milla desde una perspectiva de sostenibilidad. Este estudio pretende contribuir el avance del conocimiento de la literatura actual sobre la adopción de prácticas sostenibles en pequeñas empresas de comercio electrónico.

Teniendo en cuenta que uno de los pilares de la sostenibilidad es el compromiso con el desarrollo social, este estudio contribuye a comprender la visión de los pequeños minoristas electrónicos sobre los trabajadores independientes encargados de la entrega de mercancías.

The study aims to optimize truck routes by minimizing social and economic costs. It introduces a strategy involving diverse drones and their potential for reusing at DNs based on flight range. In HTDRP-DC, trucks can select and transport various drones to LDs to reduce deprivation time. This study estimates the nonlinear deprivation cost function using a linear two-piece-wise function, leading to MILP formulations. A heuristic-based Benders Decomposition approach is implemented to address medium and large instances. Valid inequalities and a heuristic method enhance convergence boundaries, ensuring an efficient solution methodology.

Research has yet to address critical factors in disaster logistics: minimizing the social and economic costs simultaneously and using drones in relief distribution; deprivation as a social cost measures the human suffering from a shortage of relief supplies. The proposed hybrid truck-drone routing problem minimizing deprivation cost (HTDRP-DC) involves distributing relief supplies to dispersed demand nodes with undamaged (LDs) or damaged (DNs) access roads, utilizing multiple trucks and diverse drones. A Benders Decomposition approach is enhanced by accelerating techniques.

Incorporating deprivation and economic costs results in selecting optimal routes, effectively reducing the time required to assist affected areas. Additionally, employing various drone types and their reuse in damaged nodes reduces deprivation time and associated deprivation costs. The study employs valid inequalities and the heuristic method to solve the master problem, substantially reducing computational time and iterations compared to GAMS and classical Benders Decomposition Algorithm. The proposed heuristic-based Benders Decomposition approach is applied to a disaster in Tehran, demonstrating efficient solutions for the HTDRP-DC regarding computational time and convergence rate.

Current research introduces an HTDRP-DC problem that addresses minimizing deprivation costs considering the vehicle’s arrival time as the deprivation time, offering a unique solution to optimize route selection in relief distribution. Furthermore, integrating heuristic methods and valid inequalities into the Benders Decomposition approach enhances its effectiveness in solving complex routing challenges in disaster scenarios.

During the supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19, logistics service providers (LSPs) have invested heavily in innovations to enhance their supply chain resilience capabilities. However, only little attention has been given so far to the nature of these innovative capabilities, in particular to what extent LSPs were able to repurpose capabilities to build supply chain resilience. In response, using the concept of exaptation, this study identifies to what extent LSPs have discovered and utilized latent functions to build supply chain resilience capabilities during a disruptive event of high impact and low probability.

This conceptual paper uses a theory building approach to advance the literature on supply chain resilience by delineating the relationship between exaptation and supply chain resilience capabilities in the context of COVID-19. To do so, we propose two frameworks: (1) to clarify the role of exaptation for supply chain resilience capabilities and (2) to depict four different exaptation dimensions for the supply chain resilience capabilities of LSPs.

We illustrate how LSPs have repurposed original functions into new products or services to build their supply chain resilience capabilities and combine the two critical concepts of exploitation and exploration capabilities to identify four exaptation dimensions in the context of LSPs, namely impeded exaptation, configurative exaptation, transformative exaptation and ambidextrous exaptation.

As one of the first studies linking exaptation and supply chain resilience, the framework and subsequent categorization advance the understanding of how LSPs can build exapt-driven supply chain resilience capabilities and synthesize the current literature to offer conceptual clarity regarding the varied implications and outcomes linked to the repurposing of capabilities.

This paper aims to explore the extent of open data actualization for start-up entrepreneurs based on affordance theory. The principal interest of the study revolves around the possible actions or actualization of open data for innovation and entrepreneurial benefits.

The author used a qualitative case study as the research design. The author consulted the central public agency that manages open data implementations in Malaysia regarding the research topic. By doing so, the author recognized and interviewed start-up entrepreneurs who actualize open data in businesses. From that exercise, the author conducted a snowball sampling technique to recruit more informants for the research. Start-up entrepreneurs selected for the study must be active in an entrepreneurial project and have at least one year of experience using open data for innovation and entrepreneurship. The author conducted 30 online semistructured interviews with start-up entrepreneurs, representatives from open data providers and a start-up association for triangulation purposes. The author adopted affordance theory as a lens of understanding. Qualitative analysis software was used to generate research findings.

In this study, start-up entrepreneurs actualize open data in three principal areas: product building with open data, value creation with existing products and open data for business research and strategies. The study came across distinct narratives of local start-ups that build open data products named “a property start-up,” “mechanics on the go” and “peer-to-peer digital charity movement.” Also, the study discovered three unanticipated findings about the research topic. First, the study uncovered two start-ups that used open data to enhance algorithm designs. Second, the study revealed a unique narrative of a start-up that pivoted business ideas based on open data during the Covid-19 pandemic. Third, the study learned about a start-up that initiated strategic partnerships with an agricultural association and smallholder farmers inspired by open data. These findings extend the literature on how start-up entrepreneurs actualize open data for entrepreneurial gains in a developing economy. What is also unique about this study is that there might be an open data misconception among start-up entrepreneurs. The findings advocate that some start-up entrepreneurs believed all data should be shared or opened upon request based on the generic understanding of open data. Clearly, this is a fallacy, and better awareness is required among start-up entrepreneurs regarding open data principles and implementations.

Data providers need to build a credible image of open data as a foundation to drive actualization. This can be achieved through capacity building, awareness campaigns and strategic engagements with start-up entrepreneurs. Open data institutions need to initiate flagship projects with start-up associations in highly valuable sectors to demonstrate commercial applications of open data in certain fields.

Previous research provides limited empirical studies on the commercial application of open data for start-up entrepreneurs. Hence, the novelty of this study lies in understanding how start-up entrepreneurs actualize open data to create value in their respective fields.