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Supply chains deliver goods and services between shippers and receivers, covering collection, transportation, distribution as well as their handling and storage in between. In particular, transportation services are carried out by different transport modes. In some modern supply chains, different categories of air cargo carriers – combinations, freighter-only, and/or integrators – provide critical transport services.

This chapter develops a methodology for estimating the performance of supply chains served by an air cargo carrier network. The methodology is based on indicators of infrastructure use, technical/technological level, operational factors, economic factors, and environmental performance. This proposed methodology is applied to estimate performance of supply chains served by an integrated air cargo carrier – FedEx Express – operating a single hub in the US domestic air network. Results indicate that the methodology may be useful for estimation of overall supply chain performance under the condition that relevant data are available.

This paper presents a case study on the problem of loading air containers in air express carriers motivated from DHL and Air Hong Kong. The problem is to determine the containers to be loaded and the locations of the loaded containers in an aircraft while maintaining stability of the aircraft. The objective of the problem is to maximize the revenue obtained from delivering containers. We present an integer programming model to represent and optimally solve the problem. Computational experiments done on a number of randomly generated test instances show that the integer program can be a viable tool for generating loading plans in the companies since optimal or near-optimal solutions for the test instances are obtained within a reasonable amount of computation time.

With an increasing air cargo demand in the global air cargo transport industry, not only domestic airlines but also foreign carriers are actively investing in the air cargo service sector and trying to provide a differentiated service in order to gain a competitive advantage. There are a variety of service quality models available but most research to date has not found an optimal model for the air cargo service sector.

Using questionnaire data collected from air freight forwarders in Korea with respect to the air cargo service provided by Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, and foreign carriers(JAL or China Eastern), this paper compares four models in measuring the service quality in the air cargo sector and identifies the best model. We then analyze the weakness of each airline’s service operation and make suggestions for improvement.

For demonstration analysis, the survey of domestic air cargo forwarders revealed that Reliability>Responsiveness> Supply ability>Security in important order in air cargo service quality dimension. In the context of this paper, we considered four models-unweighted SERVQUAL, unweighted SERVPERF, weighted SERVQUAL, and weighted SERVPERF–for our investigation into which is the most suitable model in the air cargo service sector with testing of goodness of fit by three criteria. Our results indicate that the most suitable model for the air cargo service sector is the weighted SERVPERF model.

One‐stop shopping for logistics services has been a popular concept in theory, but so far has not been very successful in practice. Reviews the theoretical basis for the concept and reports the findings of a shipper‐carrier comparison study about one‐stop shopping expectations for international logistics services. Shows that international shippers located in the USA rate the expected effects of one‐stop shopping as positive. Global carrier managers appear to be in tune with these shippers, although they tend to be somewhat less optimistic about the effects of one‐stop shopping. Certain shipper characteristics appear indicative of shipper enthusiasm for adopting the one‐stop shopping concept. Formulates implications of these findings for global carriers.

Aims to provide a model of technology strategy, which shows how firms can strategically plan for and adopt new information technology. The critical issue in managing technology strategy is to assess the role which it can play in enhancing the firm′s competitive position through improving its value activities, which can provide sustainable competitive advantage to the adopting firm and its business partners. Utilizes the competitive strategy paradigm of technology strategy to explore the strategic impact of electronic data interchange (EDI) technology using the global air express industry as an example. This industry provides an appropriate example for applying the paradigm because firms competing in global markets must successfully address many of those problems which are facing global air express firms. Other industries can learn from the experience of air express firms′ use of technology to improve their competitive performance.

International air express carriers, frequently referred to as international courier companies, operate integrated global networks consisting of aircraft, hubs, vehicles, data systems and tens of thousands of employees spread across all continents. The inherently global nature of such systems – the leading firm operates in 228 countries – makes them sensitive to a foray of risks and threats. This paper, which was presented at the Seventh International Public Relations Research Symposium (Lake Bled, Slovenia, 7th‐8th July, 2000), reports on an ongoing crisis management research project that started in 1997 and which investigates early markers of crises experienced by DHL Worldwide Express. After a concise literature overview, which maps the relationship between organisational crises and early warning signals, two research outputs are discussed. First, the production of a crisis register is described. Computer‐aided content analysis of an internal service bulletin identified 103 service crises which the company managed in 68 countries during a 15‐month period. Secondly, detailed case investigation generated a model of crisis gestation. Prior to conflagration, exacerbating conditions and precipitating events interact to produce a number of dynamic effects. Five types of gestation‐advancing effects are illustrated. The paper concludes by reflecting on some of the consequences globally dispersed operations can have on corporate crisis management processes.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between the dimensions of sustainable competitive advantages in the Indian low cost airlines.

This study used structural equation modelling methods to identify the factors that significantly affect the sustainable competitive advantages enjoyed by Indian low-cost carriers (LCCs). Specifically, this study is based on the data from 208 airline experts that populate multiple structural equation models.

Results indicate that indigenous efficiency, the LCCs perceptions of threat, dexterity, strategic persuasion and the LCC adopting an enabling role positively affect LCCs’ competitive advantages. These five factors were all correlated with each other. The results also show that relative to an LCC’s dexterity, indigenous efficiency is a stronger predictor of an LCC’s competitive advantages.

This study provides low-cost airlines with valuable information for designing effective strategies for obtaining competitive advantages in the LCC sector. To conclude the paper, the authors offer practical recommendations for managers and suggest some avenues for future research in this area.

The purpose of this paper is to present a detailed literature review of the recent applications of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and analytic network process (ANP) group decision‐making methodologies.

Among more than 600 related papers published in the period 2005‐2009, a total of 232 application articles published in highly reputed international academic journals were selected and referenced in this paper. Papers were categorized according to application areas, subject titles, publication date, country of origin, academic journals, and integrated methodologies, and are summarized herein by various tables and charts.

The findings show that during the years 2005‐2009, use of the AHP technique has continued to increase exponentially. Moreover, it is expected that ANP will gain more popularity in the future, as the benefits of ANP become better understood. Applications of AHP have been dominant in manufacturing, followed by the environmental management and agriculture field, power and energy industry, transportation industry, construction industry, and healthcare. Other remarkable application fields include education, logistics, e‐business, IT, R&D, telecommunication industry, finance and banking, urban management, defense industry and military, government, marketing, tourism and leisure, archaeology, auditing, and the mining industry.

The study does not consider theoretical based AHP or ANP articles. Also the search excluded conference proceedings, masters' theses, and doctoral dissertations.

It is hoped that this study will guide practitioners in future work towards advancement of these techniques and will help the managers to select better decisions by making use of these methodologies.

The paper presents a comprehensive literature review of recent applications of AHP, and also ANP decision tools over the period 2005‐2009. Furthermore, the paper covers fuzzy AHP and fuzzy ANP extensions that are becoming popular methods in some application areas of traditional AHP and ANP.