Performance-based contracting for advanced logistics services

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 592-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kostas Selviaridis ◽  
Andreas Norrman
Keyword(s):  
Performance Management ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Contract Management ◽  
Perceived Fairness ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Logistics Services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore key challenges of adopting, designing and managing performance-based contracts (PBC) for advanced logistics services, as seen by providers. The shift toward performance-based solutions has proved challenging since providers often struggle to link performance to their payment. Despite such managerial challenges, empirical research in this area has been limited. Design/methodology/approach – A multi-case design was adopted. Three cases of logistics service providers were selected based on purposive sampling. Data were collected through 38 semi-structured interviews and review of 43 documents such as contracts and customer target letters. Findings – Key PBC adoption challenges include customer and provider intention to align their goals and incentives as well as their views on risk and reward sharing. Contract design challenges center around performance metric definition and weighting, designing performance monitoring systems that consider service co-production effects and help improve customer relationship and designing incentives with appropriate intensity levels. Contract management challenges include fostering provider pro-activity, provider changes in terms of processes and resource investments, perceived fairness of designed incentives and contract re-design to allow for win-win relationship outcomes. Research limitations/implications – The study empirically contributes to extant logistics service provider literature by identifying specific challenges that extend also beyond PBC adoption and design and cover contract management (and potential contract re-design). It also unpacks the notion of performance attributability by analyzing its role also in terms of contract and performance management as well as its potential effects on customer relationship management. Practical implications – The study presents implications for logistics provider managers regarding how the observed PBC challenges can be overcome. Originality/value – The study unearths several challenges of PBC for advanced logistics services, particularly in connection to contract management and re-design.

Logistics service providers’ engagement in disaster relief initiatives

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 269-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Cozzolino ◽  
Ewa Wankowicz ◽  
Enrico Massaroni
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
Humanitarian Logistics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Disaster Relief Operations ◽  
Logistics Service Providers ◽  
Logistics Services ◽  
Relief Operations ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of logistics service providers’ (LSPs) initiatives to disaster relief and how LSPs are engaged with humanitarian sector. In recent years, the importance of logistics services in disaster relief operations and the capacity of LSPs to improve humanitarian supply chain management have become an increasingly interesting topic for both professionals and academics. Design/methodology/approach This research follows a qualitative approach based on multiple case studies. Findings The current research, after considering the differences and similarities among collaboration, cooperation and coordination and underlining how crucial these mechanisms are in the humanitarian context, explains the contribution of LSPs to relief operations alongside humanitarians. Research limitations/implications There has been increased interest in humanitarian logistics on the part of international academic and professional communities. This study constitutes a first exploratory step in the research to build a platform for benchmarking analysis of logistics services that aims to ensure the effective implementation of social responsibility principles. Practical implications The managerial implications arising from the research offer a range of current responsible actions from which strategic and operative directions to contribute can be derived. Originality/value Humanitarian logistics represents a crucial field in logistics management. This paper addresses the innovative socially responsible initiatives undertaken by the main international LSPs in the area of humanitarian logistics.

Energy efficiency in logistics through service modularity: the case of household waste

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Wehner ◽  
Ceren Altuntas Vural ◽  
Árni Halldórsson
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Design ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Logistics Services

PurposeService modularity promotes efficiency at the provider end of the supply chain and customisation at the customer end. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how logistics service modularity contributes to sustainable development through the means of energy efficiency. This is analysed in the context of logistics services for household waste collection.Design/methodology/approachA single case study methodology with embedded units is adopted where semi-structured interviews were conducted with a waste service provider (WSP) and buyers (municipalities) in Sweden, focussing on five types of logistics services for waste collection: collection of food and residual waste at apartments and one-family houses, as well as collection of gardening waste. Service modules are identified and analysed by blueprinting the service.FindingsThe findings show different service modules – standardised or customised – and their contribution to sustainable development operationalised through energy efficiency. Principles for an energy-centric service design are proposed.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to Swedish household waste collection setting. Promising efficiency through standardisation, logistics service modularity has a potential to improve energy efficiency as well. This neglected link between sustainability and service modularity offers fruitful research avenues.Practical implicationsThis research is of practical relevance to waste logistics service providers and the municipality by suggesting principles for energy-centric service design. The service blueprint enables using logistics service modularity for improving energy efficiency in different logistics service settings.Originality/valueThis research incorporates an environmentally sustainable development perspective into logistics service modularity and contributes to the literature by exploring how energy efficiency is improved by modular design of logistics services. Furthermore, the study is one of the first to use service blueprinting to analyse logistics service modularity, providing a methodological contribution to that field in general and logistics in particular.

scholarly journals Service modularity in managing healthcare logistics

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Pohjosenperä ◽  
Päivi Kekkonen ◽  
Saara Pekkarinen ◽  
Jari Juga
Keyword(s):  
Value Creation ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Platform ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Logistics Services ◽  
Cognitive Frame ◽  
Context Specific

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how modularity is used for enabling value creation in managing healthcare logistics services.Design/methodology/approachMaterial logistics of four different kinds of hospitals is examined through a qualitative case study. The theoretical framework builds on the literature on healthcare logistics, service modularity and value creation.FindingsThe case hospitals have developed their material logistics independently from others when looking at the modularity of offerings, processes and organisations. Services, such as assortment management, shelving and developing an information platform, have been performed in-house partly by the care personnel, but steps towards modularised and standardised solutions are now being taken in the case hospitals, including ideas about outsourcing some of the services.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper proposes seven modularity components for healthcare logistics management: segmentation, categorisation and unitisation of offerings, differentiation and decoupling of processes, and centralisation and specialisation of organisations. Thus, this study clarifies the three-dimensional concept of modularity as a cognitive frame for managing logistics services with heterogeneous customer needs in a rapidly changing healthcare environment.Practical implicationsModularity offers a tool for developing logistics services inside the hospital and increases possibilities to consider also external logistics service providers.Social implicationsManaging healthcare logistics services through modularity has potential social implications in developing healthcare processes and changing the usage of health services. On a wider scale, modularity is helping healthcare systems reaching their goals in terms of service quality and cost.Originality/valueThis paper shows the context-specific antecedents of service modularity and the usage of modular thinking in managing healthcare logistics.

Logistics service triad for household waste: consumers as co-producers of sustainability

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 398-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Árni Halldórsson ◽  
Ceren Altuntas Vural ◽  
Jessica Wehner
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Household Waste ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Logistics Services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the sustainability of waste supply chains regarding the energy efficiency of first-mile waste collection systems and quality of waste. Roles of actors in the waste service triad are considered, particularly focusing on households. Design/methodology/approach Primary data are collected from respondents including municipality officers, waste service providers (WSPs) and households through brainstorming sessions, semi-structured interviews, site visits and a focus group. Secondary data are collected from official reports for validation. Findings Findings reveal tension between the energy efficiency of waste collection logistics and the quality of waste collected. Households are co-producers of logistic services providing important inputs in the form of sorting and moving waste and raw materials into new cycles of goods circulating in logistics systems. Other actors in the logistics service triad are the municipality as regulator and the WSP acting as a reverse-logistics service provider. Practical implications This study provides principles for policymakers and practitioners to evaluate the energy efficiency of waste management options, considering the quality of waste. Also, “logistics services” and “quality of waste” as concepts might provoke new thoughts on how to involve the consumer in resource recovery. Originality/value Few studies have focused on the end-consumer’s role in waste supply chains. By considering waste as a resource and the consumer as the supplier of this input, this study provides a new way to think about logistics services for waste collection.

scholarly journals Sustainability-related risk management in buying logistics services

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 1351-1367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirpa Multaharju ◽  
Katrina Lintukangas ◽  
Jukka Hallikas ◽  
Anni-Kaisa Kähkönen
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Logistics Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Sustainable Logistics ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Logistics Services

Purpose Sustainability-related risk management of logistics service providers (LSPs) is an essential part of sustainability performance of focal companies, as logistics services touch the entire supply chain (SC) – from raw material sources to end-customers. The purpose of this paper, draws on resource-based view and stakeholder theory in exploring how companies can manage environmental and social sustainability-related risks from logistics service suppliers. This kind of capability is essential in order to maintain reputation in the eyes of stakeholders, and to maintain long-term financial performance. Design/methodology/approach The data of this multiple-case study were collected from semi-structured interviews in eight case-companies in Finland. Five of the cases are primary logistics buyers, and three represent LSP companies. Findings The cross-case analysis showed that primary buyers of logistics services use their sustainability criteria as a prerequisite for LSP candidates, and when the level is adequate and equal, other factors, e.g. price and capacity, are decisive. Based on the analysis, large LSPs are preparing for the future competition, and act in a more sustainable manner than their customers (buyers) expect at the moment, while small LSPs strictly comply with the regulation. However, buyers’ requirements for sustainable logistics services are increasing as the stakeholder expectations for comprehensively sustainable SCs are growing. Originality/value Only little research has been conducted on sustainable logistics from the buyer company’s risk management perspective. This paper adds the knowledge of sustainability-related risk management in purchasing of logistics services and in the logistics industry.

Logistics service characteristics and supply chain priorities for freight management

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Alberto Durán Encalada ◽  
François Bernard Duhamel
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Chain Analysis ◽  
Logistics Service Providers ◽  
Logistics Services ◽  
The One ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Supply Chain Analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how the type of logistics services required by firms is related to the freight characteristics, and to the cost and other dimensions of the services in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted an exploratory study using Anova analysis and correlations, on the basis of a sample of 266 freight movements in Mexico, in order to test two main hypotheses. Findings The authors found an association between some logistics services, according to their level of customization, with the freight characteristics, and a positive relation of those customized services with security and reliability, on the one hand, and a negative relation with cost of the services, on the other hand. Research limitations/implications Size of the sample and some subjective measures of logistics services performance. Practical implications For shipping companies to be aware of existing limitations of Mexican logistics service providers in relation to customizing their services and the attributes associated with these services. This knowledge will contribute to firms' better planning of their freight movements. Originality/value Authors extend the supply chain analysis considering logistics variables variables such as freight characteristics, logistics services requirements, and the firms’ priorities for contracting these services, such as cost and other attributes.

Beyond social capital: a capability approach to understanding Refugee Community Organisations and other providers for “hard to reach” groups

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Capability Approach ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Refugee Community ◽  
Community Organisations ◽  
Purposive Sample ◽  
The Capability Approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of the “capability approach” as an alternative framework for understanding and conceptualising the role of Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) and other providers for groups conventionally considered “hard to reach”. Design/methodology/approach – A study of the education services of RCOs, drawing primarily on semi-structured interviews with 71 users, is put forward as a case study for how the capability approach can be operationalised. Findings – The capability approach is found to offer various valuable insights, relating to its appreciation of the multi-dimensional nature of human wellbeing, the significance of individual diversity, and the importance of human agency. Research limitations/implications – The case study is based on a relatively small purposive sample, and may have limited external validity. As the research design proved strong for exploring how RCOs develop their users’ capabilities but weak for exploring if and how they may also constrict them, further research in this area is required. Practical implications – A number of valuable attributes of the capability approach are highlighted for broadening the understanding, the role of RCOs and other service providers. Social implications – The paper outlines the potential of the capability approach to contribute to policymaking related to RCOs and other providers, and to debates relating to social exclusion, cohesion and integration. Originality/value – The paper draws attention to the value of the capability approach within the field of migration research.

scholarly journals Environmental alignment between logistics service providers and shippers – a supply chain perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 575-605
Author(s):  
Maria Huge-Brodin ◽  
Edward Sweeney ◽  
Pietro Evangelista
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Stakeholder Theory ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Sustainable Logistics ◽  
Logistics Service Providers

PurposeVarious suggested paths for greening logistics and supply chains often address the specific perspectives of single supply chain actors. Drawing on stakeholder theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop a deeper understanding of the alignment between logistics service providers (LSPs) and shippers in the context of adopting more environmentally sustainable logistics practices.Design/methodology/approachWith a case study approach, a dual perspective is taken in which both LSPs and shippers were researched. The cases comprise eight LSPs and six shipper companies in Sweden, Italy and Ireland. Information was first analysed in relation to levels of environmental awareness, customer requirements and provider offerings and critical success factors (CSFs) and inhibitors. In a second step, the findings were analysed using stakeholder theory.FindingsLSPs demonstrate higher ambition levels and more concrete offerings compared to shippers' requirements for green logistics services. Paradoxically, customers are an important CSF and also an inhibitor for both LSPs and shippers. Both LSPs and shippers perceive financial factors and senior management priorities as important CSFs. The application of stakeholder theory helps to illuminate the importance of the many secondary stakeholders vs that of one or a relatively small number of primary stakeholders.Originality/valueThe three-dimensional analysis of environmental alignment between LSPs and shippers reinforces existing knowledge and provides new insights. A novel use of stakeholder theory in a supply chain context underlines its usefulness in research of this kind.

Market-mediated authenticity in culturally themed culinary space

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nilanjana Sinha ◽  
Himadri Roy Chaudhuri ◽  
Jie G. Fowler ◽  
Sitanath Mazumdar
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Cultural Continuity ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Global Marketplace ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Provider Perspectives ◽  
Cultural Boundaries

PurposeThis paper aims to explore authenticity as a multidimensional construct from both consumer and service provider perspectives in the context of culturally themed restaurants in Kolkata, India.Design/methodology/approachUtilizing a phenomenological design, data have been collected through participant observation, photographs and semi-structured interviews in Bengali-themed restaurants over a two-year period.FindingsBy articulating the processes and dimensions that operate behind the narrative of authenticity, the findings display the interaction between market/cultural forces and the perception of authenticity. These reveal that authenticity embraces four major categories, namely, traditional, staged-form, postmodern and constructivist.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides insights into the collective role of both consumers and service providers in mediating perceptions of authenticity. Theoretically, this study contributes to the literature by articulating four dimensions of authenticity.Practical implicationsPractically, this study assists marketers with insights into the balance of authenticity and the commoditization of culture.Originality/valueAs globalization weakens cultural boundaries and jeopardizes regional identities, there is a need for reassuring cultural continuity that upholds ethnic legacy for local consumers. Thus, this study provides theoretical and practical insights for both researchers and practitioners concerned about maintaining authenticity in a global marketplace.

Impact of a dementia-specific program of equine-assisted activities: providers’ perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-47
Author(s):  
Beth Fields ◽  
Wendy Wood ◽  
Rebecca Lassell
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Complex Interventions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Scientific Development ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Person With Dementia ◽  
Equine Assisted

Purpose Establishing acceptability of complex interventions to stakeholders is vital in early scientific development. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the acceptability of a program of equine-assisted activities (EAAP) for people with dementia by elucidating programmatic practices needed to enhance their safety and quality of life (QoL) from the perspectives of service providers. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews with five providers were analyzed using a basic qualitative approach. Findings Providers perceived the EAAP as acceptable and revealed potential mechanisms of change supporting well-being, including aspects related to the physical and social environment and person with dementia. Linkages identified among the EAAP and its physical and social context support its complexity. Providers explicated program practices that promoted safety and QoL, such as implementing staff trainings and tailoring activities to each person’s preferences and needs. These practices aligned with best dementia care approaches, underscoring that the EAAP is a promising complex intervention that merits further scientific development. Originality/value This work is novel and adds to the literature by illuminating the role of a community-based, animal-assisted program for enhancing the QoL of older adults with dementia residing in institutional care facilities.

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