CONCEPTUAL MODEL AND OPERATIONAL PROCESSES OF CUSTOMER VALUE-BASED REVENUE MANAGEMENT IN TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS

The approach presented in this article addresses the shortcomings of transaction-based revenue management and proposes a conceptual model of customer value-based revenue management to allow for both an efficient utilization of limited capacity resources and the establishment of profitable customer relationships. Furthermore, process models are developed for the operational tasks as well as results of a prototypical implementation are presented. Finally, some concluding remarks and an outlook on remaining research are given

RFID in the supply chain: lessons from European early adopters

Purpose Radio frequency identification (RFID) is increasingly being presented as a technology with the potential to improve supply chain performance, but empirical evidence from early adopters is sparse. This paper aims to rectify this scarcity and contribute to a more informed discussion in and between academic and practitioner communities. Design/Methodology/Approach The paper is based on a conceptual model of factors influencing the success of adoption efforts. It then reports the results of a survey of 612 European supply chain managers, focusing on the 128 respondents who have begun RFID trials. Findings A significant influence on operational deployment is the presence of mandates from key customers requiring the technology’s use. Customer mandates also impact the anticipated benefits of a faster sales cycle and of enhanced systems integration, though the relationships are complex. By contrast, greater cost reduction benefits are anticipated in two industries where mandates are less common – industrial goods and logistics. Perceived organizational innovativeness positively impacts anticipated ROI from RFID. Companies adopting a ‘slap and ship’ approach are less likely to anticipate pricing benefits than those integrating RFID into enterprise systems Research Limitations/Implications The limitations of the paper include the limited sample size of early adopters. In addition, qualitative research is needed into RFID supply chain applications and into different approaches to IS integration of RFID, to inform future survey work. Practical Implications This paper informs supply chain managers and senior decision makers who are examining the potential of RFID technology. It offers guidance on what issues to look for when adopting this technology, approaches to take and the benefits that might be accrued. Originality/Valuer This paper offers a major contribution to understanding the current status of the adoption of RFID in European supply chains. This understanding is put in the context of the wider literatures on supply chain management and the adoption of information systems and te

The evaluation of E-business related technologies in the Railway Industry

For the purposes of this paper, e-business is defined as: "the performance, automisation and organisation of transactions, or chains of them, and the gathering and publishing of data, electronically over a communication protocol" Little research has been conducted either into how e-business technology can be successfully evaluated, or into the associated costs and benefits specifically related to the transportation and railway industries. Based upon a review of the current literature and a series of interviews held with railway operators, track managers and transportation customers from the Australian Fortune 100, the paper puts forward a framework for the evaluation of e-business investments within the railway industry. The research reported here is aimed at developing a flexible interface that enables the decision maker to assess and evaluate a wide variety of complex interacting variables. The proposed approach uses a variety of evaluation methods, as opposed to searching for a single "best" approach. Additionally, an attempt is being made to include the complex interaction between the implementation of the new technology and the changing organisational setting. A model is proposed using fuzzy logic to handle incomplete and uncertain knowledge; as well as to combine criteria within a conceptual model from which "real-worth" evaluations can be performed. This model provides a systematic approach to guide the decision maker in the deployment of e-business and emerging technologies in the industry. After discussing the main findings from a literature review on the use of evaluation frameworks in IT related projects, the paper deals with the proposed framework in detail. The use of empirical data, which was obtained transportation customers to help define the main framework factors, is also discussed. Finally, the paper summarises the main implications for rail freight of customers’s perceptions and stated needs in the e-business domain

The effect of green logistics service quality on Thai logistics service provider performance

Paper delivered at the 21st Logistics Research Network annual conference 2016, 7th-9th September 2016, Hull. Abstract Purpose: The emergence of environmental or green issues in global supply chains has made it an essential practice to measure the performance of organisations of not only from their financial and management perspectives but also their environmental performance, particularly logistics service providers (LSPs). There has been little work done linking the topics of green service quality (GSQ) and logistics service quality (LSQ), particularly in a developing economy such as Thailand. However, the Thai government has established a Thai logistics performance index (TLPI) for the logistics sector and is focussing more on environmental or green aspects related to transportation and logistics. Given this context, the purpose of this paper is to investigate issues pertaining to GSQ and LSQ, and their impact on the TLPI that will affect Thai LSPs. Research approach: The empirical research for this paper was based on an extensive literature review in three key areas: LSP performance, LSQ, and GSQ. For this study, GSQ has been defined from perceptual service quality or SERVPERF constructs as the environmental initiatives crucial to operational service quality, particularly in logistics service provision. The empirical study used a rigorous three-phase methodological framework originally developed for the marketing discipline for item and scale development, and which has been applied more recently to logistics research. An interview and a survey from the perceptions of LSPs and LSP customers were used as appropriate methods for this explanatory study and were discussed at the LRN in 2013 and 2014 (Chaisurayakarn et al. 2013; 2014). Findings and Originality: LSQ has a positive and significant effect on the TLPI, and that effect is more pronounced when GSQ measures are included. The findings also propose a final set of twenty-eight important GSQ and LSQ variables for LSP performance perceived by Thai LSPs and their customers and which are generally related to green safety, regulations and collaboration; time and services; order service quality; and order procedure competencies. Research impact: This paper provides a contribution to the GSQ, LSQ and LSP debate by extending service quality theory in the logistics services sector in the context of GSQ and integrating GSQ competencies into extant LSQ frameworks. A limitation is that this paper only reports preliminary findings of an ongoing study. Practical impact: A practical contribution for both LSPs and their customers is an understanding of how LSPs can focus on GSQ to perform better, which is important to customers, and hence better compete with rivals. Moreover, it explores that an area of the effects of green logistics service quality (GLSQ) on the LSP’s performance

Determinants of Informal Coordination in Networked Supply Chains

Purpose – Provide insight into the determinants or constructs that enable informally networked supply chains to operate in order to achieve improved operational performance. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a wide literature review, focused on the identification of dimensions of informal networking in supply chains along network connectivity, supply chain relationship alignment, informally networked supply chain, and operational performance. These determinants or constructs of informal networking were statistically validated for validity and reliability, using a sample of 231 supply chain professionals. Findings – Four determinant of informal networking were derived: capability connectivity, describing the ability of supply chain partners to rapidly and informally integrate capabilities to service an ad hoc market requirement; relationship alignment or the ability to informally integrate resources across supply chain partners in the context of highly dynamic market situations; the informally networked supply chain itself, measuring the ability of supply chain partners to respond to transient opportunities in the context of highly dynamic markets; and finally operational performance which measures the effect informal networking has on company performance. Research limitations/implications – Future research may investigate the effects of informally networked supply chains on a broader array of measures of company performance, and additional measures of operational performance. Practical implications – These newly developed constructs or determinants give managers further insight into which dimensions need to be fostered to enable informally networked supply chains to operate, and what operational gains may be potentially realised as a result of informal networking. Originality/value – This paper contributes to enhancing the understanding of the newly emerging phenomenon of informal networking in supply chains and how it may yield operational efficiency and effectiveness gains.construct development;coordination;informal networking;supply chain

Data and Predictive Analytics Use for Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the social process of Big Data and predictive analytics (BDPA) use for logistics and supply chain management (LSCM), focusing on interactions among technology, human behavior and organizational context that occur at the technology’s post-adoption phases in retail supply chain (RSC) organizations. Design/methodology/approach The authors follow a grounded theory approach for theory building based on interviews with senior managers of 15 organizations positioned across multiple echelons in the RSC. Findings Findings reveal how user involvement shapes BDPA to fit organizational structures and how changes made to the technology retroactively affect its design and institutional properties. Findings also reveal previously unreported aspects of BDPA use for LSCM. These include the presence of temporal and spatial discontinuities in the technology use across RSC organizations. Practical implications This study unveils that it is impossible to design a BDPA technology ready for immediate use. The emergent process framework shows that institutional and social factors require BDPA use specific to the organization, as the technology comes to reflect the properties of the organization and the wider social environment for which its designers originally intended. BDPA is, thus, not easily transferrable among collaborating RSC organizations and requires managerial attention to the institutional context within which its usage takes place. Originality/value The literature describes why organizations will use BDPA but fails to provide adequate insight into how BDPA use occurs. The authors address the “how” and bring a social perspective into a technology-centric area

An innovative business model based on the integration of finance and logistics operations

This article advances a new logistics financing model based on the notes receivable. This is a written promise to receive a stated amount of money in future. The article describes the structure and key processes of the model, and analyses the roles of the involved stakeholders. In order to enhance understanding, the article compares the model with a loan financing model, establishes a game model based on logistics enterprise financing, studies the strategies in the process of investment and financing, and concludes by defining its feasible region. This involves comparing the expected net revenues of different stakeholders in the two models. Based on the results, the paper analyses the financing process of a logistics enterprise in Shanghai and determines the optimal financing strategy. This paper is an attempt to improve business innovation in logistics financing and provides a sensible solution for the integrated logistics and finance services. This can effectively improve the stakeholders’ profit

Current Advancements of and Future Developments for Fourth Party Logistics in a Digital Future

This paper aims to analyze the potential future of the 4PL concept based on expert opinions with special regard to the influence of digitalization coming with a disruptive trans-formation of supply chains. Service arrangements, provider capabilities and benefits resulting from a 4PL partnership are compared in current and future configurations. The research follows an explorative mixed methods approach with semi structured interviews followed by an expert panel. This builds a basis for an online survey questionnaire to inquire on important future aspects for the 4PL concept by a sample of respondents from multinational companies. Our results show a clear trend away from simply organizing transportation and logistics activities towards the provision of an IT platform as well as further value-added service activities such as planning, analytics and monitoring. Along with this, IT capabilities appear to be an important differentiator for 4PL providers in the future. Moreover, relationships between 4PL providers and their clients become closer and more strategic, which leads to a customer valuing not only direct cost reductions but rather improvements resulting from optimized operations through superior analysis and planning functions

An innovative business model based on the integration of finance and logistics operations

This article advances a new logistics financing model based on the notes receivable. This is a written promise to receive a stated amount of money in future. The article describes the structure and key processes of the model, and analyses the roles of the involved stakeholders. In order to enhance understanding, the article compares the model with a loan financing model, establishes a game model based on logistics enterprise financing, studies the strategies in the process of investment and financing, and concludes by defining its feasible region. This involves comparing the expected net revenues of different stakeholders in the two models. Based on the results, the paper analyses the financing process of a logistics enterprise in Shanghai and determines the optimal financing strategy. This paper is an attempt to improve business innovation in logistics financing and provides a sensible solution for the integrated logistics and finance services. This can effectively improve the stakeholders’ profit

ARCHETYPES OF DIGITAL BUSINESS MODELS IN LOGISTICS START-UPS

Our work develops an archetypical representation of current digital business models of Start-Ups in the logistics sector. In order to achieve our goal, we analyze the business models of 125 Start-Ups. We draw our sample from the Start-Up database AngelList and focus on platform-driven businesses. We chose Start-Ups as they often are at the forefront of innovation and thus have a high likelihood of operating digital business models. Following well-established methodological guidelines, we construct a taxonomy of digital business models in multiple iterations. We employ different algorithms for cluster analysis to find and generate clusters based on commonalities between the business models across the dimensions and characteristics of the taxonomy. Ultimately, we use the dominant features of the emerging patterns within the clusters to derive archetypes