A Case Study Investigation on Purchasing Green Transport and Logistics Services

In the context of green supply chain management, green purchasing has received increased attention over the past decade and the strategic importance of introducing green aspects into purchasing practices has been recognised. Despite this growing importance, little has been written in relation to purchasing green transport and logistics services. Considering the strong environmental impact associated with transport and logistics activities, much remains to be learned concerning buyer’s practices when sourcing more sustainable services from third party logistics companies (3PLs). The aim of this paper is to explore practices of buying green transport and logistics services in three different European countries (Italy, Ireland and Sweden) using a multiple case study research approach. The paper analyses how general environmental company ambitions and environmental purchasing practices are reflected when green transport and logistics services are purchased. The results of the paper indicate that while the case companies show a relatively high concern of green issues at company level, a lower importance is attributed to green issues at the purchasing function level. When green concerns in purchasing transport and logistics services are analysed the level of importance decrease dramatically. It emerges a conflicting attitude among the overall company level and the purchasing of transport and logistics services. This suggests that there is the potential for improvements especially in the area of green collaboration in buyer and supplier relationships

Purchasing Green Transport and Logistics Services: Implications for Small Business

Considering its strong environmental impact, logistics plays a critical role in green supply chain management. It provides strategic links in the supply chain and is an essential function in the delivery of green products to the consumer. There is a general consensus on the fact that more environmentally sustainable companies may be achieved only if transport and logistics activities also become greener. To achieve this objective, buyer companies need to incorporate green considerations in the purchasing of transport and logistics services. This appears particularly challenging for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) because of their traditional lack of managerial, organisational and financial resources that often result in failure to adopt an environmental perspective. In the extant literature, green purchasing has received increased attention over the past decade and the strategic importance of introducing green aspects into purchasing practices has been recognised. However, little has been written in relation to purchasing green transport and logistics services. The aim of this paper is to explore practices in the buying of green transport and logistics services and to derive implications for small buyer companies. The paper analyses how general environmental company ambitions and environmental purchasing practices are reflected when green transport and logistics services are purchased in three different European countries (Italy, Ireland and Sweden) using a multiple case study research approach. The results of the paper indicate that while the case companies show a relatively high concern for green issues at corporate level, a lower importance is attributed to green issues at the purchasing function level. When green concerns in the purchasing of transport and logistics services are analysed the level of importance decreases further. Thus, a conflicting attitude is evident between the overall corporate level and the purchasing of transport and logistics services specifically. This suggests that there is potential for improvement especially in the area of green collaboration in buyer and supplier relationships. Considerato il loro rilevante impatto ambientale, le attività logistiche e di trasporto rivestono un ruolo critico per aumentare la sostenibilità ambientale della supply chain. Infatti, il successo delle politiche di sostenibilità delle imprese industriali dipende in misura crescente dall’utilizzo di servizi di trasporto e logistica a basso impatto ambientale. Ciò significa che le imprese che acquistano servizi logistici devono porre una attenzione sempre maggiore alla sostenibilità ambientale di tali servizi. Ciò risulta particolarmente problematico per le piccole e medie imprese (PMI) a causa della loro tradizionale scarsità di risorse manageriali, organizzative e finanziarie che si riflette nella sottovalutazione della variabile ambientale. Nonostante il problema della sostenibilità ambientale degli approvvigionamenti ha ricevuto una attenzione crescente sia dal punto di vista scientifico che della pratica aziendale, pochi sono gli studi che hanno riguardato l’acquisto di servizi logistici e di trasporto sostenibili soprattutto con riferimento alle piccole imprese. Scopo di questo lavoro è di esplorare l’importanza della sostenibilità ambientale nella gestione della funzione approvvigionamenti e nell’acquisto di servizi logistici e di trasporto per identificare quali sono le implicazioni più rilevanti per le imprese acquirenti di piccola dimensione. A tal fine sono stati analizzati e confrontati sei casi aziendali in tre diversi paesi europei (Italia, Irlanda e Svezia). I risultati indicano che nonostante sia emerso un livello di consapevolezza ambientale relativamente elevato per l’impresa nel suo complesso, minore importanza è attribuita alla sostenibilità ambientale della funzione acquisti. Con specifico riferimento all’acquisto di servizi di trasporto e logistica il ruolo e l’importanza attribuita alla sostenibilità ambientale diminuisce ulteriormente. I risultati evidenziano l’esistenza di un atteggiamento incoerente tra il ruolo attribuito alla sostenibilità a livello dell’impresa nel suo complesso, alle attività di approvvigionamento in generale e all’acquisto di servizi di trasporto e logistica in particolare. Ciò suggerisce che una potenziale area di miglioramento su cui il management delle piccole imprese può intervenire riguarda la collaborazione con fornitori di servizi logistici e di trasporto con i quali dovrebbero essere condivise iniziative, progetti e investimenti in sostenibilità

The Impact of 3PL’s Green Initiatives on the Purchasing of Transport and Logistics Services: an Exploratory Study

There is a lack of research investigating the interaction and reciprocal influences between the buyer perspective and the supplier of transport and logistics services. Studies on the buyer perspective analyse the selection criteria to buy 3PL services, while research focused on green 3PL services examine initiatives undertaken by these companies to provide more environmentally sustainable services. The objective of this paper is to fill this void through an explorative case study analysis on the environmental attitude of 3PL companies in order to derive relevant implications for buyer’s behaviour. The results provide useful guidelines to buyers for understanding awareness, initiatives as well as drivers and barriers affecting 3PLs’ sustainability initiatives

Purchasing green transport and logistics services:implications from the environmental sustainability attitude of 3PLs

Environmental sustainability is an area of increasing importance for third party logistics (3PL) companies. As the design and implementation of services requires interaction between buyer and 3PL, the 3PLs are in a critical position to support the efforts towards greening operations of different supply chain participants. However the literature in this field reflects a gap between the perspectives of buyers and 3PLs. This chapter attempts to fill this void through an explorative case study analysis on the environmental attitude of 3PLs in order to derive implications for buyers’ behavior. The results indicate that the buyer’s role is critical in different ways in the development of green initiatives among 3PLs. An increased orientation towards longer-term contracts and joint development would likely enhance the level of green initiatives. Indirectly, the buyer has the opportunity to influence its 3PLs through interaction with employees on different levels in the company, including top management

Purchasing green transport and logistics services:implications from the environmental sustainability attitude of 3PLs

Environmental sustainability is an area of increasing importance for third party logistics (3PL) companies. As the design and implementation of services requires interaction between buyer and 3PL, the 3PLs are in a critical position to support the efforts towards greening operations of different supply chain participants. However the literature in this field reflects a gap between the perspectives of buyers and 3PLs. This chapter attempts to fill this void through an explorative case study analysis on the environmental attitude of 3PLs in order to derive implications for buyers’ behavior. The results indicate that the buyer’s role is critical in different ways in the development of green initiatives among 3PLs. An increased orientation towards longer-term contracts and joint development would likely enhance the level of green initiatives. Indirectly, the buyer has the opportunity to influence its 3PLs through interaction with employees on different levels in the company, including top management

The adoption of green initiatives in logistics service providers – a strategic perspective

Logistics service providers (LSPs) have started to transform their operations and strategy to be more effective from a green perspective. One concern that is of particular interest of LSPs is how to create organisational green awareness and translate this into practice in their operations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the roles of green strategic commitment and organisation in LSPs’ adoption of green initiatives. The data for this study were collected through a questionnaire survey, investigating a sample of LSPs operating in the Swedish, Finnish and Italian markets. From the literature analysis, a set of testable hypotheses was developed. The results indicate that there are relationships between the nature, as well as the scope, of functional involvement and the green strategic priority. The results further suggest that the inclusion of environmental consideration in the overall business strategy is positively related to the involvement and coordination of multiple functions as well as existence of a separate environmental function