Challenges of outsourcing logistics to third-party providers

The focus of this study is on the challenges that shippers faced using Third-Party Logistics (3PL) providers. The study is based on a mail survey of 126 shippers and personal interviews with eight shipper executives and four 3PL provider executives. The study first identifies the major challenges including, finding a 3PL with the capabilities meeting the shipper\u27s specific logistics requirements, the incompatibility of information systems between shipper and 3PL, the failure of 3PL to meet a shipper\u27s future growth needs, and issues related to security. Second, it offers some recommendations for shippers to consider in overcoming any challenges encountered. Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

The effect of transnational threats on the security of Persian Gulf maritime petroleum transportation

Today\u27s interconnected economy is dependent on petroleum products as a principal component of the energy mix and a critical element in global infrastructures. With the escalating demand for oil and natural gas, the world relies heavily on maritime transportation to move 62 % of world trade on fixed routes. The Persian Gulf countries are crucial because about 88 % of oil exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is strategically located between Iran and Oman, where 20 million barrels of crude oil per day is carried by supertankers. These shipments account for 40 % of seaborne oil traded worldwide. According to the Energy Information Administration, due to increasing demand this region will require 2. 5 times more tankers than are in existence today to meet demand by 2025. Nevertheless, the persistent, expanding, and increasingly sophisticated physical attacks against maritime transportation present an alarming pattern. The focus of this article is three fold. First, to explain major transnational threats within the context of piracy and terrorism. Second, to present the costs and the economic impacts of piracy and terrorism on international trade. Third, to point out the main contributing factors involved in the increase in the number of attacks on maritime petroleum transportation vessels. Given the strategic importance of the Persian Gulf countries, due to their petroleum contributions to the world, this paper focuses on the maritime flows of petroleum from this region through navigation courses to Asia, the United States, and Europe. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Outsourcing in the Persian Gulf petroleum supply chain

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify the challenges, the benefits, the risks and the motives of petroleum companies in the Persian Gulf toward outsourcing strategy. While the petroleum companies are faced with massive costs of operation that stem from the aging infrastructure, human capital deficit, inefficient fragmented business processes and lack of access to new technologies, outsourcing strategy toward cost savings and the overt and covert resistance of management and employees are significant barriers for creation of continuous process. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the review of existing literature, the industry\u27s archives and in-depth personal interviews with senior executives of the national oil and gas companies in five Gulf countries and seven global outsourcing companies and 87 survey responses, this study develops a methodological framework which substantiates or refutes the hypotheses based on the objectives: industry challenges are the driving forces behind outsourcing strategy; the potential risks of cost savings of outsourcing outweigh the consequential loss in control over the product or service, companies\u27 safety and security of the region. Findings – The findings indicate that the oil and gas exporters have mixed but broad positive view of outsourcing strategy. While outsourcing could provide savings across the entire supply chain, it also generates a distracting resistance due to the fear of unknown in a complex range of culture, infrastructures and sequential processes that requires resiliency for continuity of operations. Originality/value – This study is the first of its kind in the Persian Gulf oil and gas industry investigating the implementation of outsourcing strategy. The result of this investigation reveals the compromise between the potential benefits in cost reduction and the security of petroleum supply. This study contributes to all who are in the industry or who are involved with it to share a clear assessment of the future

The Impact of Technology Transfer through Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Nations: A Case Study in the United Arab Emirates

Foreign investments have evolved over the past two decades to become the most critical business strategies for many companies. While developed countries have been the originators of more than 86% of foreign investment outflows, they receive only 65% of foreign inflows. By contrast, inward investments for developing countries have risen from 28% in 1990 to 53% in 2012. This increase is the result of a growing perception among recipients that attracting FDI to their nations contributes to technology transfer, which enhances human capital formation, leading to reduced income inequality and sustainable economic growth. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the aforementioned perceptions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a developing nation. The study is based on a mail survey of 123 companies, personal interviews with 12 executives, and the review of documents from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Annual World Investment, IMF, OECD, UAE Ministry of Economy reports, and several local agencies. The findings indicate that there has been a significant transfer of technology to the UAE, which has had a positive impact on human capital formation. However, evidence of the relationships between technology transfer and income inequality or economic growth is inconclusive. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NON

Emiratisation: From policy to implementation

Emiratisation is an affirmative action policy of the United Arab Emirates Government that gives preferential hiring status to Emiratis over expatriates in order to preserve national identity, economic sustainability, and political stability. Although the policy has been practiced for a decade, the unemployment problem for Emiratis persists in the both private and public sectors. According to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) National Human Resources Development and Employment Authority, unemployment among Emiratis reached 12.7% or 290,000 in 2010. This surge in unemployment results from a massive reliance on foreign workforce employment throughout the UAE region. Given the absence of empirical data, this research relies on published government documents, personal interviews with public officials and private sector executives, and a survey questionnaire. Findings indicated that seven factors largely contribute to a disparity between the Emiratisation policy and its intended results. Several recommendations are offered for future research and possible Emiratisation policy revisions. © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL AND ITS RELATIONSHIPS WITH QUALITY, QUALITY COST, AND PRODUCTIVITY

For more than eighteen years there has been a substantial decline in productivity growth rates of most U.S. industries. This decline is symptomatic of two problems: low product quality and high quality cost. These problems have been so embedded in traditional manufacturing practices in the U.S. that they have gone unrecognized, while the Japanese have continuously improved their productivity rate with high product quality and low quality cost. One of the main factors for their success is implementation of statistical quality control (SQC). The objective of this research was to develop a descriptive model for a successful implementation of SQC, to improve productivity. Three propositions were introduced: (1) implementation of SQC in manufacturing systems and manufacturing supportive areas would consistently improve product quality; (2) improved product quality would lead to lower quality cost; and (3) production of high quality products would enhance productivity, customer satisfaction, and the market share. The research also sought to find an explanation for the American-Japanese cost-productivity differential. Research was conducted in three phases: sending questionnaires to managerial personnel of 1,000 companies; interviewing managers and designers of eight companies under American and Japanese management; and collecting documents from companies and associations proposing SQC programs in the U.S. Statistical analysis of the questionnaires supports the research propositions that implementation of SQC increases productivity through production of high quality items and reduction of quality costs. Research findings revealed distinctive quality control differences between U.S. and Japanese firms, particularly in design, distribution centers, and consumer services. Implementation of SQC during the design process improves the productivity rate by designing more reliable products, substituting less expensive materials in product components, decreasing experimentation and testing, and reducing the tasks for production control and inspection. Extending statistical quality control to distribution centers and consumer service has led to increased quality, customer satisfaction, and market share. These differences in quality control practices explain a significant pattern of the cost-productivity differential between U.S. and Japanese companies

Outsourcing logistics to third-party providers: practitioners perspectives

As a result of globalisation, companies have been forced to shift their operations from internal provisioning to outsourcing to Third-Party Logistics (TPL) providers. To date, no field surveys have been conducted to validate various assertions regarding the reported outcomes of using TPL providers. To address this research gap, this study employed surveys with executives of both shippers (customers) and TPL providers. Findings indicated that the major benefits of outsourcing logistics included achieving reductions in fixed assets, lower inventory, reduced logistics costs, and improved customer service. However, four major challenges were also cited. © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Sustainable Development and Ecological Deficit in the United Arab Emirates

The economy of the United Arab Emirates has ranked 27th in the world for decades, which has supported its human development being rated highest among Arab nations. The country, however, has remained oblivious to its ecological deficit. This study explores sources of this deficit by analyzing three sets of data related to its economic growth, human development, and ecological deficit for 29 years from 1990 to 2019. The results of the data analyses indicate that although an increase in the country’s GDP has a high positive correlation with the nation’s human development, the indicator variables related to both measures have a significant reverse influence on the variability of the values for the 333country’s ecological deficit. Validating the statistical results through interviews with ten authorities from various government ministries and the oil industry shows that, when considering the nation’s finite biocapacity, the genesis of its ecological deficit lies in persistent developments that rely on petroleum revenues and the rapid influx of the millions of migrants who are needed to close the skill gaps of United Arab Emirates (UAE) citizens. Although initiatives to reduce the UAE’s ecological footprint have been in place since 2007, the lack of environmental action plans, policies, and enforcing regulations have resulted in the nation’s failure to move toward achieving sustainable development. This has pushed the country toward the brink of ecological bankruptcy

Examining Sustainability Alignment of Supplier Selection Criteria during Industrial Revolutions

Suppliers have evolved alongside industrial revolutions induced by their selection criteria for over two centuries. While sustainability has remained a pledge in their inter-creditor agreements, the claims of 11,000 scientists regarding the Earth’s colossal pollution and the calls of 196 nations to reach net-zero emissions by 2030 have accentuated concerns regarding the sustainability of supply selection criteria. Twenty supply selection criteria and seventy associated indicators were identified in industrial revolutions. The identified criteria and indicators were forwarded to 250 volunteers with expertise in the supply chain across six industries. Maintaining confidentiality, the volunteers were first requested to rank the criteria and related indicators concerning the three pillars of sustainability, the environmental, economic, and social, using The second request was to mark the percentage of influence of economic criteria and the related indicators on environmental and social sustainability. The third request was to state their professional views on sustainability during the industrial revolutions. Statistical analyses of the responses suggested that the identified supplier selection criteria were not equally driven by economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Supply chain professionals supported the statistical analysis and confirmed that the economic indicators dominating the selection of suppliers were significantly higher than the environmental and social criteria. They also confirmed that economic indicators have negatively impacted environmental and social sustainability during industrial revolutions. They recommended that transitioning into sustainable supply chains requires shifting emphasis from economic to environmental and social sustainability