Purpose-The purpose of this research is to explore the resilience domain, which is important in the field of supply chain management; it investigates the effects relational competencies have for resilience and the effect resilience, in turn, has on a supply chain's customer value. Design/methodology/approach-The research is empirical in nature and employs a confirmatory approach that builds on the relational view as a primary theoretical foundation. It utilizes survey data collected from manufacturing firms from three countries, which is analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings-It is found that communicative and cooperative relationships have a positive effect on resilience, while integration does not have a significant effect. It is also found that improved resilience, obtained by investing in agility and robustness, enhances a supply chain's customer value. Practical implications-Some findings contrast the expectations derived from theory. Particularly, practitioners can learn that integration has a limited role in enhancing resilience. Originality/value-The study distinguishes between a proactive and reactive dimension of resilience: robustness and agility. The relational view serves as the theoretical basis to explain the effects between three types of relational competencies (communication, cooperation, and integration) and the above-mentioned two dimensions of resilience.

As a growing number of managers consider the decision to outsource logistics activities, it is becoming increasingly critical to understand drivers of success in this area. Using survey data from 549 managers, this research examines the influence of three relationship engagement factors (communication, cooperation, and proactive improvement) on the perceived logistics outsourcing performance achieved by service providers. In particular, logistics outsourcing performance is characterized as consisting of two distinct dimensions: 1) goal achievement, and 2) goal exceedance, which management should consider, respectively, when evaluating their logistics service providers (LSPs).

Flint, Larsson, Gammelgaard and Mentzer (2005) and Wagner (2008) emphasize that innovativeness may help logistics service providers (LSPs) differentiate themselves from their competitors. Within the domain of innovation, relationship-specific proactive improvement by LSPs may play a vital role because in logistics outsourcing relationships, the problem of ex post adaptation exists (Rindfleisch and Heide 1997). So far, however, it remains unclear to what extent LSPs may utilize their proactive improvement to create customer loyalty and whether a focus on either cost or performance improvements is preferable. The present study analyzes 298 logistics outsourcing relationships using a survey method and structural equation modeling to assess the effect that proactive cost improvement and proactive performance improvement have on customer loyalty. Additionally, the moderating effects of ''service complexity'' and ''length of contracting period'' on the base effects are analyzed. The results reveal that proactive cost improvement and proactive performance improvement are both strong drivers of all core dimensions of loyalty (retention, extension, and referrals). However, this finding is a composition of two different patterns. Cost improvement, and thus efficiency is the main driver of customer loyalty when the outsourced services are simple and the contracting period relatively short. A clear shift of importance is observable when services increase in complexity and the contracting period lengthens. In such settings, customer loyalty is primarily driven by proactive performance improvement and thus, effectiveness, while cost improvement plays a subordinate role.

PurposeThe rapid advancement of digital technologies has fundamentally changed the competitive dynamics of the logistics service industry and forced incumbent logistics service providers (LSPs) to digitalize. As many LSPs still struggle in advancing their digital transformation (DT), the purpose of this study is to discover barriers and identify organizational elements and associated leading practices for DT success at LSPs.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilizes a two-stage approach. Stage 1 is devoted to a literature review. Stage 2, based on multiple case studies, analyzes information collected across nine international and global LSPs.FindingsThis research derives a practice-based definition of DT in the logistics service industry, and it has identified five barriers, eight success factors and associated leading practices for DT. The main obstacles LSPs struggle with, are the complexity of the logistics network and lack of resources, while the main success factor is a leader having and executing a DT vision, and creating a supportive organizational culture.Practical implicationsThe results contribute to the emerging field of DT within the logistics and supply chain management literature and provide insights for practitioners regarding how to effectively implement it in a complex industry.Originality/valueThe authors analyze DT from the perspective of LSPs, traditionally not viewed as innovative companies. This study compares their DT with that of other companies.

Purpose-This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the motives, structure and performance attributes of horizontal cooperations between logistics service providers (LSPs). Based on an analytical classification model, distinctive types of logistics cooperation that characterize the logistics landscape are identified. Design/methodology/approach-Empirical data were collected on horizontal LSP cooperations from managers of German LSPs. Different uni-and multi-variate statistical methods including ANOVA and cluster analysis were applied to the dataset of 226 cooperations for a total of 6,081 involved parties. Findings-Horizontal cooperations with other LSPs are an organizational form used by 57 percent of LSPs. Cooperation decisions are substantially driven by external market objectives. Six distinctive types of cooperation are identified. They reveal the dominance of multilateral and international networks that are mainly based on contractual agreements. There is a clear preference for partners with similar market competencies and for strong functional integration. Despite its inherent complexity, performance of these cooperations is high-its less than 19 percent failure rate makes these cooperations substantially more stable than cooperations within manufacturing industries. Research limitations/implications-This study is limited to an exploratory, descriptive approach in providing a sound understanding of the cooperation landscape. Practical implications-The findings contribute transparency to horizontal LSP cooperations and a common understanding of their idiosyncrasies. The conclusions help logistics managers to position themselves better within the cooperation landscape. Further, the analyses offer managers a conceptual classification of horizontal LSP cooperations and some guidance on how to structure their individual LSP cooperations more successfully. Originality/value-This paper is the first empirical study that defines the types of cooperation that comprise the logistics cooperation landscape. The analysis integrates a holistic perspective of their contractual, organizational, functional, geographical, service and resource scope and matches them with underlying motives and performance attributes.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide a sound basis to facilitate further research on innovation management at logistics service providers (LSPs). Design/methodology/approach -Content analysis of extant literature was undertaken and supplemented by conceptual deliberations. Findings -Future LSP-specific innovation research should be undertaken. While comparatively much knowledge on innovation management by LSPs does already exist, it is hardly integrated. More comprehensive studies of LSPs' innovation processes and systems are required.Research limitations/implications -The review is limited to articles written in English and published in academic journals from 1999 to mid-2009. This research should be supplemented by empirical research, in particular case studies. Practical implications -LSPs can compare their own innovation management concepts to the body of scientific knowledge presented here. As long as research does not take their specific context into account, LSPs are required to adapt more general concepts to their needs. Originality/value -This paper outlines theoretical features of a research stream on innovation management at LSPs. It integrates previous findings on LSPs' innovation management in a suitable framework, and it proposes an agenda for future research.

PurposeThe effects of supply chain risk management (SCRM) on the performance of a supply chain remain unexplored. It is assumed that SCRM helps supply chains to cope with vulnerabilities both proactively by supporting robustness and reactively by supporting agility. Both dimensions are assumed to have an influence on supply chain performance and on business performance. This research is aimed at providing clarity by empirically testing these hypotheses and scrutinizing the findings by the means of case studies. Design/methodology/approachThe research is empirical. Survey data was collected from 270 manufacturing companies for hypotheses testing via structural equation modeling. Additionally, qualitative data was collected to explore the nature of non-hypothesized findings. FindingsIt is found that SCRM is important for agility and robustness of a company. Both agility and robustness show to be important in improving performance. While agility has a strong positive effect only on supply chain performance, but not directly on business performance, robustness has a strong positive effect on both performance dimensions. This important finding directs the strategic attention from agility-centered supply chains to ones that are both robust and agile. The case studies provide insights to the fact that robustness can be considered a basic prerequisite to deal with supplier-side risks, while agility is necessary to deal with customer-side risks. The amount of agility and robustness needs to fit to the competitive strategy. Practical implicationsSince volatility has increasingly become a prevalent state of supply chains, companies need to consider robustness to be of primary importance to withstand everyday risks and exceptions.

Various market challenges have led logistics service providers (LSPs) to engage in horizontal cooperations with each other, while maintaining their general legal independence. As an idiosyncrasy, horizontal cooperations entail the opposing forces of competition and cooperation, also referred to as “co‐opetition” (Bengtsson and Kock 2000; Tsai 2002). This constellation facilitates the development of opportunism and conflicts, which raise the risk of relationship failure. Adequate governance mechanisms provide a basis to avoid failure and drive cooperation success. This paper focuses on the postformation cooperation management phase and identifies the specific effects that operational governance has on cooperation commitment and cooperation effectiveness. Based on survey data from 226 LSP cooperations, we show that both formal and social governance mechanisms have a substantial performance effect. In this regard, the results differ fundamentally from studies on vertical buyer‐supplier relationships. With respect to the specific setup of the cooperation, a differentiated view is provided. Results indicate that two types of cooperation complexity are of relevance: organizational complexity and strategic complexity. The former drives the relevance of formal control; the latter increases the relevance of both formal and social control for cooperation success.