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a b s t r a c tThe logistics services industry will be significantly affected by future developments throughout the world. Therefore, developing future scenarios is an important basis for long-term strategy development. Nevertheless, research exposes that there is a lack of awareness among logistics researchers and practitioners about future scenarios. In this paper, we apply scenario planning and present the findings of an extensive Delphi-based scenario study on the future of the logistics services industry in the year 2025. The major contribution of our research is the development of probable and unforeseen scenarios of the future which may provide a valuable basis for strategy development in the logistics services industry. A 25 Forecast of passenger/cargo traffic and technology Delphi-based scenarios (23 experts on air traffic and technology) Gray and Helmer (1976) Journal article A 30The use of futures analysis for transportation research planning (focus on transport, but also broad range of societal issues) Delphi-based scenarios (46 experts evaluated 263 developments in 17 influence areas)

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Anticipating demand changes is critical in the process industry with high capacity utilization. The developed solution for demand forecasting is based on a new predictive analytics approach and sophisticated information technology, which allows combining company data and economic information specifically matched to the market environment of product segments. The approach systematically selects the best information for a business outlook. Using the data from the global chemical company BASF, the first empirical results show that this approach significantly outperforms statistical methods based on historical demand data only.

Purpose – This study aims to examine the management of food supply chains in complex and volatile business environments, where the sustainability requirements of customers and legislation are increasing. This challenging situation gives rise to the question as to how a logistics company can achieve and sustain competitive advantage through environmentally-oriented sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – This empirical study gathers insights on emerging practices in European food service supply chains from two parallel Delphi surveys conducted with 145 industry experts from 27 countries. The long-term industry expectations of a leading provider in food service logistics are compared with an industry-wide external panel. The questions were designed to understand how managers perceive the emerging domain of sustainability in supply chains. Findings – Environmentally oriented sustainability will remain a key driver of success in the field. However, after applying the dominant logic concept for analyzing results, it becomes apparent that managers have to continuously challenge internal existing expectations to translate an emerging domain into strategy. We show how the senior management team under investigation was challenged in its dominant logic and how it tried to overcome this situation during strategy development. Originality/value – The study shows how managers perceive and cope with the emerging domain of environmentally oriented sustainability, how they translate it into strategy, and utilize resources for creating customer value. The research supports managers in adapting to new competitive environments. Furthermore, the study contributes by visualizing the dominant logic of a firm and the approach of top management for adjustment.

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