An Empirical Study on the Adoption of RFID Technology for Logistics Service Providers in China

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study the influences of technological, organizational and environmental factors on the adoption of RFID technology for logistics service providers in China. While the growth of China's economy hinges to a large extent on the ability of the logistics industry to operate more efficiently and effectively in the global supply chain system, China's logistics companies should pay attention to adopt more efficient logistics technologies to provide better services for their customers. The data to study the factors affecting the adoption of RFID technology came from a questionnaire survey of logistics service providers in China, and 574 logistics companies were analyzed. According to the survey results, about fifty percents of logistics companies are interested in RFID technology, but less than ten percents have the experiences of using RFID technology. Explicitness and accumulation of technology, organizational encouragement for innovation, quality of human resources, and governmental support exhibit significant influences on the willingness to adopt RFID technology.

Adoption of RFID technologies in UK logistics: Moderating roles of size, barcode experience and government support

“…Government regulations can encourage or discourage the adoption of innovations (Lin and Ho, 2009a). Government can provide financial incentives and help training manpower with logistics skills for more effective RFID implementation.…”

“…With help of efficient and effective logistics, it is possible to ensure smooth flow of raw materials, products and related information from the primitive occurring points to the final consumption points (Bowersox and Closs, 1996). Since the contribution of logistics in the overall competitiveness of companies has been recognised by companies, many of them have realised the need to adopt technological innovations (Lin and Ho, 2009a). Several technologies are available for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of integrated global logistics.…”

“…A typical RFID system consists of three components: an antenna, RFID tags, and a RF reader. This technology is widely used in many applications including manufacturing and distribution of products (Cardiel et al, 2012;Lin and Ho, 2009a), Businessto-Business (B2B) logistics, Business-to-Consumer (B2C) marketing and after-sales service (Curtin et al, 2007).…”

“…From January 2005, the company has also insisted its top 100 suppliers to adopt RFID (Lin et al, 2005). Many other big companies such as Federal Express, Dell, Proctor and Gamble, and the American Defence Department have also adopted RFID technology in their supply chain systems (Lin and Ho, 2009a). Due to the increasing popularity of RFID, several research studies have recently been conducted to understand the impact of the technology on performance of firms.…”

Investigation of the Radio Frequency Identification Assimilation Process in China: A Stage‐based Model Perspective

“…manufacturing, logistics services as well as retail chains. For example, Lin and Ho (2009) investigated determinants of RFID adoption in Chinese logistics industry and the supply chain performance after adoption. Their research found that explicitness of technology, accumulation of technology, organizational encouragement for innovation, quality of human resources, and governmental support all exhibit significantly positive influences on the adoption intention of RFID technology for China's logistics companies.…”