Long-Term Partnerships in Japanese Firms’ Logistics Outsourcing: From a Sustainable Perspective

Abstract

This study aimed to reveal the actual state of Japanese firms’ logistics outsourcing, and examine their relationship with LSPs. This study addressed the following issues by conducting a case study of six leading manufacturing firms. First, it clarified the characteristics of Japanese-style logistics outsourcing as: the outsourcing of the total activities, the consigning to a single LSP, and the development of advanced information systems. Moreover, it examined the logistics outsourcing performance from a sustainable perspective, and concluded that Japanese-style logistics management enables firms to achieve high performance in all the economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Second, this study confirms that the traditional Japanese business practice of long-term partnerships is still maintained in logistics outsourcing management. Third, this study also explored how long-term partnerships create sustainable competitive advantages. Finally, based on these findings, a theoretical framework illustrating the relationship between Japanese-style logistics outsourcing and firms’ sustainable competitive advantage is presented. Our findings may encourage companies to develop a long-term partnership with their logistics service providers, and to put environmental and social indicators into their KPI system to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage by balancing the economy, environment, and society.

Strategy for sustainable supply chain transformation: a resource orchestration perspective

“…, 2021), long-term R&D planning (Young et al. , 2020), long-term partnerships (Shi et al. , 2022) and long-term corporate social responsibility (Yan et al.…”

“…For supply chain lifecycle, we focus on the long-term planning for SSCT. According to the literature review, considering issues from a long-term planning perspective plays a crucial role in achieving long-term prosperity of the supply chain, such as long-term capacity planning (Smirnov et al, 2021), long-term R&D planning (Young et al, 2020), long-term partnerships (Shi et al, 2022) and long-term corporate social responsibility (Yan et al, 2023). Florez-Jimenez et al (2024) pointed out that corporate sustainability is one of the three necessary factors for achieving long-term survival of enterprises.…”

Current and Future Trends of Information Technology and Sustainability in Logistics Outsourcing

“…Logistics outsourcing is a base for developing strong business relationships [26] because the LSPs help strengthen their clients' core business. To deliver the benefits of logistics outsourcing, LSPs should develop relationships based on trust and cooperation with their clients to achieve high service quality and effective returns management and reverse logistics [34]. Strong relationships are dependent on the amount, speed, and quality of information shared between the LSPs and their clients; as such, the information shared should improve planning and problem sharing to build sustainable business relationships.…”

Conceptual Model for Effects of the Buyer Supplier Relationship, Purchasing Process, and Measures of Performance in Supply Chains

“…Better performance outputs, such as increased competitiveness and reduced transaction costs, may be achieved in buyer-supplier partnerships when there is trust between purchasers and sellers in the retail business (see Table 1). Authors in [14] concluded that trust had the greatest influence on getting cooperation in relationships, but Shi, Park, Sugie, and Fukuzawa [15] revealed that trust influences long-term partnerships. Orsini et al [16] demonstrate the value of trust in preserving established channel connections.…”