The Role of External Relationships for LSP Innovativeness: A Contingency Approach

Abstract

Innovativeness is key to the success of logistics service providers (LSPs) and as LSPs often lack competencies for innovation internally, external relations as sources to acquire knowledge relevant for innovation are important. To the authors' knowledge, there is no research identifying the relevant knowledge sources for LSP innovativeness. Based on contingency theory, we develop a conceptual model on the relevance of different external relations in the context of the innovation focus of the LSP. Thus, we extend insights from previous studies that have only discussed the benefits of external knowledge acquisition in general and outline how to use existing business relations of an LSP to facilitate different types of innovation. The hypothesized model is tested based on survey data from 201 LSPs using structural equation modeling. The findings support the model and outline that better relationships with external service firms or other LSPs are not important for internal process improvements and innovations for existing customers, but very valuable for innovations targeting new customer business, while good relations to customers even show a slight tendency to hamper the development of innovations for new customer business. In addition, it is shown that innovativeness is a strong driver of LSP firm performance.

How Environmental Management Competitive Pressure Affects a Focal Firm's Environmental Innovation Activities: A Green Supply Chain Perspective

“…; Sampson and Spring ), the internal innovation climate (Oke et al. ), and the impact of external relationships (Bellingkrodt and Wallenburg ) on innovation. While prior research has acknowledged that competitive pressure influences a firm's environmental innovation activities (Bansal and Roth ; Sarkis et al.…”

“…Azadegan et al (2013) A firm's partnerships with private firms and governments are related to the firm's innovation performance. Bellingkrodt and Wallenburg (2013) Logistics service providers serve a critical role in a firm's ability to acquire knowledge for innovation. Blome et al (2013) Examines how ambidextrous governance in supply chains improve innovation and cost performance.…”

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“…For example, as firms increasingly involve their suppliers in their product development efforts (McGinnis & Vallopra, 1999a,b, 2001Zsidisin & Smith, 2005), absorptive capacity enables organizations to achieve greater responsiveness (Fisher, 1997;Lee, 2002) by acquiring and applying information across firm boundaries (Rebolledo, Halley & Nagati, 2009;S aenz et al, 2013). As a focal construct, absorptive capacity is an important phenomenon which SCM scholars have identified as warranting a better understanding (e.g., Azadegan, 2011;Bellingkrodt & Wallenburg, 2013;S aenz et al, 2013). While absorptive capacity is thought to be a particularly important organizational attribute for responsiveness, there is little empirical evidence regarding appropriate structural linkages involving the construct (Liao, Welsch & Stoica, 2003).…”

Logistics Service Providers Going Green : A Framework for Developing Green Service Offerings

“…In addition, the author proposes that the development of the ability to use and integrate external partners in the process of developing new services can potentially be a competitive advantage that distinguishes one LSP from another. Furthermore, the study by Bellingkrodt and Wallenburg (2013) shows that the relevance of using and integrating external sources may depend on the specific focus and aim LSPs may have on their innovation efforts. For example, those LSPs that strive for improvements of internal processes or for improved services for current customers, benefit from improved relationships with these customers, while those LSPs that strive to reach new customers and business opportunities benefit from improved relationships with external service providers and horizontally cooperating LSPs.…”