Urban Consolidation Centres : On Relationships between Customer Needs and Services in City Logistics

Abstract

Urban Consolidation Centres (UCCs) are often conceived as an enabler to alleviate negative effects associated with distribution of goods in cities, such as traffic congestion and hazardous emissions. UCCs not only have the potential to reduce these effects but also provide alternative distribution solutions by introducing new transhipment points. Despite their potential, UCCs often fail to be self-supporting and are often dependent on subsides, which is not considered to be sustainable in the long run. In response, this thesis takes its point of departure in the two business models elements value propositions and target customers. A business model is often viewed as an enabler to generate revenue and UCCs have the potential to generate revenue by offering services to their customers, and the customers pay for the services. To understand how customers can benefit from UCCs and provide arguments why they should use these, it is important to understand the relationship between customers' needs and the services UCCs can provide. The purpose of this thesis is to identify and describe the potential relationship between needs of UCC customers and UCC services.The research in the thesis is both explorative and descriptive, where a first step is to identify customer needs, UCC services, and value propositions. The descriptive part is to describe them and it is also the foundation for understanding the relationship between customer needs and UCC services. Through the analysis and discussion, multiple customer needs are identified and described for seven customer groups and the UCC operator; all of which could be considered customers of UCCs. The thesis also adds to the UCC literature with three new identified UCC services: e-commerce with used products, advertisement, and registration in computer system. The outcome of the analysis also provides illustrations of how customer needs can be matched with UCC services. For the most studied customer group, receiver of goods, a total of 29 different matches were identified, which illustrates the possibilities but also the complexity of the relationships. To understand the relationship, three different types of gaps were also identified that have implications for future research.The main contributions to research and the UCC literature in particular are enlargement of the scope of customers and the illustration of the relationships between customer needs and UCC services. The illustrations include contributions such as identifying, mapping and describing the customer needs, UCC services, and value propositions. An important first step is to understand how customer needs and UCC services can be linked, and this thesis provides examples of how this can be achieved. Viewing every stakeholder as a potential customer opens up the opportunity to fulfil their needs and the potential to generate revenue, which in turn could close the gap in the problem of non-self-supporting UCCs. Furthermore, with self-supporting UCCs, the number of freight vehicles can be reduced and this may l...

Sourcing motives behind sourcing decisions exposed through the Sourcing Decision Framework

“…Based on the analysis above it reveals that IS-sourcing can be considered from different dimensions that give specific characteristics to a sourcing option. Considering all forms of sourcing optionsincluding in-house developmentit can be said that confusion exists about terms that may lead to difficulties for the comparability of research results [6,12]. Johansson [12] concludes that there are at least four general sourcing options involving external providers: traditional outsourcing; insourcing; buy-in; and net sourcing.…”

“…Considering all forms of sourcing optionsincluding in-house developmentit can be said that confusion exists about terms that may lead to difficulties for the comparability of research results [6,12]. Johansson [12] concludes that there are at least four general sourcing options involving external providers: traditional outsourcing; insourcing; buy-in; and net sourcing. Lacity et al [15] developed for practitioners five sourcing modes namely buy-in, contract out, preferred supplier, preferred contractor, and in-house.…”

“…Subsequent to the evaluation of the strategic value of the IS, the question of whether appropriate resources are available internally is examined. According to the RBV, organizations are seen as the sum of its resources [12]. Barney [11] defines organizational resources categorized in human capital, organizational capital and physical capital controlled by the firm and that allows the firm to strategically use them to boost efficiency and effectiveness.…”

“…As the organization's resources are the source of competitive advantage, it can be concluded that those should be kept or gained internally. The central issue of the RBV is accordingly the identification of such resources [12]. The resource based view can be applied to the analysis of the relationship between IT and sustained competitive advantage.…”

Customer Benefits in City Logistics : Towards Viable Urban Consolidation Centres

“…The overall research process for this thesis encompasses two narrative literature reviews, five separate studies, and a licentiate thesis. The licentiate thesis (Johansson, 2018) was defended early in 2018, and contained the narrative literature review of UCCs, and studies A, B and C (which are also parts of this doctorate thesis). The licentiate thesis played an important role in the overall research process, and shed light on what was still missing within the research area.…”