Logistics outsourcing: a structured literature review

Identifying factors affecting the low uptake of reprocessed construction materials: A systematic literature review

The success of demolition waste reverse logistics supply chains (DWRLSCs) depend on the market uptake of reprocessed construction materials (RCMs) since resource recovery will not be viable without a well-developed consumption process. However, usage of RCMs is sparse while there is also limited focus in existing research on their market uptake. Therefore, this systematic literature review (SLR) attempts to discern trends in research on the use of RCMs and identify factors that limit their uptake. 52 articles from three databases published between 2000 and 2021 were selected for descriptive and content analyses. Descriptive analysis showed growing research interest in the area over the last 5 years. Content analysis was underpinned by Attitude-Behaviour-Context (ABC) Theory which focuses on pro-environmental consumer decisions. As predicted by the theory, a mix of personal and contextual factors affect the low uptake of RCMs. Negative attitudes, reluctance to change the status quo and limited decision-making capabilities were identified as personal factors that limit the use of RCMs. Similarly, contextual factors such as price, quality, information availability, market availability, sourcing lead times and lack of regulations, standards, and specifications inhibit the use of such materials. The review also proposes several future research directions to expand knowledge around this domain.

Machine Learning for Industry 4.0: A Systematic Review Using Deep Learning-Based Topic Modelling

Machine learning (ML) has a well-established reputation for successfully enabling automation through its scalable predictive power. Industry 4.0 encapsulates a new stage of industrial processes and value chains driven by smart connection and automation. Large-scale problems within these industrial settings are a prime example of an environment that can benefit from ML. However, a clear view of how ML currently intersects with industry 4.0 is difficult to grasp without reading an infeasible number of papers. This systematic review strives to provide such a view by gathering a collection of 45,783 relevant papers from Scopus and Web of Science and analysing it with BERTopic. We analyse the key topics to understand what industry applications receive the most attention and which ML methods are used the most. Moreover, we manually reviewed 17 white papers of consulting firms to compare the academic landscape to an industry perspective. We found that security and predictive maintenance were the most common topics, CNNs were the most used ML method and industry companies, at the moment, generally focus more on enabling successful adoption rather than building better ML models. The academic topics are meaningful and relevant but technology focused on making ML adoption easier deserves more attention.

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

Sustainability awareness across various economic sectors requires firms to use logistics outsourcing to reduce logistics-related emissions with compliant logistics service providers (LSPs). LSPs apply advanced information technologies to help achieve high efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability goals. While logistics outsourcing has received considerable attention from researchers, limited research has identified the elements of logistics outsourcing and established research trends regarding technology and sustainability aspects of logistics outsourcing. This study aims to establish trends in technology and sustainability in logistics outsourcing and identify the important elements of logistics outsourcing. A bibliometric analysis technique using the Biblioshiny package in R. A SCOPUS search resulted in 2019 documents. Research on technology and sustainability in logistics outsourcing is growing, especially in developed countries, with little or no research from developing countries. Sustainable supply chains and third-party logistics themes dominated the past research. Current research is on reverse logistics, circular economy, and green logistics; the latter is likely to dominate the future, focusing on risk management, pollution control, and innovation through advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data. Essential elements of logistics outsourcing are identified as maintaining a good relationship based on trust and cooperation, LSP multi-selection criteria that include sustainability and technology capabilities, proper contract management, and an appropriate in-house versus outsourcing balance for competitiveness. LSP managers are advised to develop sustainability and technology capabilities, including reverse logistics. The paper contributes to logistics management theory by identifying the elements of logistics outsourcing and presenting a bibliometric result to guide future research on sustainability and technology capabilities in logistics outsourcing.

Digital technologies as enablers of supply chain sustainability in an emerging economy

Vietnam is a country with significant potential for growth as a global centre for manufacturing, as supply chains look to reduce their over-reliance on China in the aftermath of COVID-19. The objective of this study is to better understand the current adoption rates and growth potential of emerging Industry 4.0 (I4.0) digital technologies and ascertain their potential to drive successful future sustainability initiatives amongst Vietnamese supply chain firms. These technologies offer a wide range of sustainability benefits, from a potential to reduce waste production and lower energy consumption to increased opportunities for recycling and industrial symbiosis. This empirical study surveys 223 Vietnamese supply chain experts to learn how digital technologies are being utilized in that region, what levels of future investment are expected, what preparatory measures are being taken to leverage new technologies, and what scope for improved supply chain sustainability exists. The findings indicate a low level of I4.0 digital technology adoption amongst Vietnamese supply chain firms, with the Internet of Things (IoT) currently being the most prevalent (48 percent adoption rate). Drones, Big Data Analytics and IoT are the I4.0 digital technologies expected to have the greatest future impact on Vietnamese supply chains. Whilst I4.0 digital technology adoption is still at this early stage, that may present a greater opportunity for driving future sustainability outcomes, than interrupting and retrofitting solutions to already-established networks and infrastructure.

Last mile delivery in logistics and supply chain management: a bibliometric analysis and future directions

Purpose

The main objective of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review (SLR) and structured insight into last mile delivery, ultimately identifying gaps in current knowledge and proposing a framework for future research direction in terms of sustainability in the area.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper identifies and synthesizes information from academic journals and examines “Journals and Publishing place,” “Geographic location,” “Year of Publication,” “University and Author Affiliation,” “Themes and Sub-themes,” “Theory,” “Research Design, Methods and Area” and “Industry Involvement.” A collection of online databases from 2005 to 2020 were explored, using the keywords “Last mile delivery,” “Last mile logistics,” “Last mile transportation,” “Last mile fulfillment,” “Last mile operations” and “Last mile distribution” in their title and/or abstract and/or keywords. Accordingly, a total of 281 journal articles were found in this discipline area, and data were derived from a succession of variables.

Findings

There has been significant growth in published articles concerning last mile delivery over the last 15 years (2005–2020). An in-depth review of the literature shows five dimensions of the last mile: last mile delivery, transportation, operations, distribution and logistics. Each of these dimensions is interrelated and possess clustered characteristics. For instance, last mile operations, last mile transportation and last mile delivery are operational, whereas last mile distribution is tactical, and last mile logistics possess strategic characteristics. The findings also indicate that even though the sustainability concept can be incorporated into all levels of the last mile, the current literature landscape mainly concentrates on the operational level.

Research limitations/implications

This review is limited to academic sources available from Emerald Insight, Science Direct, Taylor and Francis, Springer, MDPI and IEEE containing the mentioned keywords in the title and/or abstract/or keywords. Furthermore, only papers from high-quality, peer-reviewed journals were evaluated. Other sources such as books and conference papers were not included.

Practical implications

This study dissects last mile delivery to produce a framework that captures and presents its complex characteristics and its interconnectedness with various related components. By analyzing last mile delivery in its entirety, the framework also helps practitioners pinpoint which levels of last mile delivery (operation, tactical or strategic) they can incorporate the concept of sustainability.

Originality/value

The research findings enrich the contemporary literature landscape and future work by providing a conceptual framework that incorporates the “economic,” “environmental” and “social” pillars of sustainability in all dimensions of the last mile delivery.

Evaluating logistics outsourcing: a survey conducted with Brazilian industries

Purpose

This research aims to evaluate the factors that influence logistics outsourcing, including the impact of logistics outsourcing on measuring companies' logistics performance. This research provides interactions among the various factors (constructs) such as “financial”, “collaboration and process characteristics”, “external influencer”, and “logistics performance”.

Design/methodology/approach

To investigate the interaction between the constructs, structural equation modelling is proposed to understand what the relevant criteria are while outsourcing logistics. Data were acquired from surveys conducted with 129 managers from Brazilian companies in the industry sector.

Findings

The factor “collaboration and process characteristics” is what most influences the “logistics performance” of companies, highlighting the importance of managing contractors; and the “financial” factor also contributes to the logistic outsourcing decision.

Research limitations/implications

Some limitations of this study need to be clarified. First, the model could test the moderate and mediate aspects by using variables inspired on RBV and TCE. Second, the sample is relatively small and restricted to the Brazilian industries' case, although the results may be useful for other countries in the world. Third, the responses represent viewpoints of the people who work in the companies. To address this issue, the authors asked respondents to fill out the questionnaire from the perspective of the organisation.

Practical implications

Most 3PL come from developed countries and find different requirements in Brazil. Then, this new knowledge may help 3L providers better understand the needs of the local or foreign companies that operate in the local market. The measurement model may also help to construct a new organisational process, as it sheds light on the main elements necessary for gathering logistics performance outcomes.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, the literature lacks studies on the interaction among these logistics outsourcing constructs, mainly in emerging markets where significant growth opportunities have led to logistics activities being outsourced. The literature that examines the impact of these constructs on logistics performance is also limited. Therefore, this research contributes to providing a model that measures these impacts according to the company's point of view.

Diverting demolition waste toward secondary markets through integrated reverse logistics supply chains: A systematic literature review

Construction industry has adopted reverse logistics (RL) concept to manage high volumes of demolition waste (DW). However, DW RL supply chains (RLSCs) were found to be suffering from uncertainties, information deficiencies, and uncoordinated material flows. Improving supply chain integration (SCI), specifically external integration, across DW RLSCs was identified as a possible solution to overcome such problems. Despite this, studies that focus on external integration in DW RLSCs are limited. Using a systematic literature review (SLR), this study explores external integration in DW RLSCs. Sixty-six articles from three databases published between 2006 and 2020 were subjected to descriptive and content analysis. Arrangement of material, information, and financial flows across DW RLSCs, inhibitors of external integration, and potential measures for improving external integration were analyzed. Accordingly, material, information, and financial flows across DW RLSCs were mapped, and inhibitors of external integration, along with potential measures for improving external integration were identified. As the key outcome of this SLR, these findings were developed into a conceptual framework, which shows the main factors that inhibit and improve external integration in DW RLSCs. The framework will be useful in guiding further empirical research and informing industry practice. Several future research directions are also proposed to expand knowledge around the research domain.

A systematic review of AR/VR in operations and supply chain management: maturity, current trends and future directions

Purpose

This research aims to provide systematic insight into the current maturity of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in operations and supply chain management (OSCM), by analyzing the existing literature, contemporary concepts, data and gaps for future research directions.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses information from existing literature regarding timeline trends, publishers, research design and method, industry engagement, geographic location, active authors and affiliated universities, concentrated topics, theories and maturity in its review. A collection of publishing databases from 1997 to 2021 were explored using the keywords “Augmented Reality,” “Virtual Reality” and “Operations” and/or “Supply Chain” in their title and abstract to examine which publications to be included. Based on the search, a total of 164 journal articles were selected, and information on a chain of variables was collected.

Findings

There has been a significant publication growth over the past 25 years regarding the adoption of AR/VR in OSCM. Key findings indicate that 52% of the publications were focused on manufacturing, with only 10% of the existing literature using background theories. AR/VR can be observed at the introduction and growth phase and have yet to reach their maturity. Furthermore, there is limited utilization of AR/VR as drivers in facilitating sustainable practices in OSCM by academics and practitioners, albeit a strong promise exists. Finally, the prospective applications of AR/VR toward post-COVID-19 supply chains recovery require special attention.

Research limitations/implications

This systematic review is limited to considering only academic articles available from Emerald, Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, Springer, Scopus, JSTOR and EBSCO containing the keyword parameters.

Originality/value

The study used a bibliometric review to identify the trends and maturity in the evolution of AR/VR in OSCM. This research provides a better understanding of current research practices and offers directions toward the adoption of AR/VR in OSCM.

A comparative study of market potential for logistics outsourcing in Estonia and Finland

Purpose

This research analyzes the development of logistics outsourcing market in two countries, Estonia and Finland, with different paths as members of the single European market. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the two markets have become more similar or whether their logistics costs and logistics markets have developed differently over time.

Design/methodology/approach

The development of the logistics market is addressed through two survey-based variables. Logistics costs are used to measure the size of the logistics market, whereas logistics outsourcing is analyzed to measure the development phase as well as the market potential for logistics service provision.

Findings

Estonian logistics outsourcing market was found to be underdeveloped and small compared to the Finnish market. At the same time, the logistics costs of Finnish companies are high and rising, whereas the costs of Estonian firms are declining.

Research limitations/implications

The results imply that the level of outsourcing might explain the visibility of logistics costs, which should be taken into account when making estimates on logistics costs both at the firm as well as on country level.

Social implications

Logistics sector is an important source of national competitiveness and employment. This research identifies subareas for the two countries on how to develop competitiveness through the logistics market.

Originality/value

This research provides a unique method to estimate the size of logistics outsourcing market in these two countries. It also represents as one of the rare works to provide multiyear comparison between countries in logistics costs.

Benchmarking the outsourcing factors of third-party logistics services selection: analysing influential strength and building a sustainable decision model

Purpose

Outsourcings always affect crucial supply chain functions concerning flexibility and cost. During the decision to outsource and consider third-party logistics service provider selection, decision-makers need to pay more attention to certain critical outsourcing factors such as coordination, integration and cooperation as these key factors are essential to improve overall supply chain performance. The main purpose of this work is to identify the inter-relations among outsourcing decision factors to highlight the most important and influential factors that should be considered and carefully thought through when making outsourcing sustainable decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-phased methodology has been used in this study. In the first phase, outsourcing decision factors are identified from existing literature and validated by decision-makers from industry and academia. To understand the influential strength and build a sustainable model, the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method is used. A courier company in the UAE is considered for implementation.

Findings

All identified and validated factors are segregated into two categories (cause and effect). The result shows that the most influential factors are developing strategic alliances, uncertainty and risk mitigation and deficiency of internal resources for a service.

Practical implications

There are several insights for industry managers and practitioners. The results of the study may help practitioners and logistics managers to make the logistics service sustainable and more efficient for businesses.

Originality/value

This study focusses on a courier company to understand the interdependencies among outsourcing decision factors; this is unique in this field of literature.

A fuzzy approach to assess outsourcing risks in Brazilian navy industrial military organizations

Purpose

This study assesses outsourcing risks using the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP).

Design/methodology/approach

This descriptive research combines both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Risks identified in the literature review were classified with FAHP using questionnaire data from respondents in operations, procurement and risk management in Brazilian Navy Industrial Military Organizations (OMPS-I, by its Portuguese acronym).

Findings

The results indicate that FAHP is a method capable of producing relevant information to decision-making in the risk management process. A framework was created incorporating 16 major risks related to outsourcing. The results point to higher inherent risk levels related to outsourcing in the context of OMPS-Is: in order, hidden costs and unrealized savings; loss of knowledge/skills and/or corporate memory and difficulty in reacquiring a function; and loss of opportunities and reputation. The category of economic risk was revealed as the most important.

Originality/value

This study improves understanding of outsourcing risks and improves risk assessment by refining decision-making information and developing a system of decision analysis with several criteria. It also contributes to the development and implementation of a usable version of decision analysis with several criteria at a managerial level.

Examining the links between logistics outsourcing, company competitiveness and selected performances: the evidence from an emerging country

Purpose

This study examines the mediation effects of time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness and customer performance between logistics outsourcing and financial performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study relied on a questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument and further employed partial least squares structural equation modelling technique to test all formulated hypotheses.

Findings

The results demonstrate that logistics outsourcing has a significant positive impact on time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness, customer performance and financial performance. Time-based competitiveness and cost-based competitiveness were both found to have a significant positive impact on financial performance; however, customer performance had no significant impact on financial performance. The mediation analysis further indicates that while both time-based competitiveness and cost-based competitiveness play mediation effects between logistics outsourcing and financial performance, customer performance plays no mediation effect between logistics outsourcing and financial performance.

Research limitations/implications

The sampled firms for this study came from a single emerging country; hence, the results cannot be generalized or imported to reflect the results that may be obtained from other emerging geographical settings.

Practical implications

The results provide sufficient evidence for managers to turn their attention to logistics outsourcing, as a transformative business initiative, to gain time-based and cost-based competitiveness so as to improve financial performance.

Originality/value

The study provides significant insight and makes an additional contribution to literature in the area of logistics outsourcing, especially by collecting data from an emerging country. Modelling time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness and customer performance as mediating variables between logistics outsourcing and financial performance make this work relatively different from other studies.

Estimating the national logistics outsourcing market size: a multi-method approach and an application to the Italian context

Purpose

Today logistics is an ever-growing multi-billion-dollar business, and logistics operations have been increasingly outsourced to specialised players. The intended aim of this paper is to offer a multi-method approach for estimating the size of the national logistics outsourcing market by building upon financial-reporting data of logistics service providers (LSPs).

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed approach is structured into four steps, clustered around two main stages: framework setting and data collection, and processing. A combination of methods is offered, including a review of academic literature and secondary sources, focus groups, interviews and data extractions from national databases.

Findings

The proposed approach is meant to be replicable in different countries, thus allowing for comparison amongst markets. With reference to a specific country and year, the following outputs are provided: market size in terms of the number of players and generated turnover – total and split by LSPs type – and market concentration measures. A practical application of the proposed approach to a specific context, i.e. Italy is finally offered.

Originality/value

The study focusses on the logistics outsourcing market and considers financial-reporting data from LSPs, avoiding the need for introducing assumptions about the value of logistics operations for shippers. The proposed approach can contribute to strengthening the accuracy of LSPs' market analyses, and supporting the development of national policies by local governments. The adoption of multiple methods brings rigour and reliability to the study. Finally, high flexibility is ensured, as the method may be adaptable over time to cope with future changes in the logistics landscape.

A systematic review of machine learning in logistics and supply chain management: current trends and future directions

Purpose

This paper presents a review of the existing state-of-the-art literature on machine learning (ML) in logistics and supply chain management (LSCM) by analyzing the current literature, contemporary concepts, data and gaps and suggesting potential topics for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic/structured literature review in the subject discipline and a bibliometric analysis were organized. Information regarding industry involvement, geographic location, research design and methods, data analysis techniques, university, affiliation, publishers, authors, year of publications is documented. A wide collection of eight databases from 1994 to 2019 were explored using the keywords “Machine Learning” and “Logistics“, “Transportation” and “Supply Chain” in the title and/or abstract. A total of 110 articles were found, and information on a chain of variables was gathered.

Findings

Over the last few decades, the application of emerging technologies has attracted significant interest all around the world. Analysis of the collected data shows that only nine literature reviews have been published in this area. Further, key findings show that 53.8 per cent of publications were closely clustered on transportation and manufacturing industries and 54.7 per cent were centred on mathematical models and simulations. Neural network is applied in 22 papers as their exclusive algorithms. Finally, the main focuses of the current literature are on prediction and optimization, where detection is contributed by only seven articles.

Research limitations/implications

This review is limited to examining only academic sources available from Scopus, Elsevier, Web of Science, Emerald, JSTOR, SAGE, Springer, Taylor and Francis and Wiley which contain the words “Machine Learning” and “Logistics“, “Transportation” and “Supply Chain” in the title and/or abstract.

Originality/value

This paper provides a systematic insight into research trends in ML in both logistics and the supply chain.

Moeda Seeds: E-Commerce and Crypto Solutions for Development

ABSTRACT Blockchain technology has been explored as a tool to generate social impact. An example of it is Moeda Seeds, a Brazilian ecosystem operating to support financial inclusion and gender equality, two UN sustainable development goals, by facilitating access to microfinance for female entrepreneurs with social impact projects. Traditionally facing difficulties to access credit in the traditional banks, the selected Seed Projects are also granted with management support from Moeda’s ecosystem to optimize its entire chain efficiency and helping them to promote long-term sustainable practices for the local communities to thrive. This whole ecosystem is enabled by a blockchain-based payment and lending platform and Moeda’s proprietary digital tokens, which people around the world can promptly and transparently invest while participating in sustainable growth. This teaching case brings the COVID-19 crisis as background panorama and the founder Taynaah Reis in the center of an urgent strategic decision-making process. It covers the difficulties, variables, and alternatives presented to structure a contingency plan during that period of high uncertainty. It is extended by the teaching notes, covering: social cryptocurrencies, blockchain, digital platform, online sales, network externalities, and e-commerce ecosystem.

The thematic landscape of literature on supply chain management in India: a systematic literature review

Purpose

To assess the state of supply chain management (SCM) research in India and to understand the research trends and methodologies used. The present study also aims to create a taxonomy of the subject areas researched in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study employed the systematic literature review methodology. Literature from 395 peer journal papers in 67 leading journals over a 20-year period (2000–2020 Quarter-1) was comprehensively reviewed and assessed.

Findings

SCM research in India started around the year 2000. The quantum of research was low (single digit) until 2010. There has been steady growth over the last decade, and over 50% of the total papers up until now has been published in the last four years. The present study created a three-tiered taxonomy of the subject areas and classified the papers as per it. The first tier (level-1) has seven categories (SCM strategy, network design, SCM processes and integration, IT systems, skills, performance measurement and others). A perusal of the newly created taxonomy revealed that, except for a few areas under level-1 categories (such as SCM processes and SCM strategy), the other level-1 categories have not seen much research. Similarly, there is little or no research in a large number of level-2 categories (such as outsourcing strategy, channel strategy, demand management, demand fulfillment, customer relationship management, integrated supply chain planning, new product development, returns, supply chain orientation, performance monitoring, performance improvement, SCM adoption process, SCM implementation issues and quantified benefits of SCM). Methodologically, the rigor of SCM research in India needs improvement.

Originality/value

A comprehensive taxonomy of SCM subject areas researched in India at three cascading levels was created for the first time in the present study. The taxonomy will help provide researchers with a clear understanding of the structure of the subject areas and help in identifying areas where research has been carried out and the subject areas where gaps exist for future research to proceed. The present study also provides an overview of the methodological rigor of SCM research in India and points out some of the limitations that researchers should avoid in future studies.

Outsourcing and reverse supply chain performance: a triple bottom line approach

Purpose

Outsourcing has become a strategic decision for most of the organizations in the present context of globalization and circular economy. The objective of proposed study is to empirically investigate the relationship between the outsourcing benefits and triple bottom line (TBL)-based performance of reverse supply chain (RSC) comprising of economic, environmental and social factors.

Design/methodology/approach

In the present study, the partial least square path approach of structural equation modeling has been applied for testing hypotheses. A questionnaire was developed for collecting the information and responses from the experts of electronics industry, India. Measurement models were tested for ensuring the fitness of data for further applying partial least square path approach of SEM.

Findings

The results provide insightful information on outsourcing and RSC performance. It reveals that outsourcing decisions are important and have great influence on the economic, environmental and social performance of RSC.

Research limitations/implications

The study will provide useful guidance to the organizations for outsourcing decisions. One of the limitations of the study is that it has considered data collected from the Indian electronics industry. Therefore, results may not be generalized.

Originality/value

The third-party service providers have core competencies, and they are the experts of providing RSC services. It is also apparent from the exploration of past research and theoretical background that there are limited number of studies focusing on the impact of outsourcing decisions in RSC performance specifically from the TBL perspective. Hence, the proposed study is an effort to explore the impact of outsourcing RSC activities on the performance of RSC from a sustainability perspective.

Financing hydroelectric power plants: a review and evaluation of financing channels

Purpose

This study aims to identify project funding shortcomings in the existing literature and evaluate the financing channels accordingly.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a structured literature review – a content analysis method. Then, the comparative analysis applied to data gathered from the content analysis.

Findings

To define the main research topics and establish a focus on hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) financing, a comprehensive structured literature review was conducted. According to the results of this study, there are three main categories of HEPP financing studies in the literature, namely, financing channels and products, factors that complicate financing and financing- risk relationship of HEPP projects. According to these findings, which criteria most affecting HEPP financing and which financing channel is the most suitable are determined.

Research limitations/implications

Among all financing channels, only direct debt sources are selected.

Practical implications

This study is structured as a simple lender selection guide for HEPP investments. Selection criteria are applicable for both lenders and investors. For lenders, those criteria are expected to improve loan performance and optimize financial product selection. For investors, those criteria are expected to help choosing suitable products and improve revenues.

Social implications

This study will contribute the researchers those intended to work on the topic.

Originality/value

This study will contribute to limited literature on HEPP financing. Project finance literature is limited and narrow even there is no study that investigates hydropower project finance sourcing. In this manner, this study can be considered as a pioneer.

Toward a conceptualization of humanitarian service providers

Purpose

Service development and outsourcing are growing trends in humanitarian logistics (HL). Humanitarian organizations (HOs) have developed specialized units to perform logistics activities on behalf of other aid organizations, as a commercial logistics service provider (LSP) would do. The purpose of this paper is to explore the characteristics of HOs acting as LSPs and the differences with their commercial counterparts.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses a two-level content analysis of 149 annual reports from 50 local and international HOs, performed with the help of qualitative data analysis software. First, a manifest content analysis identified the number of occurrences of logistics-related words and later, a latent content analysis studies the use in context of such words to characterize the nature of HOs as LSPs.

Findings

Evidence shows that some international HOs – in some cases through specialized logistics units – perform the same activities as commercial LSPs, providing similar services. However, due to the characteristics of the humanitarian context, HOs acting as LSPs can offer a wider range of value-added and dedicated services to clients (other HOs) than commercial LSPs.

Research limitations/implications

Exploring the activities performed by HOs on behalf of other aid organizations and characterizing them as service providers constitutes a first attempt to grasp the unique features of these particular humanitarian LSPs. The results open the discussion about the services HOs offer, thus contributing to theory development in HL.

Practical implications

The identification of HOs acting as LSPs introduces a new actor to the humanitarian network, which the authors refer to as humanitarian service provider (HSP). This supposes two main managerial implications. First, the results support the idea of seeing servitization as a competitive difference, having a substantial impact on the way HOs build their strategies and achieve competitive advantage. Second, HSPs can push their commercial equivalents to identify new activities or services to offer and maintain their competitive advantage with regard to the newcomers.

Originality/value

This paper furthers the discussion on the concept of HSPs and demonstrates its uniqueness, thus contributing to the ever-growing body of knowledge of HL research.

Information-based quality management in reverse logistics supply chain

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the synergies among reverse logistics supply chain (RLSC), quality management (QM) and information management (IM) concepts to enhance the effectiveness of demolition waste management (DWM) practices.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review was conducted using 70 articles published between the years of 2006 and 2017, which were subjected to descriptive and thematic analysis.

Findings

The descriptive analysis established that the RLSC concept was dealt within the majority of the publications (61 per cent), followed by concepts related to quality in RLSC (24 per cent). Only 14 per cent of the articles were based on IM concepts related to RLSC. Quality and information are interrelated in the effective implementation of RLSC. The thematic analysis demonstrated that there is a need for using quality parameters in a regulatory environment in an information-based environment. Based on the findings, future research directions were developed.

Research limitations/implications

The study encourages researchers to identify novel directions by combining these three concepts. The study developed a future research agenda regarding use of building information modelling (BIM) for existing buildings under novel technologies; analysis of secondary market demand and supply; and assessment of cost and safety management with quality in a BIM-enabled environment.

Practical implications

The practical implications include the application of sustainable management principles based on stakeholders and the regulatory environment.

Originality/value

Integration of the three concepts is an emerging area. This integration developed a robust approach to achieve QM in RLSC operations under a sound information flow enabling the optimisation of DWM.

On the importance of service performance and customer satisfaction in third-party logistics selection

Purpose

Developing strategic relationships with third-party logistics (3PL) providers has long been one of the key challenges in automotive supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new approach for evaluation and indexing 3PL providers using the Kano model.

Design/methodology/approach

The statistical population used in this research comprises managers from the Iranian automotive industry. The Kano evaluation approach is used to analyze the data collected and to classify the criteria used in selection of the preferred 3PL providers.

Findings

The results suggest that the proposed framework, based on the Kano classification, can be a powerful tool for the automotive industry in evaluating 3PL providers. Moreover, the analyses indicate that 3PL providers need to improve their service offering in aspects that are to be found in the Kano model’s requirements, namely, must-be, one-dimensional and attractive.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the supply chain management literature by being the first to classify selection indices of 3PL providers in the automotive industry using the Kano model.