Journal of Business Logistics

Publisher:
Wiley
Publication date:
2021-02-01
ISBN:
0735-3766

Latest documents

  • The Effect of Truckload Driver Turnover on Truckload Freight Pricing

    High rates of truck driver turnover have long plagued the full truckload (TL) sector. While greater driver turnover raises TL carriers’ costs, no research has examined how changes in industry‐wide TL driver turnover rates affect industry‐wide prices shippers pay for TL transportation. Drawing on economic theory regarding firms’ asymmetric adjustment of prices in response to changing costs, we explain why increases in driver turnover are expected to increase the prices carriers charge for their services, whereas decreases in driver turnover are expected to have limited effect on the prices carriers charge for their services. We further explain why the positive impact of increases in industry‐wide TL driver turnover rates on prices will be more pronounced when industry employment is rising more rapidly. To test our theory, we assemble a time series data set combining proprietary driver turnover data with publicly available data regarding TL pricing, trucking employment, diesel prices, and aggregate industry activity. Results from fitting a set of time series econometric models corroborate our theorized predictions. We explain the implications of these findings for theory and practice.

  • Adoption of multiple electronic marketplaces: Antecedents from a grounded theory study

    To achieve economies of scope, most motor carriers combine long‐term contracts with shippers and brokers with periodic spot assignments found on electronic marketplaces (EMs). While previous research has addressed how carriers adopt an EM, we know little about factors that influence carriers to adopt multiple EMs. Given the rise of the platform economy of the trucking industry, we chose to address this gap and generate mid‐range theory on adopting multiple EMs in a logistics context. To do this, we applied grounded theory and conducted 23 interviews with motor carriers and EM experts in North America and Europe until we reached theoretical saturation. Our findings reveal that many motor carriers adopt a portfolio of different EMs, and that their awareness of platforms, expected and realized benefits, attitude, and vigilance determine how they configure their EM portfolios. The implication for existing theory is that, while previous studies depicted EM adoption from a single‐system perspective, we found that it is actually a continuous selection process that follows a portfolio perspective. Our paper also has implications for practice in that it illuminates the rationales behind EM portfolio development and identifies actionable factors that can help managers configure stronger portfolios.

  • Digitalization and its Impact on the Future Role of SCM Executives in Talent Management – An International Cross‐Industry Delphi Study

    In the field of supply chain management (SCM), attracting and developing appropriate talent is critical for achieving most SCM goals, as extensive skills are necessary to do the job properly. In order to ensure that future‐proof talent can continue to emerge in this discipline, the role of SCM executives is extremely important. Although many studies have been conducted in the field of talent management (TM), the future role of SCM executives has been mostly neglected in research. The present empirical study addresses this gap, taking into consideration the fourth industrial revolution, as innovation in technology continues to drive significant changes in the SCM field. Aiming to investigate the extent to which increasing digitalization is influencing the future role of SCM executives, a Delphi study with 103 experts from industry, academics, and politics/associations was carried out. In order to identify meaningful topic clusters from the data, fuzzy c‐means clustering was used. From an actor‐network theory perspective, our results show that in some areas of TM, digitalization is leading to a strong fusion of SCM executives and digital technologies, as well as to a clear division of roles, in which either SCM leaders or technology will dominate in the future.

  • Issue Information
  • Everything Old is New Again: The Age of Consumer‐Centric Supply Chain Management

    Over the past several decades, the disciplines of marketing and logistics grew apart from their common historical origins as marketing became more behavioral and more quantitative, while logistics leaned toward a more operational orientation. We argue in this editorial that social and technological changes in the past 20 years, coupled with the effects of the COVID pandemic, have created the conditions for the two disciplines to reconnect. We propose that scholars and practitioners consider a consumer‐centric approach to supply chain management. Such an approach advocates that the entire supply chain should focus on consumer experience rather than mere customer service and that experiences might include issues such as last‐mile delivery, supply chain visibility, and consumer values. We also introduce the papers appearing in this issue of the journal.

  • Quality Output, Workplace Environment, and Employee Retention: The Positive Influence of Emotionally Intelligent Supply Chain Managers

    Industry advancements are accelerating at phenomenal rates and changing the management of logistics and supply chain operations. Employers must develop supervision with advanced skills to manage and retain the most effective employees making up the new workforce of highly skilled and technologically advanced personnel. Emotional intelligence is a managerial competence leveraged by leaders to connect with subordinates on a psychologically emotional level. Our research evaluates and applies emotional intelligence within the context of managing logistics and supply chain employees. Recognizing that employees are critical to production and service delivery, logistics and supply chain managers must be able to cognitively analyze situations and connect with employees in a positive manner even during challenging times. We find that managers possessing higher levels of emotional intelligence are better equipped to help their employees manage emotions, build more positive working conditions for subordinates, increase retention of employees, and achieve more positive service outcomes for external customers.

  • Talent Management For a Post‐COVID‐19 Supply Chain—The Critical Role for Managers
  • A Challenge in Our Time: Issues of Race in Supply Chain Management

    This editorial addresses one of the greatest challenges of our time—racial inequality. Logistics and supply chain management (SCM) factor prominently in people’s everyday experiences, as consumers of products and logistics services as well as through participation in logistics and supply chain workforces. These everyday experiences can be quite disparate depending on one’s race. As academics, we have a responsibility to peel back the layers of how these issues of race and diversity impact and interact with supply chain phenomena. This editorial is intended to bolster conversation around these issues. We identify compelling themes that merit consideration and, perhaps, deeper investigation, including race as an individual difference variable in our research, race in SCM talent and leadership, and race and racism in SCM execution. We also call for more research that addresses racial inclusion and equal access in other aspects of SCM in light of its far‐reaching influence in the realms of business and society. The time has come to address these pervasive issues affecting organizations and individuals. We also introduce the articles appearing in the current issue of the journal.

  • The Last Mile: Managing Driver Helper Dispatching for Package Delivery Services

    Hiring seasonal driver helpers is one widely used approach by parcel delivery companies to deal with increased home‐delivery volumes during peak seasons. Nonetheless, driver helper‐related issues have not received much attention in academic research. This study investigates how driver helpers can be utilized in the most effective way by parcel delivery companies. We show that by separating a parcel delivery route into two sub‐routes, namely “no‐helper” and “with‐helper” routes, the utilization rates of driver helpers can be improved, and the carrier cost be reduced considerably. Three main contributions of this study are as follows. First, based on costtrade‐off insights, we develop a new mathematical model for the last‐mile distribution problem, which we call the Driver Helper Dispatching Problem. Second, using this mathematical model, we perform a series of numerical experiments to identify the conditions under which the proposed “split‐route solution” works most or least effectively. Finally, we perform sensitivity analyses to investigate the impact that changes in model parameters, such as fuel cost, would have on study results.

  • Carton Set Optimization in E‐commerce Warehouses: A Case Study

    In this study, a three‐stage methodology for carton set optimization in e‐commerce warehouses is proposed and evaluated on three DHL Supply Chain warehouses. The methodology includes order cubing, carton grouping, and optimal carton set selection. A modified largest area fits first algorithm for order cubing is proposed. For optimal carton set selection, a genetic algorithm with a novel crossover strategy is introduced. The results show that the proposed carton set optimization approach can improve the shipping cost and carton utilization by 7% and 7.8%, and considerably improve the carbon footprint of the operations, even when the number of carton types is not changed.

Featured documents

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT