International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

Carbone, Valentina; Rouquet, Aurélien; Roussat, Christine

2018 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-11-2017-0355

The growth of collaborative consumption is beginning to stimulate management research on this phenomenon. However, so far, few scholars have studied the logistics aspects related to these developments. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual approach to the logistics at work in collaborative consumption.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopt an inductive, exploratory research method, based on a content analysis involving 32 collaborative consumption initiatives screened through their websites and other secondary sources.FindingsBased on the way logistics is organized in these initiatives, the authors identify and describe four types of logistics: peer to peer, business, crowd, and open logistics.Practical implicationsThe paper makes recommendations for improving the management of collaborative consumption logistics.Originality/valueOur results enrich the literature about crowd practices and collaborative consumption by conceptualizing alternative roles played by logistics and revealing its specific organizational forms.

Fayezi, Sajad; Zomorrodi, Maryam; Bals, Lydia

2018 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-01-2017-0013

The purpose of this paper is to unpack tensions faced by procurement professionals as part of their triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability activities. The authors take an integrative perspective based on the procurement sustainability and organizational tensions literature, as well as stakeholder and institutional theory.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a multiple case study approach. Data are collected through multiple interviews and archival data from eight case companies in Australia.FindingsThe authors identify supply chain and company procurement sustainability tensions (PSTs) and explain their multi-level nature. The analysis also dissects the multi-stakeholder and multi-institutional environments where PSTs operate. The authors discuss such environments in terms of various temporal and spatial legitimacy contexts (LCs) that, through their assessment of institutional distance, can characterize the manifestation of PSTs.Practical implicationsThe findings are instrumental for managers to make informed decisions when dealing with PSTs, and they pave the way for paradoxical leadership given the increasing importance of simultaneous development and balancing of TBL dimensions, as evidenced in this study.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to empirically investigate PSTs by drawing on an integrative approach to identify PSTs, and to discern various LCs that underpin stakeholder judgments of procurement’s TBL sustainability activities.

Marino, Gaetano; Zotteri, Giulio; Montagna, Francesca

2018 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-01-2017-0030

Short delivery time is a feature that can influence consumers’ purchasing decisions and that retailers compete over fiercely. Accordingly, evaluating the effect of delivery time on demand and identifying marketing-mix variables that alter this relationship may influence retailers’ strategies and impact supply chain (SC) performance. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThis study was performed in collaboration with the largest furniture retailer in Italy, which provided its sales and inventory data for 19,000 units sold over a six-month period in 32 stores throughout Italy. Data were analysed using logistic regression with fixed effects.FindingsThe value of delivery time for consumers, even in an industry generally characterised by long delivery lead times, is surprisingly high. The evidence reveals that when the delivery time changes from two days to seven days, demand is reduced by 37.5 per cent, although variables related to location and the marketing mix moderate this relationship.Practical implicationsRetailers can use the findings presented herein to drive their inventory and facility planning decisions and support investments in SC integration.Originality/valueSupply chain management (SCM) studies consider the value of delivery time anecdotally and have neglected empirical estimations of the magnitude of the effects of delivery time on consumer demand. Further, SCM studies have not explored the factors moderating this relationship, although intertemporal choice and service management studies have demonstrated the existence of such factors.

Flöthmann, Christoph; Hoberg, Kai; Gammelgaard, Britta

2018 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

doi: 10.1108/ijpdlm-02-2017-0120

The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of supply chain management (SCM) competencies by splitting them into individual and organizational components and measuring their impact on SCM performance.Design/methodology/approachHypothesized relationships are tested using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping mediation analysis based on a multi-national survey with 273 managers while drawing on the theory of knowledge management and literature streams of individual competencies in the fields of SCM and human resource management (HRM), respectively.FindingsThe analysis reveals that individual SCM competencies and organizational SCM knowledge positively influence SCM performance to a similar magnitude. Moreover, organizational learning enhances individual competencies and organizational knowledge significantly and equally while corporate training programs fall surprisingly short of expectations. The disentanglement of SCM competencies renders HRM’s contribution to SCM visible by revealing the impact of HRM and learning practices on competencies, knowledge, and performance.Research limitations/implicationsTo validate the findings, future research could apply different research methods such as case studies and focus on more countries to reduce potential methodological and regional biases.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that corporate training programs need further development. Organizational learning’s strong direct and indirect effects have two main implications: first, it should serve as motivation for organizations to constantly improve their learning capabilities. Second, these only tap its true potential for enhancing SCM performance if they first elevate individual competencies and organizational knowledge.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to distinguish between individual competencies and organizational knowledge on finely nuanced levels. While the organizational knowledge level effect on performance has been studied before, this paper extends this effect to also hold true for the individual level.