1,720,959 research outputs found
Start-up-driven innovation for logistics: a classification framework
No full textStart-ups are often frontrunners to foster innovation, contributing to developing and spreading original thinking and solutions. In recent years, start-up ecosystems have experienced significant growth worldwide, and many start-ups have also emerged in the field of logistics. Despite this rising trend, the academic literature has underestimated start-up-driven innovation in the logistics industry so far. To act as a bridge between theory and practice, the purpose
of this study is to investigate and formalize the main directions of innovation brought by start-ups operating in the
logistics field. First, both available academic literature and secondary sources were examined, along with financial reporting data retrieved from commercial databases. As a result, 501 start-ups founded after 2015 and having logistics
services within their core business were identified worldwide. Then, a classification framework was developed,
according to start-ups’ value proposition. Four macro-categories were drawn ‒ new logistics players, logistics
platforms, software developers, and hardware developers ‒ and further subdivided into sub-categories to better
acknowledge specific peculiarities. Funding received and the number of start-ups per each category were considered
as proxies for the value of and potential for innovation. New logistics players and hardware developers emerged as the
start-ups categories offering the widest opportunities. The study offers an original approach to map and classify startup-driven innovation in logistics, simultaneously allowing for identifying the most promising directions for future
developments, also in the wake of the increasing concerns about environmental and social sustainability. On the one
hand, the growth of hardware solutions such as electric or self-driving vehicles calls for additional exploration of the
related managerial implications. On the other hand, further research could investigate how logistics service providers
could introduce innovative solutions in their daily operations, such as for urban deliveries
Designing global trade and logistics channels: a focus on the Chinese food and beverage market
Full text linkInternationalisation ventures entail a close relationship between the trade channel (TC) and the logistics channel (LC), but few studies address simultaneously TC and LC design. This study investigates how TC can influence LC design and explores the role played by related contextual factors. Abductive reasoning is adopted within middle-range purposes, elaborating previous theory with multiple case studies considering European food manufacturers tackling a specific empirical context (i.e. the Chinese food and beverage market).
The study lends contingency theory elements and leverages them to develop nine propositions that can open to further inquiries about the influence of TC on LC design and the impact of the identified contextual factors. Moreover, it proposes the behavioural theory as a theoretical lens to approach LC (and not only TC) design. Lastly, it provides practitioners with insights that can be useful to improve their understanding of the Chinese food and beverage market
Evolution of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in the logistics 4.0 landscape: A classification framework and empirical insights
No full textThe increasing demand for highly customised products and short delivery lead times is requiring production and logistics systems to become more flexible and reactive to customers’ requests. In this landscape, the so-called fourth industrial revolution is fostering the development of new technologies which may help companies deal with the evolved customers’ needs at reasonable costs. While this phenomenon has been widely addressed in the scientific literature with reference to manufacturing systems, only few and very recent contributions are dealing with the Logistics 4.0 paradigm, and specifically focusing on material handling systems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evolution of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in the Logistics 4.0 landscape. The research was structured into two main steps. First, a thorough review of the literature on AGVs led to the identification of their key characteristics. A classification framework for AGV solutions was developed, based on three dimensions: Navigation path, Communication, and Decision. In the second step, five European material handling technology providers were interviewed in order to validate the classification framework and gain insights on the AGV solutions available on the market. Results showed that AGVs are turning into highly flexible autonomous vehicles through the development of open navigation paths, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication and decentralised decision-making capabilities
Postponement strategies for global downstream supply chains: A conceptual framework
No full textP ostponement is a well-known organizational concept and usually relates to the deferment in time of manufacturing and/or logistics operations. In the current global competitive landscape, situations where postponement can be applied are rapidly increasing. Faced with the wide range of customs duties and free-trade agreements currently in place, companies need to (re)design their postponement strategies to customize their products appropriately, and to the proper degree, in each market. As the actual location where operations take place has a major impact on a company’s overall performance, the spatial perspective must also be taken into account when designing global postponement strategies, alongside the conventional temporal perspective. Heretofore, the academic literature does not offer any comprehensive framework on a global scale either for handling what is known as the postponement boundary problem, or for conceptualizing the related postponement strategies.
Building on previous research, the aim of the present study was to investigate the postponement concept in a global environment with a downstream focus. The intended purpose is twofold: first, to review and expand previous studies on the subject and, second, to provide some guidelines for conceptualizing global postponement strategies. A structured literature review was first conducted, followed by the development of a framework that combines both the temporal and the spatial dimensions. Finally, the framework was applied to a group of 28 business cases taken from the literature, to act as a bridge between academic theories and practitioners’ current business operations
Can we increase the granularity in understanding global value chains? an integration of academic and practice perspectives to enhance future developments
No full textValue chains are increasingly fragmented globally, and companies and governments struggle with understanding where value is added. Both scholars and practitioners developed models, but recent challenges are calling for original approaches to develop instruments to map and evaluate global value chains (GVCs) footprint. We carried out a structured literature review (SLR) to summarise the existing academic knowledge about GVCs mapping and also examined the related practitioners’ materials. We then investigated what data sources are currently available to collect data about global trade flows, and involved practitioners in the discussion to collect insights that could improve the current understanding. We aim at offering guidance in this process, highlighting what future directions should be pursued to increase the models’ descriptive and explanatory power. For example, customs data is largely available. Original models could be developed, and GVCs could be studied leveraging rich and granular customs data rather than traditional macro-economic data.Global Business and Economics Revie
Coping with the postponement boundary problem: an empirical investigation in global food supply chains
Full text linkPurpose – The postponement boundary problem entails that duties and cross-border trade complexity can lead companies to geographically postpone operations to downstream global facilities. The present study aims at investigating the problem to provide insights into the drivers behind the choice of different postponement strategies for global food supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach – A single case study was conducted considering an Italian company exporting olive oil toward the United States. Two global postponement strategies, previously formalized in the literature, were tailored for food supply chains. A multi-methodological approach was adopted, combining data obtained through exploratory case research with empirically grounded analytical modeling. A sensitivity analysis was also performed, to investigate outcomes related to the considered problem when changing key
parameters.
Findings – Bulky and heavy packing materials account for a big percentage of finished products’ volume and weight, and this can deeply affect strategies’ cost-effectiveness. Postponing packaging operations could allow for taking advantage of lower tariffs levied on bulk goods, contributing to significantly lower duties to be paid. However, important trade-offs could arise related to the required investments, and the fiscal regulatory frameworks must be carefully examined.
Originality/value – This study offers an empirical investigation of the postponement boundary problem, which is largely unexplored in the current literature. It also tackles an understudied empirical context as global food supply chains. It summarizes the drivers behind and explores the costs related to the implementation of different strategies, offering an original quantitative approach that could support practitioners’ decision making. Lastly, it formalizes five propositions that could pave the way for further research inquiries
Innovators and Transformers Revisiting the gap between academia and practice: insights from the green logistics phenomenon
Full text linkPurpose
Logistics and supply chain management (L&SCM) scholars and practitioners have devoted extensive efforts to advancing green logistics practices (GLPs), yet the intersection between the two domains in relation to the topic remains underexplored. To accelerate GLPs’ development amid the escalating climate crisis, this research examines this intersection by comparing the responsiveness of academia and practice to the call for green logistics over time.
Design/methodology/approach
To compare between academia and practice, we combined a systematic literature review on the development of GLPs in L&SCM journals (N = 122) with a content analysis of annual and sustainability reports published by the four major global logistics service providers (LSPs: DHL, DB Schenker, UPS and FedEx; N = 156) over the past three decades.
Findings
This research reveals that all the GLPs covered in the L&SCM literature have already been applied and reported by practitioners, both consistently and over a significant period of time. Academic progress, in turn, is delayed by slow-paced empirical methods, elevated research quality standards, prolonged funding and recruitment processes, and extended peer-review intervals. Further, a tendency toward reactive knowledge creation rather than proactive knowledge transfer is evident, obscuring the role of L&SCM scholars in steering the industry’s green advancement.
Practical implications
Recommendations are offered to L&SCM authors, editors, reviewers and university departments to advance pracademic endeavors in green logistics research and increase its responsiveness to global events.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies to scrutinize the intersection between academia and practice on the evolution of GLPs. The revealed gaps prompted us to suggest a transformative paradigm for academia-practice collaborations targeting the L&SCM discipline at large, combining a bold proactive research stream aimed at knowledge transfer with a more traditional reactive stream aimed at knowledge creation.International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Managemen
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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