Logistics outsourcing: empirical evidence towards value creation by 3PL providers

This research project is based on the awareness that logistics outsourcing is currently a growing phenomenon and is becoming a strategic lever with a significant impact on shippers’ business performance. The annual study conducted by Langley and Capgemini (2015) indicates that the overall market of logistics outsourcing services has increased by 30% since 2010, generating revenue for more than 700 billion US$. This rise could be explained by several factors, such as international competition and customer demand for delivery timeliness and flexibility, that are progressively pushing companies to consider logistics as a competitive parameter (Marasco, 2008). In addition to these factors, in recent years the ongoing global recession has forced many companies to search for every possible mean − logistics outsourcing included − to enhance their managerial efficiency (Min, 2013). In this context, Third Party Logistics (3PL) providers are increasingly becoming an important player of the supply chain and more and more they are called to provide shippers with services that add more value to the shippers’ business than shippers would be able to achieve by themselves (Berglund et al., 1999; Deepen et al., 2008). This value may involve different perspectives, such as offering the service level agreed with shippers at the minimum cost, meanwhile dealing with the industry complexities efficiently (e.g. Min et al., 2013; Lieb and Bentz, 2005), or developing skills and competences for more value-added activities or shipper-tailored services (e.g. Selviaridis and Norman, 2015; Rajesh et al., 2011). A deep understanding of such value is a key issue with significant potential to support strategic decision-making, from both 3PL providers and shippers’ perspective. Indeed, shippers should be able to evaluate 3PL providers’ performance and understand how 3PL providers can achieve such performance, i.e. the strategies they can pursue to affect and improve shippers’ logistics processes. Such evaluation, that implies a thorough awareness on 3PLs value creation mechanisms, is crucial to choose the logistics partner who best fits the shipper’ needs. Similarly, 3PL providers should develop a deep knowledge of the different pursuable strategies and their impact in terms of value for shippers, as well as a specific ability to conduct benchmarking analyses investigating the best practices adopted by competitors and the growth directions of the industry. Such insights on different 3PLs value creation mechanisms can support them in improving their services and in a better setting of their offer. Notwithstanding the growing number of scientific contributions in this field (Marasco, 2008; Leuschner et al., 2014), that witnesses the academic interest along with the relevance of the managerial perspective, the topic still needs to be further deepened. Indeed, no adequate research has been conducted so far on developing a quantitative measurement of 3PL providers’ performance, as well as a holistic framework explaining how they can create value for shippers and then perform differently from each other’s. The present study aims to fill these gaps by providing in depth insights of the 3PL industry, starting from a comprehensive understanding of the 3PL meaning, to an extensive analysis of 3PL providers’ performance and an inclusive study of different 3PL providers’ value creation models. Given these objectives, a methodologically pluralist approach that combined quantitative and qualitative research has been embraced to draw a rounded and complete picture of the phenomena investigated. Results aim at being relevant not only for academics but also for the 3PL industry, generating insights to support strategic decision-making. Indeed, on one hand, they contribute to the extant literature on logistics outsourcing, with a specific focus on the understanding and the assessment of value creation by 3PL providers. On the other hand, they aim at supporting companies, both 3PL providers and shippers, by providing insights useful – for shippers – to choose the logistics partner who best fits the shipper’ needs and – for 3PL providers – to support them in improving their services and in a better setting of their offer.

Questo progetto di Ricerca si basa sulla consapevolezza che l’outsourcing logistico è un fenomeno in costante crescita, con un impatto sempre più significativo sulle performance delle aziende committenti. In tale contesto, i fornitori di servizi logistici (3PL providers) giocano un ruolo chiave e il valore che possono offrire ai propri committenti può coinvolgere differenti prospettive. Per esempio, può riguardare l’offerta del livello di servizio pattuito al minimo costo logistico (e.g. Min et al., 2013; Lieb and Bentz, 2005), oppure l’introduzione di servizi customizzati volti a migliorare le performance logistiche del cliente (e.g. Selviaridis and Norman, 2015; Rajesh et al., 2011). Per tanto, una profonda comprensione di cosa si intende per “valore” nella logistica conto terzi è una questione chiave che impatta in maniera significativa sui processi decisionali di committenti e fornitori di servizi logistici. Infatti, da un lato, i committenti dovrebbero essere in grado di valutare le performance dei fornitori di servizi logistici e capire come essi riescano ad ottenere determinate performance. Una valutazione di questo tipo richiede una profonda conoscenza dei meccanismi di creazione valore dei fornitori di servizi logistici ed è, senza dubbio alcuno, cruciare per scegliere il giusto partner logistico. Dall’altro lato, in maniera analoga, una completa conoscenza delle differenti strade da percorrere per offrire valore ai committenti, insieme a specifiche abilità di benchmarking per investigare le performance della industry, supportano i fornitori di servizi logistici nello sviluppo e nel miglioramento della propria offerta. Accanto alla prospettiva manageriale, il crescente numero di contributi scientifici (Marasco, 2008; Leuschner et al., 2014) testimonia la rilevanza dell’argomento anche dal punto di vista accademico, ma nonostante ciò ulteriori approfondimenti sono ancora necessari. Infatti, al meglio della conoscenza dell’autore, in letteratura ancora mancano sia una metodologia quantitativa consolidata per misurare le performance dei fornitori di servizi logistici, sia un framework olistico che spieghi le differenti strade che essi possono percorrere per offrire valore ai committenti e raggiungere livelli di performance differenti. Il presente lavoro di tesi si pone dunque l’obiettivo di colmare questi gap di Ricerca proponendo una metodologia quantitativa per lo studio delle performance dei fornitori di servizi logistici e un’estensiva analisi dei loro modelli di creazione di valore.