Prabir K. Bagchi and Helge Virum
European business environment is experiencing major changes. The process of integration in Europe, the GATT agreements, the developments in Eastern Europe, and above all, global…
Abstract
European business environment is experiencing major changes. The process of integration in Europe, the GATT agreements, the developments in Eastern Europe, and above all, global competition are pushing European businesses to become more competitive. One area that is receiving increasing attention of managers is logistics. The gradual deregulation of the transport marketplace and the lifting of border controls have added to the efforts to become more efficient in logistics.
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This article is based on two studies, partly financed by the Norwegian Research Council. The first study was carried out in six organizations cooperating in two supply chain…
Abstract
This article is based on two studies, partly financed by the Norwegian Research Council. The first study was carried out in six organizations cooperating in two supply chain alliances. The purpose of this study was to develop a set of hypotheses concerning logistics service providers and their roles in supply chain alliances. The second study, involved interviews carried out in 12 different logistics organizations, and concerned their perception of future trends and future position. The purpose of this article is to highlight and to describe some of the major findings in the two studies on growth strategies for logistics service providers. We propose a matrix categorizing the players and their strategic position. Given the pressures in the industry and the individual strategic position, the strategic choices in fact are limited, leading to some dominating strategic directions that to a certain extent, also explain the structural changes in the industry.