Jari Juga, Jouni Juntunen and Mikko Paananen
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of logistics value-adding services and perceived service quality on brand equity among B2B customers of a brewery company.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of logistics value-adding services and perceived service quality on brand equity among B2B customers of a brewery company.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical model is developed and tested using survey data from 173 hotel, restaurant and catering (HoReCa) industry customers of a brewery company in Finland.
Findings
Value-adding services play an important role in building the brewery company’s brand equity through perceived service quality. Besides a direct impact on overall service quality, an indirect impact is detected through the operational dimension of service quality in logistics.
Research limitations/implications
A broader data set would be needed to generalize the findings also beyond the brewery business and the HoReCa industry customers in Finland.
Practical implications
To increase brand equity, value-adding services like logistics can play an important role for B2B customers. This study is important for practitioners and academics, as there has been little quantitative research available regarding value-adding services in the context of service quality and brand equity research.
Originality/value
This paper combines logistics as value-adding service to customers’ willingness to pay extra profits to cooperate with service producer.
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Jari Juga, Jouni Juntunen and Timo Koivumäki
This study aims to explicate the behavioral factors that determine willingness to share personal health data for secondary uses.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explicate the behavioral factors that determine willingness to share personal health data for secondary uses.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical model is developed and tested with structural equation modeling using survey data from Finland.
Findings
It is shown that attitude toward information sharing is the strongest factor contributing to the willingness to share personal health information (PHI). Trust and control serve as mediating factors between the attitude and willingness to share PHI.
Research limitations/implications
The measures of the model need further refinement to cover the various aspects of the behavioral concepts.
Practical implications
The model provides useful insights into the factors that affect the willingness for information sharing in health care and in other areas where personal information is distributed.
Social implications
Sharing of PHI for secondary purposes can offer social benefits through improvements in health-care performance.
Originality/value
A broad-scale empirical data gives a unique view of attitudes toward sharing of PHI in one national setting.
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Amer Jazairy, Timo Pohjosenperä, Jaakko Sassali, Jari Juga and Robin von Haartman
This research examines what motivates professional truck drivers to engage in eco-driving by linking their self-reports with objective driving scores.
Abstract
Purpose
This research examines what motivates professional truck drivers to engage in eco-driving by linking their self-reports with objective driving scores.
Design/methodology/approach
Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is illustrated in an embedded, single-case study of a Finnish carrier with 17 of its truck drivers. Data are obtained through in-depth interviews with drivers, their fuel-efficiency scores generated by fleet telematics and a focus group session with the management.
Findings
Discrepancies between drivers’ intentions and eco-driving behaviors are illustrated in a two-by-two matrix that classifies drivers into four categories: ideal eco-drivers, wildcards, wannabes and non-eco-drivers. Attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are examined for drivers within each category, revealing that drivers’ perceptions did not always align with the reality of their driving.
Research limitations/implications
This study strengthens the utility of TPB through data triangulation while also revealing the theory’s inherent limitations in elucidating the underlying causes of its three antecedents and their impact on the variance in driving behaviors.
Practical implications
Managerial insights are offered to fleet managers and eco-driving solution providers to stipulate the right conditions for drivers to enhance fuel-efficiency outcomes of transport fleets.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies to give a voice to professional truck drivers about their daily eco-driving practice.
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Timo Pohjosenperä, Päivi Kekkonen, Saara Pekkarinen and Jari Juga
The purpose of this paper is to examine how modularity is used for enabling value creation in managing healthcare logistics services.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how modularity is used for enabling value creation in managing healthcare logistics services.
Design/methodology/approach
Material logistics of four different kinds of hospitals is examined through a qualitative case study. The theoretical framework builds on the literature on healthcare logistics, service modularity and value creation.
Findings
The case hospitals have developed their material logistics independently from others when looking at the modularity of offerings, processes and organisations. Services, such as assortment management, shelving and developing an information platform, have been performed in-house partly by the care personnel, but steps towards modularised and standardised solutions are now being taken in the case hospitals, including ideas about outsourcing some of the services.
Research limitations/implications
This paper proposes seven modularity components for healthcare logistics management: segmentation, categorisation and unitisation of offerings, differentiation and decoupling of processes, and centralisation and specialisation of organisations. Thus, this study clarifies the three-dimensional concept of modularity as a cognitive frame for managing logistics services with heterogeneous customer needs in a rapidly changing healthcare environment.
Practical implications
Modularity offers a tool for developing logistics services inside the hospital and increases possibilities to consider also external logistics service providers.
Social implications
Managing healthcare logistics services through modularity has potential social implications in developing healthcare processes and changing the usage of health services. On a wider scale, modularity is helping healthcare systems reaching their goals in terms of service quality and cost.
Originality/value
This paper shows the context-specific antecedents of service modularity and the usage of modular thinking in managing healthcare logistics.
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This paper discusses the basic concepts and themes of the emerging process approach to management and organization. Case study evidence is then presented to examine how these…
Abstract
This paper discusses the basic concepts and themes of the emerging process approach to management and organization. Case study evidence is then presented to examine how these themes could be applied to changing logistics organizations. The case company, a branded consumer products manufacturer in Finland, redesigned its logistics to improve performance in terms of production efficiency and the ability to satisfy differing customer requirements. It is concluded that the new approach has considerable strength in describing the transformation. It also opens up fruitful issues for further research on changing logistics organization.
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David Grant, Jouni Juntunen, Jari Juga and Mari Juntunen
The purpose of this paper is to apply theory and techniques from the services and marketing literature to a supply-chain context consisting of a shipper or seller, a customer or…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to apply theory and techniques from the services and marketing literature to a supply-chain context consisting of a shipper or seller, a customer or buyer and a third-party logistics service provider (3PL) to investigate corporate brand equity resulting from service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty towards the 3PL.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model was developed from the literature and tested with Finnish industrial firms using an online survey. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling to examine relationships among the four constructs.
Findings
Hypothesised relationships among the four constructs in the conceptual model were supported; however, the relationship between loyalty and corporate brand equity was weak.
Research limitations/implications
This investigatory research is based on a one-country sample making transferability and generalisability to other countries difficult.
Practical implications
The findings of this research should enable 3PL managers to determine those service offerings most important to shippers and customers, develop a service package using such offerings to satisfy their needs and thus build loyalty and corporate brand equity with both.
Originality/value
This paper adds to our knowledge of these constructs in a supply-chain context, particularly for 3PLs, and provides an interdisciplinary approach to research in the supply-chain domain.
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Jari Juga, Jouni Juntunen and David B. Grant
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how perceived service quality influences both a shipper's satisfaction and subsequent loyalty in third‐party logistics outsourcing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how perceived service quality influences both a shipper's satisfaction and subsequent loyalty in third‐party logistics outsourcing relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Critical service dimensions are identified and their impact on satisfaction and loyalty are developed into a theoretical model, which in turn is examined empirically using structural equation modelling from a survey of 235 industrial companies in Finland.
Findings
The results support the satisfaction‐loyalty model in a logistics outsourcing context confirming that service perceptions influence loyalty through a shipper's overall satisfaction with the service provider.
Research limitation/implications
The empirical study is limited to Finland and data were collected before the financial crisis of 2008‐2009 which affected the economy and this industrial sector. The theoretical constructs and model also need to be validated and tested further across a wider empirical context.
Practical implications
Logistics service providers recognise the importance of service quality in outsourcing relationships. However, while the continuity of the current relationship is supported by good service quality, the efforts to extend the scope of the outsourcing arrangement need to be examined on a different basis.
Originality/value
The paper is one of the first to investigate and confirm the service‐satisfaction‐loyalty paradigm in a logistics outsourcing context.
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Jouni Juntunen, David B. Grant and Jari Juga
The purpose of this paper is to report on a study of a shipper's dilemma as a customer. Shippers desire both lower costs and good service levels, and this dilemma may lead in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on a study of a shipper's dilemma as a customer. Shippers desire both lower costs and good service levels, and this dilemma may lead in the long run to a trade‐off consideration between staying loyal to existing service providers and seeking cost reductions from competing providers.
Design/methodology/approach
A model was devised from the literature exploring how a shipper's propensity to switch logistics service providers may be affected by perceptions of service elements and logistics cost reductions. The model was tested with survey data from 235 Finnish industrial firms and analysed using structural equation modelling.
Findings
Findings indicate that in the short‐run trade‐offs do not exist, but there may be a propensity to trade‐off in the long run. Further, quality of service is a more important factor for customers than participating in tight price competition.
Research limitations/implications
The data were collected from one country and further studies are required to test these research propositions in other countries and contexts.
Practical implications
Logistics service providers should concentrate more on service quality and refrain from tight price competition to gain and reinforce customer loyalty. Further, shippers should also adopt a long perspective regarding strategy and refrain from short‐run, cost reduction seeking behaviour.
Originality/value
This study integrates several factors as drivers of outsourcing relationship continuity and/or change and presents a fresh collection of data for analysis.
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Examines the potential of logistics network organization to deliver synergy benefits by simultaneously improving flexibility and co‐ordination. The synergy effects of the new…
Abstract
Examines the potential of logistics network organization to deliver synergy benefits by simultaneously improving flexibility and co‐ordination. The synergy effects of the new organization range from the economies of scale and scope in production and logistics to various “spill‐over” benfits attributable to shared skills and resources in networks.
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Sari Uusipaavalniemi and Jari Juga
The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical set of elements to analyze information integration in supply chains. Through a practical example to highlight the importance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical set of elements to analyze information integration in supply chains. Through a practical example to highlight the importance, it aims to describe the practices and identify some development areas of information integration in service supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents six theoretical elements contributing the level of information integration in a supply chain. These elements are then used to analyze a case supply chain that includes a steel manufacturer (the focal company), engineering offices providing maintenance‐related planning services and mechanical maintenance service providers. Empirical research data gathered through structured interviews, workshops, company visits and company documents are used.
Findings
The paper develops a conceptual framework and criteria for analyzing the level of supply chain information integration. It describes which information, in which form, how and when is shared in the case supply chain and whether information technology is deployed. It determines the level of information integration in the case supply chain. The paper brings out development areas to be addressed.
Research limitations/implications
This study focuses on services related to steel industry maintenance operations and may not be applicable in other types of services or industries without paying attention to the contextual factors.
Practical implications
The paper gives guidelines for service supply chains on how to analyze and rationalize their information sharing. Performance implications of information sharing may be further investigated with respect to contractual arrangements in service supply chains.
Originality/value
A comprehensive set of theoretical aspects integral to information integration is presented. The study contributes to the limited research on service supply chains and business services.