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Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how two mega-trends, e-commerce and urbanization, have the potential to reshape logistics practices around the world. Primary focus is on how Chinese business practices and logistics innovations are increasingly relevant to the USA and other western countries.


Design/methodology/approach
Experience-based thought piece focusing on specific Chinese logistics innovations centering on speed, adaptability and new business models.


Findings
The Chinese economy has played a key role in providing support and enabling logistics innovations in China. Key enablers include the ubiquitous connectivity and applications availability, the dynamic low-cost labor environment and government support for the Chinese logistics industry.


Research limitations/implications
This study suggests new areas for research.


Practical implications
This study provides insights into the potential value associated with adopting innovative Chinese logistics practices.


Social implications
This study provides suggested areas of attention to help focus on logistics operations on key societal trends.


Originality/value
Our paper provides insights into the potential value associated with adopting innovative Chinese logistics practices. We believe this represents a significant contribution as little coverage of the topics have been noted to date in leading logistics/supply chain journals.

PurposeThe paper aims to provide an overview of the evolution of relationship‐related research in the areas of logistics and supply chain management.Design/methodology/approachSuggestions are offered for future research on logistics and supply chain relationships.FindingsWhile the literature related to logistics and supply chain relationships have become increasingly sophisticated over the years, there still remain many opportunities for extending the literature base. Considering the significant implications for business practice, this should be a research priority.Research limitations/implicationsQuestions have been raised regarding the long‐term success of many partnership or alliance‐type relationships. Further research is warranted examining success to date, implications for future collaborative‐type relationships, and guidelines for establishing relationships. Other topics include managing relationships and power imbalances, developing appropriate metrics to monitor relationship performance, leveraging the synergy of cross‐firm relationships to develop innovative approaches, and examining the co‐creation of services.Originality/valueThe review of previous literature provided in this paper is intended to provide somewhat of a chronological ordering of research topics and to identify important areas that have contributed to our knowledge base.

In recent years, more firms have chosen to use outside service
vendors to provide at least a portion of their logistical support
requirements. The analysis presents projected usage trends for selected
services as identified by logistics executives. Differences in
anticipated usage levels of external logistical services were found when
firms of different organisational structure were examined.

Explores how firms can use time‐based strategies within their
distribution operations. Exploratory results are presented detailing
strategic distribution responses employed to meet competitive challenges
and gain competitive advantages. These firms have proactively worked to
make their operations more flexible and allow them to respond more
quickly to customer requests. They have developed capabilities to
customize or tailor services to specific market segments in a timely
manner, learned to prioritize requests and respond with differentiated
service programs, and strategically exploited information capabilities
in order to substitute "information for inventory" in a
cost‐effective manner. The research results emphasize the important role
distribution/logistics plays in supporting manufacturing and marketing
efforts.

Attributes of leadership in logistics management today are reviewed
and likely characteristics of leading logistical organisations of the
future are suggested. Leading firms will continue to rely on
sophisticated solutions and development of unique competences to gain
differential advantage. The essence of these sophisticated solutions
will be information.

Successful manufacturing applications of the Just‐in‐time
(JIT) management philosophy have been
well documented in the literature. Utilisation of
JIT techniques within manufacturing offers the
potential for significant operational improvements
beyond inventory reduction. JIT‐related
improvements include increases in quality,
improved employee productivity, decreases in
stockouts, and reductions in customer response
time. Relatively little research has focused on the
transferability of JIT concepts to other functional
areas. The article explores the application of JIT
concepts to a specific logistics function – transportation.
Although review of the literature
suggests that JIT systems significantly impact on
the transportation function, no methodology was
identified for incorporating the just‐in‐time
philosophy within a transportation firm in a totally
integrated manner. Therefore, two models are
proposed illustrating the authors′ conceptualisation
of the phased development and
implementation of JIT.

What constitutes the best practice in logistics? Two researchers report on a major new study to find out.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to shed light on the body of logistics customer service (LCS) research published in leading logistics journals from 1990 to 2017. Specifically, the paper presents a call to arms for logistics and supply chain researchers to address new and emerging issues impacting customer service in the age of omnichannel and e-commerce retailing.Design/methodology/approachThe authors reviewed academic journals to identify articles focusing on LCS from 1990 through 2017. The authors noted trends in academic research activity/focus and supplemented the findings by examining more recent trends covered in trade publication articles.FindingsThe authors observed a large amount of LCS research in the early 1990s and 2000s, but noticed a substantial decline in coverage within academic journals since the late 2000s while industry continues to give customer service issues even greater attention. The difference between the level of coverage within academic journals and the increased importance firms place on customer service represents a critical gap and opportunity for scholars. This research represents a "call to arms" to address this gap. With particular emphasis on observed customer impatience and escalating requests, within omni- and e-commerce channels of distribution, we suggest greater theoretical insights into customer service strategies and their role in successfully navigating today's changing logistics service environment are needed.Originality/valueThe review serves as a call for more attention to customer service issues within leading logistics journals. Suggestions for research into new and emerging topics are offered.

Purpose
– The aim of this paper is to present a new framework for the evaluation of satisfaction in continually delivered business services (CDBS) contexts based on applicable theoretical perspectives and extant empirical research.


Design/methodology/approach
– The paper first describes and justifies the importance of the CDBS context. Then, a literature review of CDBS satisfaction research over the past ten years is presented and utilized in conjunction with theoretical insights from expectancy disconfirmation theory and social exchange theory to develop conceptual definitions, a general conceptual framework, and research propositions.


Findings
– The resulting conceptual framework focuses on global CDBS provider satisfaction as the outcome of three more specific satisfaction assessments: service satisfaction (driven by the actual performance of the service), economic satisfaction (driven by the customers' economic outcomes from the exchange relationship) and social satisfaction (driven by the customers' social outcomes and interactions in the exchange relationship).


Originality/value
– The study is the first to develop a framework of satisfaction for the CDBS context and presents propositions to guide future satisfaction research. The conceptual framework leverages insights from two existing models of satisfaction formation: expectancy disconfirmation (which provides deeper insight on service satisfaction) and social exchange theory (which provides deeper insights on social and economic satisfaction). The integration of these two models results in a more comprehensive view of satisfaction formation in the CDBS context than by using either model separately.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine how a firm's strategic orientation affects service innovation capability and the resulting impact on market performance.Design/methodology/approachA survey was administered to supply chain executives. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships among the following constructs: customer orientation, competitor orientation, cost orientation, service innovation, and market performance.FindingsAlthough the relationship between cost orientation and service innovation is not supported, the relationships between customer orientation and competitor orientation and service innovation are supported. Additionally, the relationship between service innovation and market performance is supported.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is one of a limited number of studies which has empirically addressed service innovation. Additional research is needed to address the impact of a firm's strategic orientation on product innovation capability.Practical implicationsThe study found that firms seeking to develop a service innovation capability should employ customer orientation, competitor orientation, or a combination of the two different types of strategic orientation.Originality/valueService innovation has received very little empirical attention in the current innovation literature. This paper fills in some of the gaps in the literature.

PurposeAims to provide empirical evidence of the relationships between and among reverse logistics, resource commitment, and innovation.Design/methodology/approachMail surveys were sent to members of the Automobile Aftermarket Industry Association, a large trade association. Factor level results followed by between‐item results, as typically reported in general linear modeling and mediated regression, are developed using a split sample methodology. Ultimately, Resource‐Advantage Theory provided the framework for examining the impact of developing innovative reverse logistics‐related dynamic capabilities.FindingsResource commitment makes reverse logistics programs more efficient and more effective. However, the resources must be used in such a manner as to develop innovative capabilities/approaches to handling returns. Resource commitment was not found to be significantly related to innovation in reverse logistics at smaller firms. This is likely to be related to the level of resources available. Larger firms can commit greater resources and, thus, enjoy superior performance compared with smaller firms in the survey group.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus is somewhat narrow. New research should extend beyond the one industry examined. Future research should also expand to include more members of the supply chain and employ methods that allow examination of network relationships.Practical implicationsReverse logistics deserves special attention in terms of resource commitment. Resources related to labor, i.e. allocating sufficient personnel to reverse logistics programs, are especially critical. Innovation in reverse logistics programs was found to be related to operational service quality at both small and large firms.Originality/valueThe research provides empirical evidence of the relationships between resource commitment and innovation – and how reverse logistics program performance is influenced. This has important implications with respect to customer relations. It can also be used to provide rationale for securing adequate resource commitment for reverse logistics programs.

Many firms are placing greater emphasis on managing returned product. Reverse logistics programs are being used to recover assets that would otherwise be lost. Research results are presented covering reverse logistics programs in the electronics industry, specifically among firms selling through catalogs. The paper looks at how reverse logistics performance and satisfaction with reverse logistics service are influenced by industry, firm size/sales volume, and internal or external assignment of responsibility for disposition. The results are mixed. Performance is significantly impacted by sales volume, while industry effects significantly impact satisfaction. Neither performance nor satisfaction was significantly influenced by location of responsibility for disposition.