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Barriers to synergy in logistics.
On 18 June last, Lenny Visser, lecturer at Fontys Business Financial Management School, defended her doctorate thesis ‘barriers to synergy in logistics'.
Companies need to reduce costs. One option is to join forces with logistic services providers. Studies show that sharing logistic activities brings cost and service benefits. But in practice there are 'soft' barriers preventing potential benefits from being fully utilized, Visser concludes.
Visser's study focuses on the ‘soft' behavioral aspects in the synergy in logistics decision-making process. Too often it is presumed that the decision to realize synergy in logistics is made solely on the basis of economic grounds. But this proves far from accurate. Visser uses a selection experiment, which she developed specifically for this study, to make her case. Beside price and service, aspects such as trust, commitment and resistance to change play a significant role in the decision-making process. These behavioral aspects are thus a barrier to full utilization of the benefits of synergy in logistics.
Companies are prepared to consider a more intensive form of synergy in logistics only if the intended cost and/or service gains overcome this barrier. Parties actively implementing synergy in logistics will need to focus more on the behavioral aspects that play a role in the decision-making process, Visser says. Only then can more synergy in logistics be realized. Read more here.
July 2010