Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Business logistics Case studies'

“The negative environmental impacts of transportation have gained wide recognition and are at the core of issues of sustainability, especially in urban areas” (Rodrigue, Slack & Comtois, 2001). Many prior researches have been carried out on negative impact of transportation on environment. To minimize and to mitigate environmental concerns, green logistics and green transportation has been introduced in recent time. Logistics companies are becoming more flexible and slowly started moving towards green implementation. Implementation of this new strategy has definite challenges for logistics companies. In order to understand environmental  problems caused by  freight transportation and its challenges associated with green implementation, the aspect of greenness and its challenges were examined especially on the case of Bring Logistics. In this thesis, various modes of transportation and their environmental problems were discussed, city traffic and its consequences, implementation challenges, use of models, etc

The purpose of this research is to understand environmental problems caused by freight transportation and organisational challenges of green implementation in logistics firms.

To fulfill the purpose of this work, a qualitative research method was used with an inductive approach chosen for methodology. Materials were collected both primary and secondary sources and three types of interview were conducted i.e. face-face interview, interview through email and by phone. Eight interviews were conducted involving seven personalities from Bring Logistics Jönköping, Sweden.

In conclusion, a logistical structural changes were implemented as a model in order for the company to be successful in their green implementation. The problems caused by freight transportation were noise, air pollution and climate change. The challenges of green implementation were identified as financial, employees inflexibility, distribution delay, taxation and fuel pricing.

This research attempt, as its title witnesses, aims to build interdisciplinary approaches and to bridge gaps within management. Management and more specific, management of industrial organizations is a scientific discipline that consists of many different fields of interest. In industrial organizations, different parties of people, such as managers, engineers and workers are asked to communicate and collaborate towards common organizational targets and goals. This is were this research finds fertile ground, and tries to bridge the gaps between the quality management philosophy and corporate culture and the evolving, value adding functions and processes of logistics.

In particular, the gaps between quality management and logistics were bridged by a demonstration of the applicability of quality management practices –tools and methodologies- in a logistics context. This was conducted by an extensive exploratory research by means literature analysis of both management disciplines. The present situation, put in academic literature, was investigated and thoughtful reflections and suggestions for further use of quality management practices within logistics were provided.

All the quality management tools and methodologies examined were found, with one or another way, to be employed in logistics processes. Numerous examples demonstrating the universality of quality management concepts and techniques were identified. When it comes to the specific management area of logistics, eight quality management practices were found particularly useful, with three of them, namely Service Quality, SPC and Benchmarking to be well known, and to some extent, mature within logistics. However, empirical research, of qualitative and quantitative nature, is needed to confirm the trends recognized here.

The suggestions and reflections provided throughout this work indicate actions to be taken by logistics managers, in order to apply well known and widely accepted, cost saving and quality improvement, practices to their operations. In addition, these suggestions and their potential, constitute a challenging field for further research were new, applicable to logistics, quality management tools and methodologies can be found and ones that already exist can be enhanced.

The originality of this work can be found in that it thesis tries to bring conceptually closer two management areas that although have many values in common are not perceived as working on the same track, towards the same goals. This research adds value in the way that illustrates, in an extensive and formal way, that there should be no barriers within management.

Problem discussion:

Information Logistics has with the rising of the new technologies developed into a key is-sue for companies seeking competitive advantage. The birth and expansion of Internet has brought down the boundaries that kept business partners from sharing extensive informa-tion between each other (McClelland, 2003). The increase of information has yielded a bet-ter understanding of your business partners and one could perhaps think that it is only positive outcomes derived from the increased information sharing. However, research show upon an extensive need for structuring the information flows which relates to an or-ganization. Gartner group (2003) presented an investigation present ting that managers spend over 49 minutes every day in their mailbox for reading and sending e-mails and Del-phi Group (2002) presented figures saying that executives spend over two hours a day searching for the right information (cited in Sandkuhl, 2005). Expected outcomes for im-proving the information logistics are however not only related to time savings activities, business partners could also expect enhanced improvement regarding business processes and operational efficiency. The need for structuring the information flow is therefore an in-teresting subject to investigate and will also be the focus of this thesis. For specifying and narrowing the theoretical framework the authors have chosen to focus upon information sharing based on a web-based system. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how a company can utilize a web-based system to share information with their first tier suppliers.

Methodology: In order to fulfil the purpose a case study approach has been chosen whereas semi-structured telephone interviews have been complimented with face-to-face interviews for gathering material. The rationale for the chosen approach was because the information needed to fulfil the purpose was of the character to be found in a qualitative study by going in-depth into the field.

Conclusion:

The importance in utilizing a web-based system is for the buyer to facilitate user handiness and provide trustworthy information to suppliers. The shared information has to be cor-rect, easy accessible, and customized for suppliers. Information requested by the suppliers are, updated inventory levels, lead-time from Husqvarna to end customer, back orders, or-der fulfillment, on-time deliveries, complete orders, forecasts, and sell-through information.

Problem discussion: According to Coyle, Bardi, & Langley Jr., 2003, companies have always struggled in dealing properly with its outbound- to- customer logistics side, given the importance of such. In this case specifically, the investigation of the functions and processes employed by the Order Management department within Ericsson’s Chinese operations was the starting point for understanding what are the relevant problems existing; the reasons, probable impacts, possible opportunities for improvement as well as suggestions in doing so. Based on such premises, the authors have gone through these “challenges” to try to understand how in the case of Ericsson the company have or is dealing with such issues.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to provide a general overview of the department’s existing processes, functions, detected problems and finally suggestions for improvements toward such problems.

Research Method: The Case Study approach was chosen by the authors given the characteristics of this study in pursuing the objectives stated, emphasized by the fact that the authors observed the current situation within an Ericsson’s department and the company’s perceptions. Coupled with this, the qualitative methods combined with a small portion of quantitative perspective have been used in order to provide the necessary research structure, followed by questionnaires and an interview as secondary data.

Conclusion: The conducted research was able to detect that within the department the two most relevant problems considering the employees’ and manager’s perspective is related consequently to the ERP system currently employed and inexperience by the department’s personnel in conducting their tasks. Further the authors point out suggestions for improving such issues.

Master’s thesis in International Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Title:  Logistics Management in Retail Industry: a case study 7-Eleven in Thailand

Author:  Latika Supasansanee and Patthaveekarn Kasiphongphaisan

Tutor:     Susanne Hertz and Benedikte Borgström

Date:      June 1, 2009

Keywords: 7-Eleven Thailand, Logistics, Retail     Convenience, Distribution Center and Warehouse, IT-Apply in retail store, and Competitive advantage

Introduction: In today’s challenging competition in the consumer goods, the manufacturers strive for their products to reach final customers before they turn their heads to the rival’s ones. This research attempts to understand and investigate how 7-Eleven company manages its logistics activities, distribution and applying information technology to achieve competitive advantages.

Purpose: The purpose of thesis is, in retailing industry and retailing convenience store’s perspective, to identify and describe the way 7-Eleven manages and operates its retail convenience business focusing on several aspects; strategic fits, distribution and IT, which support 7-Eleven’s activities and how they contribute to competitive advantages for the firm.

Frame of reference: Based on various sources of literature concerning competitive advantage and strategic fits, distribution related to marketing and retail, distribution centers and warehousing, and information system apply in retail store.

Method: The study is considered as qualitative single-case study. Data is collected from the interviews with several parties involve with retail convenience industry in Thailand. Secondary data is retrieved from the information system, research and reports, publication sources as well as internet sources.  Lastly, data analysis is followed by the literature chapter.

Conclusion: By applying the synchronized strategies between supply chain members to adjust and modify the capabilities of firms, leads to supply chain benefits and competitive advantage for retail firm. The applications of IT and Distribution Centers enhance supply chain capabilities, reliability, and dependability which result in better service and market performance. They are also the keys that facilitate the operations of supply chain and retail store.

Background: Today also smaller companies (SME) are implementing enterprise resource planning systems. One difference is that the SME have smaller resources regarding people and finance which can cause some problems if they are not aware of this. The company we have studied have undergone an organizational change and simultaneously implemented an ERP. Two parts of the implementation of the ERP worked just as intended and the third and last part experienced some major difficulties.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the situation in which a small company undertake two major changes almost simultaneously, one of which is the implementation of an ERP. This matter when an SME is implementing an ERP is not well researched since it is only in the more recent years that this type of organization feel the need for it and therefore have ventured into this. The aim of this thesis is to add to the theoretical field of small organizations introducing enterprise information systems.

Method: This is a qualitative study conducted in the form of a case study. The main data sources have been semi structured interviews, combined with observations and a document study. The data have been analyzed inductively.

Conclusion: The implementation of this ERP has gone bad in one area due to several cooperating mistakes. SME’s have some circumstances that does not apply to the larger organizations. In a SME every person carries greater importance in the success or failure of the implementation. Preparation is equally important in an SME as in larger organizations.

Suggestions for further research: The field of ERP in SME's have not been very thoroughly studied since it is a comparatively new field. Further research in this matter would be of some value.

The future has always caught the attention of the human being. The thirst of exploring the future and to know the unknown has driven the human being toward innovativeness.

Companies are expanding their operations worldwide since the past few decades. Profit growth coupled with an effective strategy has become the primary need of global companies. Research in this area has given rise to optimization of the supply chain for higher profitability. Considering the overall strategy the company needs to plan production well in advance. The operational planning comes in picture at this moment. In order to reduce excessive inventory at each stage of the production; one should know the demand of the next stage and preferably the end customer demand. The process of sales forecasting is undertaken to predict demand at different stages. It is a complex managerial function and hence needed to be undertaken by a scientific way. The sales forecasting the function includes process of forecasting, administration, hardware, software, users and developers of forecast.

Historically sales forecasting has been considered as a side activity by most of the companies. Sales forecasting has not been considered as an important function of marketing and finance. Very few companies have seen sales forecasting by a scientific management point of view. Less research has been reported in sales forecasting in comparison to other managerial functions. Planning based on sales forecasting; may be part of a selected strategy for growth and profitability. These facts have attracted us to study sales forecasting as a managerial function.

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the sales forecasting process, sales forecasting system, sales forecasting methods and techniques. Further proposing possibilities of improvements in existing forecasting process is also purpose of this study.

We have selected three manufacturing companies for this study based on purposive sampling. Considering research interest in phenomenon study; we have selected a qualitative research strategy for this study. We have selected a case study method for our research as it is the most appropriate tool to study the relation between theory and phenomenon. For this research, we have collected the data by semistructured interviews based on a pre formed questionnaire. The questionnaire has been prepared with respect to our research purpose and open ended questions were used to gather extensive data. The data gathered during interviews, have been analyzed by the use of ‘Flow model’ suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994).

Results from this study shows that there is a need to see ‘sales forecasting’ as a management function rather than a computer activity. To achieve the best information integration throughout the supply chain, increased information visibility is needed. To achieve accuracy in both forecasting and planning; collaborative forecasting may be used. Forecasting software needs to have a suite of methods towards product specific forecasting. The need of customized softwares has also been indicated by this study. The need to measure performance of forecasting by means of accuracy, cost and customer relationship has been concluded.

The business environment has changed tremendously in the last two decades. Corporations have been forced to realign their global strategies and in order to cut costs, they started to transfer activities which were previously performed in-house to the market (e.g. IT, manufacturing or logistics) focusing instead on their core competencies. Nowadays companies outsource several of their logistics activities to so-called third-party logistics (3PL) companies and thus from being centralized, vertically integrated and with single-sited manufacturing facilities, enterprises have their network of resources globally dispersed.

As a result corporate management has realized that the competitive vehicle is no longer the individual firm, with its own resources and competencies. Instead, in order to cope with shorter product life cycles and ever more demanding customers, both on industrial and consumer markets, individual firms need to strategically become part of ‘extended enterprises’; that is, networks of specialist providers of resources and competencies.

However, because the capabilities to manage the entire network do not exist in any one organization, a new business organization was needed to provide the strategic knowledge and competence that will enable the complete integration of the supply chain. This new sort of firm, with core competencies on logistics processes and supply chain IT integration, besides offering consulting services on implementation and development of logistics and supply chain solutions, manages through the use of logistics control towers “the best of breed” 3PL specialists, integrating the end-to-end supply chain so that superior customer value is delivered in the most cost effective way. But how does the use of a supply chain integrator help the supply chain as a whole to achieve competitive advantages that enhance end-customer service? This paper aims to answer the above question. I felt that in order to be able to do that the most appropriate research strategy would be a qualitative study. Hence, a multi-case study was performed on three Swedish companies which differentiate themselves from the more traditional third-party logistics providers. The study was conducted by performing a set of semi-structured interviews with these companies. In order to give the study some sort of structure, I used an interview guide which was divided into three different themes; a) Organizational Design, b) Enterprise Logistics Integration and c) Logistics and Competitive advantages.

Once the interviews were transcribed and summarized, the empirical findings were then analyzed in light of a theoretical framework chosen previously. These theories, which in general terms relate to organizational design, supply chain management and finance, were also divided in the same themes as above. Finally, conclusions were drawn by linking the results of the interviews with the theoretical framework. It became evident that the supply chain integrator can help the supply chain as a whole not only to reduce costs related to inventory holding but also to help its client to improve end-customer service.

Third party logistics (TPL), the procurement of an integrated set of logistics services in a long-term relationship between a shipper (goods owner) and a service provider, is today a viable option for how companies carry out their logistics activities. Very little has been written on implementation or change issues in a TPL setting; these issues are identified as important, but not elaborated. There is however reason to believe that implementation of TPL arrangements, or rather establishment thereof, involves a complex change process involving substantial change for a wide range of actors in both the shipper’s and the provider’s organisation.

When comparing literature that deals with the TPL establishment process with a stream of research that is concerned with logistics change, it comes to light that there is a discrepancy between the theoretical and methodological foundations of the former works, and what is written in these pieces regarding the process. It is concluded that recommendations for how to manage the establishment process are given without being founded in a theory of process, or research designs capable of studying process. The theoretical underpinnings of TPL literature are founded in a view of change as a matter of conducting rational analysis and conceiving the strategically wisest decisions for the logistics system as a whole. Implementation is viewed as an unproblematic exercise of issuing directives to affected actors, asserting that all actors are rational, therefore rationally conceived decisions will be accepted and implemented accordingly.

Therefore the overarching purpose of this research is:

To explore the change process of third party logistics establishment

To fulfil this purpose the two streams of research mentioned above are combined. A meta-model of process consisting of the three interrelated dimensions content, context, and process forms the starting point for the study of process, but this is not sufficient for a study of change; a theory of change which is capable of capturing the mechanisms of the change process as it unfolds is also needed. Therefore the theory of change of the second stream of research mentioned above is adopted.

The theory of change encompasses three models of change, which are archetypical representations of the mechanisms underlying change processes according to different assumptions of what change is and how change comes about. These models are denoted the linear, the processual, and the circular. One important aspect of this theory of change is that the approach to change should be aligned with the extent oflearning requirements on the actors who are affected by or involved in the change. An actors perspective is therefore called for, and adopted in this thesis.

This thesis is the first step of a wider research effort concerned with studying the process of establishing TPL. Therefore, of the three dimensions of change, the contentdimension is excluded from study in this thesis. Governed by the meta-model of process, two research objectives are formulated:

To explore the context within which the TPL establishment process unfolds and describe the contextual dependence of this process

&

To describe the change process of TPL establishment in terms of the linear, processual, and circular models of change

The empirical investigation applied is a single-case retrospective study, in which the case is the establishment process between a Swedish company and an international TPL service provider. A total of fifteen actors have been interviewed; ten on the shipper side of the dyad, five on the provider side. Although the TPL establishment process is an interorganisational process, this thesis focuses on the intraorganisational process of the shipper, why the empirical material from the other side of the dyad is not used in this thesis, The interorganisational aspect, as well as the intraorganisational side within the provider’s organisation are nevertheless important, and will be included in future research.

The interviews were carried out in an unstructured manner, in which the interviewees were asked to retell the story from their own perspectives. Actors from varying positions, who were involved in the process, are included in the study; in the total sample all groups who were most affected or involved are represented. The interviews rendered ten stories of the studied process.

These stories were then analysed by means of a pattern-matching logic, in order to seek out the important contextual dependencies of the process, and to explore the mechanisms of the change process, as it evolved in context.

After having conducted this first step of the ongoing research effort, four main conclusions can be drawn:

- The TPL establishment process is context dependent.

- Not only rational mechanisms are at play in the process.

- It is important to acknowledge actors, not only systems.

- It is important to acknowledge the process, not only the decision.

The world economy is in a transition period never experienced before, One of the main realising factors, boosting economy growth, is the catch up of many emerging countries. The emerging countries impose new competitive dimensions to the global economy, forcing well established multinational corporations into new competitive situations, brining both opportunities and threats.

The construction equipment industry has entered a condition of unprecedented growth. The total market demand has increased significantly and the demand development is prospected to continue for many more years. To keep up with the market demand and the sales opportunities, it is important to have machines available in the market. This impose that the logistic strategy is getting more important for companies in order to keep up with the prospected sales opportunities.

This Masters thesis is initiated by our case company, Volvo Construction Equipment International, currently suffering from an inefficient logistics strategy constraining international growth.

Based on our analysis and conclusion, Volvo Construction Equipment is recommended to move from transaction selling, spot market like international logistics strategy towards a relationship marketing based logistics strategy establishing in-depth collaborations with key account shipping suppliers. Furthermore, we recommend that Volvo CE should consider a logistics management function in order to facilitate the inter-organizational flow of logistics information.

I en alltmer turbulent och ombytlig värld går det inte att leda dagens kundstyrda produktion med traditionellt ledarskap. Dagens ledare påverkas av olika faktorer som måste beaktas för att kunna styra ett framgångsrikt företag. Uppsatsens syfte är att utvärdera och analysera UAE-logistics ledarskap genom att undersöka deras internkommunikation utifrån en teoretisk grund. Metoden som används i undersökningen är en gap-analys som används för att se om det råder samstämmighet mellan gruppledarna och de anställda.

I slutsatsen besvaras problemfrågan: Vilka faktorer måste den moderna ledaren på tjänsteföretag beakta i sitt ledarskap för att förbli konkurrenskraftig? En faktor som måste beaktas är att den interna kommunikationen måste fungera bra för att motivera, engagera och involvera anställda. En annan viktig faktor är att strategierna som är valda utifrån företagets situation måste vara förenliga med företagets idésystem, som är verkligheten där de anställda arbetar. Råder samstämmighet mellan dessa delar kan slutsatsen dras att den rådande organisationsformen är passande för att kunna omvandla företagets strategier, som är valda utifrån externa faktorer, till den tjänst som efterfrågas. En tredje faktor är att ledaren måste delegera ut mer ansvar till de anställda, eftersom de arbetar närmast kunden och behöver skräddarsy tjänsten för att skapa ett mervärde för kunden. Med det ökade inflytandet måste även ökad kunskap erbjudas, för att den anställde ska kunna ta kvalificerade beslut efter den aktuella situationen.

En fjärde faktor, som den moderne ledaren måste ta hänsyn till, är vikten av att ha en god intern marknadsföring, som avser att effektivt träna, motivera, engagera och involvera sina anställda för att kunna uppnå större kundtillfredsställelse. Faktor nummer fem är vikten av att implementera kontinuerlig lärande för att företaget ständigt ska kunna anpassas till förändringar i omvärlden. Genom att ha ett kontinuerligt informationsflöde uppåt, från de anställda till ledningen, informerar den anställde som arbetar närmast kunden om nya trender, nya behov som kunder efterfrågar och ledningen kan använda informationen för att skapa nya tjänster som täcker kundens nya behov och företaget förblir konkurrenskraftigt. Den sjätte faktorn är vikten av att företagen använder sig utav styrformen processtyrning som betraktar arbetet som en öppen process som är mottaglig för kontinuerliga förändringar, som företagen måste anpassa sig till eftersom de externa faktorerna konstant förändras.

Executive Summary

A company needs guidelines for the organization and its employees to act in the same direction. Core values constitute a fundamental part of a company but they have to be “lived” by the members of the organization in order to be valid. When a company undergoes many

changes, there is a risk of losing the core values as focus is put on the survival of the company. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to reach a solution for the maintenance of the core values at Atea Logistics, a company which has faced turbulent periods. However, in order to do so, a first requirement was to get in touch with Atea

Logistics’ culture in order to later correctly apprehend the organization’s core values. Hence, this research was guided by the following research question:

“How to maintain core values at Atea Logistics?”

The conducted study consists of a case study made at Atea Logistics in Växjö, which is a part of the Atea Holding AB. The currently successful group, Atea, was created in 1985 under the name of Owell. Atea is a company which helps organizations and companies increase the

benefits of Information Technologies (IT) by providing products and services that simplify the management, operation and development of IT infrastructure. As an IT product supplier, Atea covers the entire cycle from the supply of new IT products to the recycling of old ones.

Since we aimed at providing the company with a research that it could benefit from, this thesis has its base in discussions with managers of Atea Logistics. Empirical data were mostly gathered through interviews with several employees and finally interplay between empirical

data and theoretical findings occurred. The findings of this complex study comprise that core values have been neglected within the company for several years because of repetitive changes. However, employees have been aware of this situation but still have not focused on this aspect.

Several core values have been discovered which have remained since the Owell-time: respect, participation, openness, trust, responsibility and family-friendly. In order for Atea Logistics to maintain these values, several aspects need to be developed such as their clear statement, their communication via different tools (i.e. printed documents, corporate events, an integration process for newcomers, etc.) as well as the alignment of employees with them.

The Royal Canadian Navy employs Logistics Officers at sea, who possess a financial management specialty; financial resources are accounted and managed by Naval Logistics Officers in Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships. The annual, deployed, financial expenditures, managed by Naval Logistics Officers, have consistently deviated from planned mission allocations for maritime units deployed on international operations. The problem is that even though there are programs in place to train Naval Logistics Officer on the use of financial resources, it appears that there is a lack of accurate operational fund management. The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental, ex post facto research study was to compare the differences between financial expenditure deviations within Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS), based on Royal Canadian Navy Logistics Officer Qualification Board results attained between 2000 and 2010, categorized by the nature of Canada’s military operations in Afghanistan (OPERATIONS APOLLO, ALTAIR, or SAIPH) between 2000 and 2010. Findings presented in this study demonstrate that there is statistically no difference in mean RCNLOQB score and financial deviation. However, based on observed differences, RCNLOQB results were found to have a statistically significant effect on financial expenditure deviation within Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships that deployed in US-led military operations with multiple nations compared to HMC ships that deployed in operations with only the US or in multinational campaigns. The effects of qualitative subjective factors were not included in this study and require further research to determine their degree of influence on financial management performance outcomes.

Declines in federal spending from continuing resolutions and sequestration events during the 2011 – 2014 time frame reduced and delayed government purchases of products and services from small business owners operating in the federal sector. These actions affected the survivability of many federal sector small businesses, yet some leaders thrived and grew their firm’s revenues while others struggled or failed while operating under the same economic conditions. Exploring the successful actions that enabled leadership effectiveness during this time frame and under these business conditions was the dominant activity in this study. Examples of success practices included the use of rolling forecasts for financial planning because leaders must adjust monthly to unpredictable revenue streams resulting from federal budget uncertainty. Leaders must acquire and operate government-approved business management systems, follow un-optimized business processes codified throughout federal regulations, and invest in employees’ education and experience so each meets minimum eligibility requirements for working on contracts. Leaders must also manage the real risk of the federal government terminating their contracts without explanation for its own convenience, and losing competitively awarded contracts in instances in which the government decides to insource that work from the contractor for its own benefit. The successful practices of federal sector small business leaders identified in this study are nuanced from commercial sector practices. This new research may facilitate the refining of operating models applicable for both the federal and commercial business sectors, with such understanding benefiting and enabling greater business success among struggling federal sector small business owners and leaders.