Investigating the Impact Factors of the Logistics Service Supply Chain for Sustainable Performance: Focused on Integrators

Yingjie Ju, Yue Wang, Ye Cheng and Jun Jia
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Yingjie Ju: School of Business, University of Jinan, Jinan 250002, China
Yue Wang: School of Business, University of Jinan, Jinan 250002, China
Ye Cheng: School of Management Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China
Jun Jia: School of Business, University of Jinan, Jinan 250002, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: The overall scale of China’s logistics industry is growing rapidly, and the environment and conditions for its development are constantly improving, which lays a solid foundation for further accelerating the development of the logistics industry. However, logistics services are characterized by subordination, immediacy, demand volatility, and substitutability. Low-level integrated management of logistics services seriously hinders the development of the logistics service supply chain (LSSC) for sustainable performance. Many studies have been limited to the performance evaluation of LSSCs, and the factors affecting LSSC performance have generally been ignored. This study focuses on integrated LSSCs by using an integrator’s opportunistic behavior as the entry point of research and investigates the factors that affect the sustainability of LSSC performance. On the basis of relevant theories, a model for a hypothesis is constructed and eight hypotheses are subsequently proposed. Moreover, 271 survey responses from functional logistics service providers (research object) are utilized to develop a structural equation model for empirical research. Findings show that integrators with opportunistic behavior inhibit the information-sharing behavior of supply chain members. Consequently, the integration capability and agility of LSSCs are reduced, which affects the overall performance of LSSCs. The findings of this study can provide management insights into the behaviors of supply chain members and governments.

Keywords: opportunistic behavior; integrated logistics; logistics service supply chain; sustainable performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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