Logistics Business Transformation for Sustainability: Assessing the Role of the Lead Sustainability Service Provider (6PL)

Tim Gruchmann, Ani Melkonyan and Klaus Krumme
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Tim Gruchmann: Faculty of Management, Westcoast University of Applied Sciences, 25746 Heide, Germany
Ani Melkonyan: Centre for Logistics and Traffic, University of Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany
Klaus Krumme: Centre for Logistics and Traffic, University of Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany

Logistics, 2018, vol. 2, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: Societal, economic and ecological prosperity will be highly affected in the next decades due to socio-demographic developments and climate change. The design of more sustainable logistics business types can address such challenges to build more resilient supply chains. Therefore, the discussion with regard to transformational potentials of logistics businesses provides valuable information to shape business strategies according to future sustainability requirements. Within the framework of this paper, a mixed-methods approach has been applied to explore and analyze drivers and barriers for sustainability transformations of logistics service providers (LSPs) and to evaluate related business strategies with optimization and simulation methods in a concrete regional context. So far, LSPs’ main obstacles are competitive pressure, focal firm orientation, and dependence on other supply chain members, while supply chain collaboration and integration, as well as the integration of sharing economy solutions and new digital technologies, have been identified as promising for sustainability transitions. Accordingly, this paper suggests a roadmap for the logistics sector while defining retention strategies such as growth, replication, mimicry, and mergence to meet future societal and environmental requirements. By doing so, this study contributes to theory by constructing the Lead Sustainability Service Provider (6PL) business model (arche)type and its role in societal transitions.

Keywords: sustainable logistics; sustainable supply chain management; strategy development; business transformation; business model classification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L8 L80 L81 L86 L87 L9 L90 L91 L92 L93 L98 L99 M1 M10 M11 M16 M19 R4 R40 R41 R49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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