A Model of Logistics Outsourcing Strategy

Previous research points to an apparent gap between the prescriptive models designed to guide companies in making systematic outsourcing decisions and the practices some companies actually use. While prescriptive models would suggest the predominance of outsourcing decisions are made using top-down,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transportation journal 2008-10, Vol.47 (4), p.5-25
Main Authors: MELLO, JOHN E., STANK, THEODORE P., ESPER, TERRY L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Arroyos
Business
Business planning
Business plans
Business structures
Case studies
Consumer goods industries
Consumer preferences
Contract manufacturing
Decision making
Employee incentives
Exact sciences and technology
Ground, air and sea transportation, marine construction
Grounded theory method
Lawn and garden equipment industry
Logistic functions
Logistics
Logistics management
Modeling
Outsourcing
Public Policy
Research methodology
Sales management
Studies
Surveys
Technology
Transportation
Transportation planning, management and economics
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Summary:Previous research points to an apparent gap between the prescriptive models designed to guide companies in making systematic outsourcing decisions and the practices some companies actually use. While prescriptive models would suggest the predominance of outsourcing decisions are made using top-down, proactive, systematic- and strategic-competence-driven processes, prior researchers observed that actual decisions are often made using local, reactive, ad-hoc, and seemingly limited-strategy-driven processes. This article addresses this inconsistency by presenting a data-driven descriptive model of logistics outsourcing strategy, based on grounded theory research methods, that explores the experiences of logistics professionals. Our findings support the idea that while prescriptive models providing congnitive approaches to logistics outsourcing exist in the literature, in practice both cognitive and experiential search and evaluation are used to make outsourcing decisions. Additionally, we extend the work of de Boer, Gaytan, and Arroyo (2006) by adding personal factors, such as experience and self-interest, and cultural factors, such as organizational values and norms, as inputs to the process.
ISSN:0041-1612
2157-328X
DOI:10.2307/20713719