Customers Logistics Service Requirements And Logistics . - DiVA Portal

1.2. Previous studiesSeveral researchers have studied general strategies in the sawmill industry. Mostresearch has been focused on Porters generic competitive strategies or on identifying sub-strategies such as marketing or production strategies. However, research is lacking regarding logistics strategies and customers service requirements in the sawmill industry. (Previous studies on strategies in the sawmill industry are presented in the second part of the second chapter.)Concerning logistics strategies in general, previous research has been carried outfocusing on the identification of logistics strategy typologies. The research is inductive, and is based on studies of American manufacturing companies (traditional manufacturing companies with convergent material flows) from which itfollows that the specifics of these industries are those primarily considered. (Seechapter 4. Logistics strategies - Theoretical framework) Consequently, there is aneed to distinguish theoretically a broader definition of logistics strategy.1.3. Research questions, purpose, andlimitationsStructural changes amongst the sawmills’ customers as well as within the sawmill industry have an affect on the individual sawmills. Developing and deploying a logistics strategy that enables a sawmill to respond to its customers’ logistics service requirements will affect the sawmill’s future position in the industry.Knowing customer logistics service requirements, and possible logistics strategies to utilize, will be important for the sawmills.There is a need to broaden the concept of the logistics strategy by adjusting it todifferent industrial settings and thereby increasing the applicability of the concept. Furthermore, previous research with regards to strategies in the sawmill industry has not focused on logistics, and more specifically not on its customers’logistics service requirements.In order to study sawmills’ logistics strategies regarding their capacity to respondto their customers’ logistics service requirements, the concept of logistics strategies needs to be defined and realized, as well as the logistics service requirements need to be identified and described.9

The general research question is;Which logistics strategies do the sawmills utilize in order to be able to respond totheir customers’ logistics service requirements?In order to answer the general research question, the following sub-questionsneed to be explored;Sub-question 1; Which are the customers’ logistics service requirements on thesawmill industry?Sub-question 2; How should logistics strategy be defined?Sub-question 3; Which logistics strategies are utilized in thesawmill industry?The purpose is to identify and describe the customers’ logistics service requirements as well as to describe and analyze logistic strategies utilized in the sawmillindustry in order to meet customers’ logistics service requirements.As a part of this work an attempt is made to define and clarify the logistics strategy concept and identify logistics service requirements and logistics strategiesutilized in the Swedish sawmill industry.This dissertation is conducted with the following limitations:o This dissertation is limited only to softwood lumber.o The study considers only the Swedish sawmill industry.o The dissertation regards only the following customer groups; the housebuilding industry, Do-It-Yourself multiple retailers (further on referredto as DIY multiple retailers) and traditional retailers. Even though thereare other customer groups, these are not taken into consideration.10

1.4. MethodologyThis dissertation consists of one theoretical part; defining the logistic strategyconcept and two empirical parts; customers’ logistics service requirements andthe utilization of logistics strategies in the sawmill industry. Logistics service requirements have been studied in individual studies (in the Licentiate thesis presented in Appendix A and in a paper presented in Appendix B), whereas logisticsstrategy, both theoretically and empirically, is presented directly in the dissertation.In order to examine logistics service requirements, both qualitative and quantitative studies have been carried out. Explorative interviews have been conductedin order to identify the individual logistics service requirements, whereas quantitative studies (by questionnaire) have been carried out in order to quantify andrank the individual logistics service requirements.The study of the general concept of logistics strategy has been conducted with adeductive approach, whereas the utilization of logistics strategies in the sawmillindustry has been investigated in an interview study.The individual parts and their respective methodology are illustrated in Figure 1.LogisticsservicerequirementsChapter 3.Paper; Explorative interviews and quantitative questionnaire (Appendix B)Lic thesis; Explorative interviews andquantitative questionnaire (Appendix A)Chapter 4. Deduced from theoryLogisticsstrategyChapter 5. Semi-structured interviewstudyFigure 1.The main parts of the dissertation and their respective methodology11

The research questions and the purpose determine the methodology (i.e. thetechnique used when conducting research), as different research methods areprimarily suited for different research questions and purposes. At the same time,the reliability and validity of the findings are dependent on how the chosenmethodology is designed and carried out. In order to enable the reader to evaluate the conclusions, a description of the applied methodology is needed withconsiderations taken to reliability and validity.Reliability refers to "demonstrating that the operations of a study - such as thedata collection procedures, can be repeated with the same results" (i.e. to avoidinfluence of chance) (Yin 2003), whereas validity refers to the absence of systematic error of measurement. There are three types of validity; construct, internal, and external validity (Yin 2003);o Construct validity is "establishing correct operational measures for theconcepts being studied".o Internal validity1 is "establishing a causal relationship, whereby certainconditions are shown to lead to other conditions, as distinguished fromspurious relationships".o External validity is "establishing the domain to which a study’s findingscan be generalized".1.4.1.The study of logistics service requirements2Logistics service requirements regard the first sub-question;Which are the customers’ logistics service requirements on the sawmill industry?A survey is an appropriate method to use when the study concerns finding distinct features in a population (Befring 1994; Yin 2003) (i.e. carry out a descriptive study among a population). A survey can contain both large numbers ofvariables and / or a big population, implying that by using a survey it becomespossible to obtain a good deal of information about many actors. Basically thereare two ways to perform surveys; questionnaires and interviews. These methodscan be used separately, but they can also be combined in order to complementone another.Empirical data have been collected within the framework of a survey and isbased on explorative interviews and quantitative studies. The following paragraphs describe the general procedure, which has been conducted in three steps.–––––––––12Not applicable in this studyThis section refers to the research reported in Appendix A and Appendix B12

1) The first step constituted explorative interviews performed in order to characterize the distribution channels and to identify important service requirements.2) The second step was conducted through questionnaires, with the purpose ofranking important logistic service requirements, price and product quality aswell as quantifying basic logistic service requirements.3) The third step constituted of a set of follow-up interviews.The first step consisted of series of interviews, which were conducted with purchasing managers (in companies randomly selected). The interviews were conducted until no additional aspects were revealed.3 The interviews were exploratory and touched upon three broad areas for discussion; business and relationships with suppliers, order-cycle process, service requirements, and changes,with regards to suppliers and service requirements, for the future. Personal interviews were the main method of collecting information, although some telephoneinterviews complemented the personal interviews where necessary. The interviewees were asked to speak freely about areas of interest and the interviewertook a passive role, posing the areas and putting forward additional questions ifand when needed. Further the interviewer encouraged the interviewees tobroaden their perspective in the way of considering service requirements for thefuture in order to make them aware of the possibility of identifying service requirements. Purchasing managers raised the same issues and discussions, whichindicates construct validity of the operational measures of the logistics servicerequirement concept.Based on the interviews, a questionnaire was designed. In order to secure reliability and construct validity, draft questionnaires were designed and tested onrepresentatives from both industries and other researchers. They were asked toidentify unclear questions, make comments on the existing questions, and to addmissing issues. No vital comments were made, and the final questionnaires weresent to purchasing managers in the respective industries. Each respondent wassent an introductory letter, a questionnaire, and a postage-paid reply envelope.The introductory letter clarified the purpose of the questionnaire, assured anonymity, promised a summary of the results at the end, and asked each respondentto mark and return the questionnaire even if it did not apply to their company.(Recommended by Dillman 1978)In order to assess reliability and external validity, series of follow-up interviewswere conducted. The interviews were conducted in the same manner as the firstset of interviews, with the addition of the results from the questionnaires. The interviews were personal or conducted by phone. The respondents discussed theareas in the same manner as the interviewees in the first interviews, and agreedon the results from the questionnaire. This ought to imply that researchers fol–––––––––3This is in accordance with Grounded theory as presented by Glaser and Strauss (1967)13

lowing the procedure described above ought to achieve the same results and thatit should be possible to generalize the findings.Further depth in explanatory data regarding, for instance, drivers of individuallogistics service requirements has not been provided in this research, whichwould have been possible with a case study. A case study on the other handwould not have provided information concerning all the actors.1.4.2.The study of logistics strategyLogistics strategy has been approached firstly from a theoretical perspective andsecondly from an empirical perspective. The second sub-question refers to thetheoretical part, while the third sub-question refers to the empirical part.Sub-question 2; How should logistics strategy be defined?Sub-question 3; Which logistics strategies are utilized in thesawmill industry?The research process defining logistics strategy is to be referred to as deductive.The goal with the provided definition of logistics strategy is to cover a broaderrange of industrial settings. The definition should also be possible to study in reality (operationalize).In order to be able to define the concept of logistics strategy, it became necessaryto turn to the two basic concepts; logistics and strategy, as the definition neededto include the basic ideas of each of these concepts. Articles and books havebeen searched for in databases (key words used were "logistic* and strateg*","logistic*", and "strateg*"). "Logistic* and strateg*" resulted in many sources(books as well as articles), stressing the importance of logistics strategy. However, most of them lacked a definition of logistics strategy. Therefore, the theoretical part is primarily based on search result with "logistic*" and "strateg*" askey words.The theoretical part of logistics strategy (sub-question 2) is followed by an interview study on logistics strategies in the sawmill industry (sub-question 3). Thestudy could have been conducted in depth by case studies or action research4.However, this study was not conducted according to either of these, due to its requirements regarding access and time. An advantage of interviews in contrary tosurveys (mail) is that the possibilities of posing different types of questions are–––––––––4By using case studies or action research, it would have been possible to study which specific logistics strategies that are applied in order to meet individual logistics service requirements.14

practically unlimited and it therefore allows for complex questions (Holme andSolvang 1986). The main disadvantages are the cost of each interview and thepossibility that the interviewer may influence the interviewee’s answers. In thiscase the interviewer tried to balance the role by posing the questions from different aspects as well as defining the contents of the concepts and at the same timenot influence the respondents. However, its affect on each individual intervieweeis difficult to determine.In order to achieve relevant information in interview studies, it is important toidentify and choose the appropriate interviewees (Bell 1995). For this research,customer segments and sawmill groupings have been used. Customer segmentrefers to the sawmills’ customer groups; the retail industry (divided into DIYmultiple retailers and traditional retailers) and the house-building industry. In total seven interviews at five different sawmills were conducted with differentsawmill managers. The individual sawmills belonged to different groups (privatesawmills with their own forest and private sawmills without their own forest),and varied with regards to production volume.The interviews were personal semi-structured interviews with specific areas fordiscussion. The interviewees had access to the discussion areas beforehand, inorder to be well prepared and to invite others to participate in the interview (either during the whole interview or just in order to answer specific questions).The specific areas and checkpoints for the interviews are presented in AppendixC. The specific areas (including checkpoints) had previously been tested on colleagues and industrial representatives in order to establish that they were understood as intended.Continuously during the interviews (each lasting for about two hours), the contents of each concept were discussed and explained in order for the intervieweesto be familiar with them. All interviews were recorded, with the permission ofthe interviewees, thereby allowing the interviewer to be more active in the interview at the same time as no information was missing. However, during the interviews notes were taken simultaneously. Afterwards all interviews were transcribed and the raw material protocols were thereafter transformed into descriptions, directly based on the interviews. The interviews are reported in Gustafsson(2006).According to Yin (2003), reliability could be improved if the researcher thoroughly describes the different steps of the research process, from research question to conclusion. To increase the reliability of this research, the research process has been explained as clearly as possible, in order for the reader to determineif the conducted research process is possible to repeat with the same results andthereby fulfill the requirements of reliability.Construct validity has been assured by asking the interviewees to add additionallogistics practices utilized by their respective sawmills in order to develop their15

processes and process performances. None of the interviewees made any additions.Bringing back the results to additional representatives from the sawmill industryhas ensured external validity. The additional representatives were asked thequestions in line with the specific areas and checkpoints for the interviews andthereafter asked to comment on the results from the study. No additional aspectswere discussed, and the sawmill representatives agreed on the results of thestudy.1.5. Planning of the workThis dissertation takes its starting point in the author’s licentiate thesis (presentedin Appendix A). The licentiate thesis focuses on logistics service requirements inthe retail industry, and includes three papers. This dissertation extends the research with a study regarding logistics service requirements in the housebuilding industry (paper presented in Appendix B), followed by the theoreticaland empirical work on logistics strategy. The planning of work is illustrated inFigure 2.200120022003200420052006Thesis for degree for licentiate (Appendix A)Paper; Importance of logisticsservice in the house-buildingindustry (Appendix B)Theoretical frameworkEmpirical studyCompletionofdissertationFigure 2. Planning of the work16

1.6. Readers’ guide through thedissertationThe focus of this dissertation is on the customers’ logistics service requirementsand on utilization of logistics strategy in the sawmill industry. The connectionsbetween the research sub-questions and different dissertation’s chapters are illustrated in Figure 3.Sub-question 1;Sub-question 2;Sub-question 3;Which are the customers'logistics service requirements on the sawmillindustry ?How should logisticss

logistics has become focused on meeting customers' service requirements and is considered as a key source to company's competitive advantage (Mentzer et al. 2001; Sharma et al. 1995). Successful logistics organizations understand their customers' needs and expec-tations and are able to provide them with the products and logistics services for