Logistics capability, supply chain uncertainty and risk, and logistics performance: an empirical analysis of the Australian courier industry

摘要

With globalisation, the increased complexity of supply chain networks, high customer expectations, shorter product and technology life cycles and an unstable environment, today’s supply chain faces enormous uncertainties and risks. These have already became major obstacles to achieving on-time delivery, increasing customer satisfaction, improving efficiency and reducing costs to the degree that managing supply chain uncertainty and risk has become a top priority in many organisations. Uncertainty increases the probability of risk, and risk may be a consequence of uncertainty. Managers often have to deal with uncertainty and risk simultaneously in a real-world environment, as they often happen together and, indeed, are inseparable. Because of this, it is necessary to manage them together. This study does not separate uncertainty from risk, but instead considers an approach to mitigate and manage both at the same time in a real-world environment. This study proposes the idea of a resource-based view approach to develop and deploy logistics capability and mitigate supply chain uncertainty and risk and improve performance. Logistics capability is a distinctive part of the integrative strategic process because of its expected benefits in improving firm performance, leading to long-term profitability and survival. Uncertainty and risk influence decision makers along the supply chain and some of their decisions create problems that may affect logistics performance. Some managers are experienced, knowledgeable and have appropriate altitudes in their industries, but are not effective. There is an opportunity to manage both supply chain uncertainty and risk and improve performance by developing and deploying logistics capability. A quantitative research is designed to investigate the relationships among the latent variables: logistics capability, supply chain uncertainty and risk, and logistics performance. Structural equation modelling was applied for data analysis, involving the interplay of theory and empirical data. Measurement models were used to assess the reliability and validity of the scale items, and the proposed hypotheses were tested in a structural model. Key factors influencing the capability to mitigate supply chain uncertainty and risk in Australian courier firms: customer-oriented capability, process-oriented capability, flexibility-oriented capability, and continuous improvement-oriented capability. From the survey, the author identified key supply chain uncertainty and risk in the industry and classified them into three categories: company-side uncertainty and risk, customer-side uncertainty and risk, and environment uncertainty and risk. The findings demonstrate the applicability of a resource-based approach for mitigating risk, improving management behaviour and inspiring academics and practitioners to beware of supply chain uncertainty and risk from a resource-based perspective. Furthermore, the findings would help both academics and practitioners to have a better understanding of logistics capability, logistics performance, supply chain uncertainty and risk in the Australian courier firms. This offers practical guidance for managers developing and deploying logistics capability to support and enable supply chain risk management strategies in the industry.