Relationship among demand updating, decision-making behaviours and performance in logistics service supply chains: an exploratory study from China

• Published in: International journal of logistics Vol. 22; no. 4; pp. 393 - 418
• Main Authors: Liu, Weihua, Liu, Yang, Chen, Lujie, Si, Cheng, Long, Shangsong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 04.07.2019; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: behavioural operations management; Decision making; Demand; demand updating; empirical examination; Integrators; Large scale integration; Logistics; Logistics service supply chain; structural equation model; Structural equation modeling; Supply chains; China
• ISSN: 1367-5567; 1469-848X
• DOI: 10.1080/13675567.2018.1546837

The performance of the logistics service supply chain (LSSC) is not only affected by external demand changes, but also by the decision-making behaviours of LSSC members, including logistics service integrators (LSI) and functional logistics service providers (FLSP). This paper establishes a structural equation model for assessing the relationships among demand updating, decision-making behaviours and supply chain performance. The model is validated by questionnaire data from China using the SmartPLS method. There are many important conclusions. Firstly, demand updating acting as an intermediary variable does not have a direct impact on supply chain performance. Secondly, demand updating has a more positive impact on LSI than FLSP. Meanwhile, LSI has a positive impact on FLSP's behaviours. Thirdly, the contribution of LSI's behaviours towards improving the supply chain performance is only slightly greater than that of FLSP. Therefore, LSI should focus on improving its own behaviours to avoid being overtaken by FLSP.