Abstract
Innovation is vital for the logistics industry. This paper develops a Daoism-based conceptual model for logistics innovation in China. It identifies research gaps in this area and provides directions for future research. Following a content-based literature review methodology, 45 studies were selected. We identified five research themes: interpretation of logistics innovation; Chinese institutional environment for logistics innovation; innovation generation; innovation adoption; and innovation capability. We integrate the process view and outcome view of logistics innovation and propose that logistics capability, as an innovation outcome, is reflected and measured by innovation generation and adoption. This study is probably one of the first conceptual development papers on logistics innovation in China, providing a model for innovation within this context. It provides new avenues of research in this emerging, albeit important, area of research. Our conceptual framework utilizes Chinese Daoism philosophical thinking to provide a new lens for logistics innovation that is sensitive to the cultural environment.
Highlights
Over four decades of economic development in China, the Chinese logistics industry has undergone accelerating development
We found that research in logistics innovation in China was still in an early stage, having only started just over a decade ago and with a limited number of key authors contributing to this emerging body of research topic
Our conceptual model of logistics innovation was developed from a logistics service providers (LSPs) perspective in China. This was because approximately half of the papers we examined were focused on LSP, which tends to drive logistics innovation in various industries
Summary
Over four decades of economic development in China, the Chinese logistics industry has undergone accelerating development. As the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC, [1]) states, in 2017 the total value of China’s logistics industry was 252.8 trillion Yuan (approximately USD1 = RMB6.5), around 6.8% more than in 2016. The total logistics costs in 2017 amounted to 12.1 trillion Yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.2%. The ratio of total logistics costs to gross domestic product (GDP) was 14.6%, a 0.3% decrease from 2016 [1]. Logistics has been a priority industry in China’s economic development. According to the ‘Medium and long-term development of logistics industry planning (2014–2020)’, the logistics industry is “fundamental and strategic to the country’s economic development” [2]
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