Abstract
Technological development and globalization made the supply chain more complex in today’s business environment. In competitive market conditions, shippers tend to outsource most of their logistical activities to Third-Party Logistics (3PL) service providers. These activities have drawn attention of decision makers regarding sustainability concerns. This study examines sustainability initiatives which have been implemented particularly for the 3PL functions namely; transportation, warehousing and packaging services and their influence on performances. Empirical data have been collected through a worldwide online survey which has been sent to industrial experts working in logistics and supply chain management fields. The results were analyzed through the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The analysis indicated that, the 3PL functions significantly affect environmental, economic, social and operational performance, except packaging which had no significant impact on economic, operational and social performance, in addition to transportation which had no significant impact on social performance. Regarding the performance outcome and its impact on logistics efficiency, logistics effectiveness and competitiveness, empirical results indicated that there is no significant impact between the variables except, social performance which had a significant impact on logistics efficiency and competitiveness, operational performance which had a significant impact on logistics efficiency, logistics effectiveness and competitiveness. The proposed model and hypotheses developed give further understanding regarding 3PL industries thereby help decision makers in solving the problems related to 3PL sustainability initiatives.
Highlights
Sustainability is a concept that has been derived to fill the gap between the development and environment
This study examines sustainability initiatives which have been implemented for the 3PL functions namely; transportation, warehousing and packaging services and their influence on performances
The analysis indicated that, the 3PL functions significantly affect environmental, economic, social and operational performance, except packaging which had no significant impact on economic, operational and social performance, in addition to transportation which had no significant impact on social performance
Summary
Sustainability is a concept that has been derived to fill the gap between the development and environment. World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) has defined sustainable development as, “It is not fixed state of harmony, but rather a process of change in which, exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and the institutional change are made consistent with future as well as present needs.” (Brundtland, 1987). Sustainability causes various impact in all the logistics function of 3PL, it has become a challenging area for 3PL for a highly competitive market. Sustainability is a Holistic approach towards developing solution against challenges and created direct or indirect impact on the logistical performances. The selection of sustainability initiatives is already taken into practice; there are many aspects that should be considered based on the jms.ccsenet.org
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