Open Access Theses - Economic, Business and Management - 2010 and earlier

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Browsing Open Access Theses - Economic, Business and Management - 2010 and earlier by Subject "Ekonomi och näringsliv"
  • Publication
    Centralisation of Distribution Systems and its Environmental Effects
    ( 2005)
    Kohn, Christofer
    Many believe that the current application of modern logistics solutions in general and centralisation of distribution systems in particular is damaging from an environmental perspective. The reason for this claim is that when a distribution system is centralised, products need to be shipped over greater distances. This causes an increase in transport work, which in turn is believed to cause an increase in emissions. Further, the decision to centralise distribution can be characterised as a structural decision and earlier research has helped illustrate how such decisions have greater impact on the overall performance of a distribution system than decisions taken at subsequent levels (tactical and operative). The reason for this is that structural decisions help create new opportunities to make other logistical decisions that are beneficial for the performance of a distribution system, as measured in terms of costs and service. It is also acknowledged that there is a lack of research illustrating the actual environmental effects of centralisation. This area is the theme of this thesis and the overall purpose is to describe and analyse how centralisation of a distribution system can affect the environment. This purpose has been divided into two research questions, where the first one reads: - How does physical centralisation of a distribution system influence the environment? This question aims at investigating what effect centralisation has on the amount of emissions that are caused by transport in a distribution system. One of the main advantages with a centralised distribution system is that emergency deliveries are expected to decrease. This type of transport is often performed by airfreight, which is a mode of transport that is regarded to cause the largest amount of environmental stress among the four most commonly used transport modes. The argument that is made is that even though centralisation causes an increase in transport work, this must not necessarily mean that emissions increase. As indicated above, earlier studies on structural changes in distribution systems have shown that this type of decision creates new opportunities to make other decisions that are beneficial for the performance of a distribution system, albeit in terms of costs and service. The aim of the second research question is consequently to study this issue, but from an environmental perspective. This question therefore reads: - How do structural decisions in logistics create new opportunities to improve on the environmental performance of a distribution system? The results of the study show that it is not sufficient to only consider transport work and emergency deliveries when the environmental effect of a centralisation is to be evaluated. It has also been concluded that centralisation creates an opportunity to make improvements within the distribution system that can prove beneficial from an environmental perspective. In summary, three characteristics besides transport work and emergency deliveries were identified as being of importance when considering the environmental effects of a centralisation. These included centralised flow, modal change, and bargaining power. This model (see full pdf) does not aim to include all characteristics that can be relevant in an environmental evaluation of a centralisation, but rather those that have been found significant in this study. However, the model helps illustrate that there are many aspects that need to be considered in such an evaluation and that depending on the characteristics of the distribution system at hand the results can vary quite extensively
  • Publication
    On Logistics in the Strategy of the Firm
    ( 2005)
    Kihlén, Tobias
    The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the role of logistics in the strategy of the firm. Leading to this purpose are empirical observations of firms that manage to grow under sustained profitability, by the means of logistics. The clothing retailers H&M and Inditex manage to pursue strategies of growth under sustained profitability. Both H&M and Inditex acknowledge that logistics is used in achieving these strategic goals. The competitive environments are similar for the two retailers. However, the strategy content, i.e. the what of strategy, differs greatly between H&M and its Spanish competitor. H&M focuses on economies of scale in their operations to allow for low logistics costs and a cost-efficient geographical expansion. Inditex focuses on flexibility and speed, being able to quickly respond to changes in demand, which calls for a more agile logistics platform. From this background, two cases are studied as regards the role of logistics in the strategy. The case companies Ahlsell and Bergman & Beving, two wholesalers of industrial goods, display growth under sustained profitability and have an outspoken focus on logistics in their strategies. The cases are described in terms of the content and the context of logistics in the strategy of the firm. The content is the what of strategy whereas the context is the where of strategy. The context is further divided into inner and outer context, where inner context is the firm and outer context is its environment. The theoretical basis of this research is found in logistics and in strategy: Logistics research on the relation between logistics and strategy from a logistics perspective, and strategy theory ranging from the resource-based view of the firm, or the inside-out perspective, to positioning theory, or the outside-in perspective. A pattern-matching methodology is used to establish an appropriate description of the logistics content and context in the strategy of the firm. In the content-dimension, the opposing views of the resource-based view and positioning theory are tested on the cases. In the context-dimension, the cases and their environment are described with a stance taken in the contingency approach to the organisation of logistics. The research shows that the role of logistics in the strategy of the firms in the scope of this study is most appropriately described using a resource-based view of the firm. Further, the two firms under study serve as examples of two different ways to use logistics in the strategy: - Bergman & Beving manages to integrate a decentralised group of product companies in one logistics platform. - Ahlsell achieves synergies in acquisitions by moving logistics and administration of the acquired firms into their centralised logistics platform. The cases also serve as examples of that the logistics solutions need not be optimal in terms of the lowest cost and the highest service level to be used successfully in the strategy of the firm to reach growth under sustained profitability. The firms in the scope of this research act in similar outer contexts but interpret these contexts in different ways depending on their manner to use logistics in the strategy. The research shows that similar outer contexts can be approached successfully with strategies with different logistics content. The logistics organisations in the firms in the scope of this thesis display robustness towards changes in the outer context of the firm, i.e. the logistics organisations can encounter considerable changes in the environment without altering their position in the firm. It is concluded that in order to make the role of logistics in the strategy more comprehensible, a bridge between the abstract strategy theory and the role of logistics needs to be established. A possibility to attain this can be found in the application of a business model framework to the relation between logistics and strategy, which is suggested as an area for further research