Triads at the interface between supply networks and logistics service networks

The research and literature on supply networks and on logistics service networks has largely been separated. In practice, the ‘two networks’ are integrated since the activities carried out in them are always subject to interdependencies and thus in need of coordination. In this paper we focus on the triads consisting of buyers and suppliers of goods and of the logistics service providers (LSPs) that take care of the logistics services between the two. We argue that these particular triads are generic in nature while still seldom considered as of importance. The latter may be an effect from transport services being considered by many firms as a non-strategic purchasing category. However, this may change as the need to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of transport services, as part of broader logistics service packages, is becoming one of the key issues for dealing with the environmental impact of transport. Based on our scrutiny of the generic triads connecting supply networks and logistics service networks we discuss three themes with implications for research and practice; (1) the nature of the connections between the dyads in the triads, (2) the triads’ functions in relation to fourth parties in the supply network, and (3) the triads’ functions in relation to fourth parties in the logistics service networks.

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