Journal of Business Logistics最新文献

The dynamic landscape of consumer behavior is pressuring companies to adapt to rapidly evolving consumer expectations. The burgeoning interest in the supply chain management (SCM) literature toward consumer-centric research is capturing the attention of scholars and sparking diverse calls to action. While a significant growth in SCM research has centered on consumers as the unit of analysis over the past decade, it remains necessary to improve understanding of how the role of consumers as actors within the supply chain dynamic has evolved. We aim to enhance consumer-centric SCM research by conducting a systematic literature review that summarizes and synthesizes SCM studies that focus on consumers as the unit of analysis. Our review encompasses 174 articles from 16 leading journals. We bundle the literature based on two key trajectories: (i) major functions involved in SCM activities, and (ii) phases of the customer journey. To synthesize the literature, we develop a framework that encompasses the following elements: (i) factors influencing consumer-centric SCM, (ii) resultant consumer-related outcomes, and (iii) retail supply chain structures. Based on the literature review, we propose a research agenda that serves as a basis for advancing SCM research by identifying research questions that are relevant to scholars and practitioners.

Sustainability incidents (e.g., human rights violations, pollution, bribery, etc.) in supply chains continue to manifest globally. Yet, evidence from practice shows such incidents tend to recur within the same supply chains despite stakeholder attention. We investigate the manifestations of supplier sustainability incidents (SSIs) and purchasing managers' reaction to them over time, looking for traces of the slippery slope effect. We also test whether moral disengagement and psychological distance can further impact decisions toward SSIs. Through a series of experiments on both social and environmental SSIs and a follow-up qualitative study (683 participants in total), we find evidence for the impact of moral disengagement and psychological distance on purchasing managers' reaction to SSIs. However, results for the slippery slope effect were mixed. Our supplementary qualitative study found evidence for the slippery slope effect, as well as moral licensing/cleansing and moral psychology.

This study investigates how supply chain characteristics influence a rival firm's response to a focal firm's product preannouncements from a competitive dynamics perspective. Indeed, many firms recognize that it is critical to leverage their supply chains to gain a competitive advantage. We propose that common suppliers enhance a rival firm's awareness of the focal firm's credibility, reducing competitive responses. In addition, a rival firm's strong supplier inventory performance will motivate rivals to respond more aggressively, while the rival's supply–chain partnerships enhance its capability to react to the focal firm. Using panel data from S&P 1500 firms between 2007 and 2015, our findings provide support for our hypotheses, illustrating that supply chain characteristics can significantly influence a rival firm's responses to the focal firm's preannouncements. This research contributes to the competitive dynamics and supply chain management literature by highlighting the strategic role of supply chain characteristics in interfirm competition, offering practical insights for managers on leveraging supply chain resources to effectively navigate competitive threats.

Many states have legalized medical and recreational marijuana use in the past decade, which has potential consequences for roadway safety. Using a state-level panel of heavy truck crash statistics from 2005 to 2021 and a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, we test whether legalization has affected crash rates. Our results show that legalization does not increase crash rates on average; however, responses are heterogeneous across states, with Colorado, New Jersey, and Washington (state) showing crash reductions, while Connecticut and Virginia saw crashes increase. These results suggest that marijuana legalization does not have a straightforward relationship with heavy truck accidents, warranting continued research and policy scrutiny.

Logistics organizations' cultures inherently produce tension between safety and operational requirements. Perhaps counterintuitively, such tension is important for organizations to achieve safe practice and effective operational outcomes. In this study, we evaluate how logistics managers and workers create, identify, and manage various tensions between operational requirements and personnel health and safety during an extended period of uncertainty. Using a grounded theory (GT) approach, this research draws on multiple data sources from six global U.S. Air Force logistics organizations during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. A six-stage GT empirical analysis process revealed a tension-centered approach to safe, effective logistics, presented as a substantive (middle-range) theory with an accompanying process model. Data demonstrate operations- and people-focused cultural elements are activated based on respective requirements, thus inducing tension between potentially competing, yet interrelated, areas. In high-performing organizations, logistics managers and workers address tensions via a balanced focus to alleviate conflicts and conduct safe, effective logistics. This research responds to calls for organizational culture research using qualitative methods while offering implications for theory and practice. Specifically, logistics leaders can use the process model to prepare personnel to safely and effectively handle dynamic operational logistics in the face of unforeseen crises or changes.

Every year, roughly 27% of all jobs in the truck transportation sector (NAICS 484) are reshuffled across motor carriers as existing carriers grow or shrink, new entrants begin operations, and existing firms exit. We take a first look at job gain and job loss dynamics in truck transportation, with a special emphasis on the roles of carrier age and job gain and loss dynamics in the manufacturing sector, the source for most trucking ton-miles. In doing so, we draw on and extend theory in both supply chain management and economics. We test our predictions using archival administrative data covering 1995 through 2019 from the Census Bureau's Business Dynamics Statistics program that tracks the universe of truck transportation firms with employees. Results from fitting a series of mixed effects models provide strong evidence that job gain and job loss dynamics at trucking firms decline rapidly as carriers age. We further find these age-related dynamics are moderated by employment dynamics in the manufacturing sector. Robustness testing shows job gains and losses dynamics in manufacturing are more predictive than the same dynamics in the distribution sector (wholesaling, retailing, and warehousing). We discuss implications of these findings for theory and practice.