Transport in supply networks

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-06-2021-0350
• Published date: 17 March 2022
• Date: 17 March 2022
• Pages: 85-106
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations,Logistics
• Author: Victor Eriksson,Anna Dubois,Kajsa Hulthén

Transport in supply networks

Victor Eriksson

Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management,

Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, and

Anna Dubois and Kajsa Hulth

en

Department of Technology Management and Economics,

Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of the paper is to analyse how transport activities are embedded in supply chains and

networks.

Design/methodology/approach –The paper is empirically grounded in a single case study that describes

and analyses a supply chain of a particular product, Geocloth, focussing on how transport activities are

organised in the supply network.

Findings –The paper concludes that transport activities are embedded in two related settings –the supply chain

setting and the transport network setting –withimplications for how adjustments can be made to increase transport

performance. Furthermore, the paper shows how transport performance can be analysed as a function of how business

relationships are connected vertically (i.e. how transport activities are sequentiallyconnected within supply chains) and

horizontally (i.e. how transport activities are connected across supply chains with regard to joint resource use).

Originality/value –The paper contributes to the understanding of how transport is integrated in supply

networks by focussing on the connections between businessrelationships in supply chains and by pointing to

how transport activities are embedded both in supply chain settings and in transport network settings.

Keywords Embeddedness, Transport, Activity, Interdependence, Supply chain, Coordination, Governance

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Supply chain activities contribute immensely to environmental impact and related emissions

(Carter et al., 2019) and this is projected to increase (International Transport Forum, 2021). In

particular, freight transport activities are challenging when it comes to improving supplychain

sustainability (Hesse and Rodrigue, 2004;Coyle et al., 2015;Ellram and Murfield, 2017). The

European Union (EU) has set goals to reduce CO

2

emissions from the transport sector by 60% by

2050 compared to the 1990 level (European Environment Agency, 2019). McKinnon (2021) argues

that freight transport (henceforth referred to as transport) is difficult to decarbonise due to its

heavy dependence on fossil fuels and forecasted growth. One way to reduce the negative

environmental impact of transport is to change the mix of transport modes applied, such as

intermodal transport solutions (Bask and Rajahonka, 2017;Reis and Macario, 2019). Another

way is to develop the production and use of renewable fuels (Garc

ıa-Olivares et al., 2018;

Transport in

supply

networks

85

© Victor Eriksson, Anna Dubois and Kajsa Hulth

en. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This

article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may

reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-

commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of

this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode.

The authors would like to thank the involved companies for providing access to data. The authors

would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their careful reading and valuable

comments, which helped us considerably improve the manuscript.

Funding: This work was supported by (1) JPI Urban Europe/Sweden’s Innovation Agency (Vinnova),

under Grant 2018-02499; and (2) the Centre for Management of the Built Environment (CMB), under

Grant 133. The funding organisations named here played no role in the design of the study, in the review

and interpretation of data, or in the preparation or approval of the manuscript.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/0957-4093.htm

Received 28 June 2021

Revised 29 October 2021

9 February 2022

Accepted 9 February 2022

The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 33 No. 5, 2022

pp. 85-106

Emerald Publishing Limited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-06-2021-0350

Teixeira and Sodr

e, 2018;Navas-Anguita et al.,2019) and other transport-related technologies

that reduce emissions (Arvidsson et al., 2013). However, these solutions will not result in reaching

the overarching goals (Johansson, 2009;Wehner, 2020). In addition, active measures must be

taken that make transport more efficient (Castillo et al., 2018;Evangelista et al.,2018;Rogerson,

2016). Over time, considerations of the performance of transport activities have developed from a

focus on efficiency (i.e. using transport resources as much as possible) to a focus on other aspects

such as service effectiveness for shippers and consignees (Lai and Cheng, 2003), energy efficiency

(Halld

orsson and Wehner, 2020) and reducing emissions and cost (Ellram and Murfield, 2017).

Regardless of the exact definition of transport performance, it can be argued that the ways in

which transport activities are embedded in supply chains are vital to understand when analysing

changes aimed at improving performance. Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to analyse how

transport activities are embedded in supply chains and networks.

The paper is outlined as follows. The next section presents a brief literature review of transport

as part of supply networks. The third section provides the conceptual framework by focussing on

activity interdependencies, resources and the utilities they provide as well as coordination and

governance. The fourth section presents the method,followedbythecasestudyinsectionfiveand

the case analysis in section six. The seventh section provides concluding remarks together with

implications for supply chain and policy actors as well as suggestions for further research.

Transport as part of supply networks

Considering the increased attention on sustainability within the supply chain management (SCM)

field, it is somewhat surprising that the focus on transport (Ellram and Murfield, 2017)and

logistics (Swanson et al., 2018) is relatively limited within the SCM literature. Nevertheless, several

studies have highlighted the intrinsic and complex embeddedness of transport activities in

supply chains and their impact on sustainability (Andersson et al., 2019;Hedvall et al.,2016;Jahre

and Fabbe-Costes, 2005;Sternberg et al., 2013;Vural et al., 2019). Similarly, McKinnon (2021,p.

119) argues that even though “the switch to low carbon energy, particularly for road and rail

modes, will ultimately deliver much of the required decarbonisation, this will need to be

supplemented by a reconfiguration of supply chains”.Hence, there is a need to analyse transport

as a part of wider logistics and SCM contexts. McKinnon (2021, p. 120) states that when “set

against the existential threat that climate change poses to mankind, this perhaps represents the

most persuasive argument for researching freight transport within a logistical context”.

Early on, B€

oge (1995) illustrated how transport activities related to “the well-travelled

yoghurt pot”were embedded in a complex network of buying and selling firms in various

locations. This vital aspect of how transport is embedded in supply networks relates to Hesse

and Rodrigue’s (2004) notion that transport should not (only) be regarded as a derived

demand but as an integrated demand. In addition, Choi et al. (2021, p. 201) found that part “of

the complexity associated with supply chains is that buying firms do not necessarily know

with certainty from where a supplier (first-tier or further upstream) is sourcing or sending the

material”. Moreover, discussing the increasing attention on sustainability and the role of

transport, Meqdadi et al. (2020) assert that sustainability performance is not just an issue for

the focal actor and its direct counterparts, but also an issue for the broader network as many

problems stem from actors situated farther from the focal actor such as the supplier’s supplier

or the customer’s customer (Villena and Gioia, 2018). Similarly, Huge-Brodin et al. (2020),

focussing on environmental alignment between logistics service providers and shippers, find

that so-called secondary stakeholders play important roles in driving the adoption of green

logistics initiatives. Amongst such secondary stakeholders, Huge-Brodin et al. identify the

shippers’customers as having a strong influence on what is practically achievable.

Although the question of how sustainability should be resolved remains unanswered,

interaction and organising amongst actors might “open avenues for major and behavioural

IJLM

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