Defining and Measuring Communication Flexibility for Smart Logistics

The provision of logistics services relies heavily on effective intra- and particularly inter-organisational information exchange and communication to which ICT is seen as a key enabler. Effective communication among shippers (consignors), carriers and customers (consignees) helps to foster collaborative relationships, reduce uncertainties and performance-related errors, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and customer responsiveness. Innovative logistics practices that are based on the use of the state-of-art technologies are often referred to as 'smart logistics', i.e. flexible and able to cope with uncertainties.

The proposed research is about understanding how increased connectivity and visibility enabled by recent advances in ICT, particularly the Internet, could be harnessed for innovative logistics provisions ('smart logistics') through the lens of defining and measuring communication flexibility. Even though much attention has been focused on the logistics flexibility concept in recent years, one critical dimension is missing - namely, communication flexibility. While the profound effect of ICT in supporting flexible operations, be it at supply chain level or manufacturing level, is well recognised, academic researchers need a more rigorous approach in assessing inter-organisational communication within the logistics context. This is the major driver and novelty of this proposal. Inter-organisational communication flexibility here is defined as the extent to which the firms are able to configure and reconfigure their information linkages in responding to the changing environment.

The main objectives are to develop a conceptual model capturing the key indicators of communication flexibility and subsequently validate the model using a large scale survey. As a result, an appropriate method for assessing the level of communication flexibility and its impact to logistics performance will be established, thus laying the foundation for this important yet largely overlooked subject. The data required for this research will be acquired through three focus group discussions, six case studies and a survey of seven hundred plus companies targeting shippers, carriers and ICT providers in the UK.

The proposed research is also timely; as it investigates and consolidates the key emerging technologies in the logistics field for instance real time tracking technologies using Global Positioning System (GPS) and electronic logistics marketplaces based on cloud computing solutions. Used separately or in combination they will facilitate interorganisational communication at different levels. Such technologies only emerged recently and therefore by incorporating them, this study advances and updates our knowledge towards the use of ICT in the logistics field. Consequently this research is of great value to practitioners as it will guide them to make sense out of and leverage such emerging technologies for competitive advantages.

In addition to academic beneficiaries identified in the previous section, there are a large audience of industrial beneficiaries; shippers and customers from various sectors (e.g. retailing, manufacturing and construction), carriers of various transport modes (e.g. 4th-party logistics service providers, haulage companies, port and rail operators) and technology providers (e.g. ICT consulting companies, software, hardware and network application providers).

The proposed research adopts a two-way engagement mechanism with them. During the research, the use of focus group discussions and field visits to case companies will yield direct inputs from industry and meanwhile provide a platform for cross-learning between industries and between industry and academia. The interim and final dissemination of research findings will help to raise the awareness of how the emerging ICTs could help businesses to achieve competitive advantages and stimulate the adoption of technological and business innovations. Four knowledge-sharing methods will be deployed in order to realise the potential impact and enable a wide reach to UK's logistics practitioners: one industrial dissemination workshop, one Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) event, two trade articles for Logistics Focus (with readership of around 55,000) and two dedicated pages via the host institution's website and the online platform Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) which is under the auspices of Technology Strategy Board. In order to encourage the industrial take-up of the research findings, the applicant will also utilise the industrial network she has established for the one-to-one exploitation of the research findings. This will then lead to the exploration of setting up longer term Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) when industrial partners are determined in adopting a specific ICT development and need to access skills and expertise possessed by the applicant. Two KTP proposals are anticipated at the end of the project.

Other beneficiaries include the research associate (RA) for the proposed project and students at the applicant's home school. The RA will directly benefit from conducting the proposed research. She or he will acquire and develop a set of critical research skills; for instance statistical analysis skills, interviewing and presentation skills with the mentoring and coaching from the PI and the department as a whole. The Continuing Professional Development training will be also provided which is a dedicated programme designed for researchers at the applicant's home institute.

The research findings will be used to inform the research-led teaching with both undergraduates and postgraduates. For instance, the applicant is the module leader for a postgraduate module BST123 E-commerce and Information Technology where the annual intake of students is around 120. The size of impact for undergraduates is smaller at around 30. However the impact can be substantial in improving our students' future employability. For instance, one of the students from the cohort 2009-2010 was offered a job immediately after interview by the multinational United Biscuits, due to the knowledge she acquired from the investigator's lecture on ELMs. The impact on student knowledge and capacity building in general, however, tends to be longer term throughout the students' academic life and future professional career.