Philipp Wetzel

Logistics service providers (LSPs) can add value to their clients by providing financial value-added services (FVAS). However, LSPs might encounter challenges when offering such FVAS, as the latter demand a different set of competencies that affect sales teams’ qualifications and motivation. Against this background, we explore how LSPs’ sales teams can be incentivised to support service portfolio extensions in the form of FVAS. The research methodology applied in this study follows a qualitative approach and includes 34 expert interviews. We find that most LSPs address incentive problems by adjusting sales teams’ qualifications. Expert support, training and tools are common methods to incentivise sales teams that lack specific expertise. For stimulating motivation, awareness creation through data or personal engagement and monetary incentives are most relevant. LSPs can use the insights from this paper to identify the impact of portfolio extensions on the motivation and qualification of their sales personnel and implement adequate incentive systems.

The aim of this research was to identify quality discrepancies in the existing service offerings of logistics service providers (LSPs). A multi-sided model of service quality (SERVQUAL) highlighting existing gaps in service provision was developed. A qualitative case study approach was employed, and the data were analyzed via a pattern-matching technique. The contribution to the literature is twofold. First, the study transferred the original service quality model developed in the 1980s from a business-to-consumer context to a business-to-business context that is specific to LSPs. Second, the results provide a means of closing the identified service quality gaps arising in an LSP context.

In this paper, we examine the functional form of the relationship between working capital assets and corporate performance beyond the traditional single-company perspective. In particular, we explore how a focal company's adequate level of working capital is influenced by the presence of limited financial resources along the supply chain. Moreover, we investigate the performance impact of supply chain finance (SCF)-oriented working capital management (WCM) approaches. Based on the SCF-oriented school of thought, we subject propositions regarding the relationship between working capital and corporate performance from prior WCM research to explorative empirical testing. In doing so, we raise awareness of factors that have yet to be tested. We derive methodological implications for conducting interorganizational studies in the field of SCF and outline a future research agenda. The explorative results indicate (i) the existence of a profit-maximizing level of working capital, (ii) superior performance of companies adopting an SCF-oriented WCM approach, (iii) higher profit-maximizing levels of working capital for focal companies facing financially constrained supply chain partners, (iv) a positive performance impact of efficient inventory management, and (v) differentiated payment strategies toward up- and downstream supply chain partners.

This paper examines the functional form of the relationship between working capital assets and corporate performance, beyond the traditional single company perspective. In particular, it explores how collaborative practices in working capital management (WCM) influence a focal company’s performance in triadic supply chain sections. Further, the performance impact of supply chain finance (SCF)-oriented WCM approaches is investigated.

This paper analyses how the presence of financial constraint along supply chain networks influences a company’s performance-maximizing level of net working capital (NWC). Based on the financial data of 1,986 industrial firms and their largest suppliers and customers, this paper provides empirical evidence that demonstrates the extent of the impact of financial constraints on corporate performance. One main conclusion made is that the impact strongly depends on the position of the respective actor in the supply chain (supplier, focal firm, and customer).