The 1st Workshop on Value and Competitiveness in Logistics

Date: July 12, 2018

Venue: Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, DENMARK

Workshop website: www.tilmeld.dk/VCL2018

The Copenhagen Workshop on Value and Competitiveness in Logistics addresses fundamental questions in logistics management pertaining to logistics barriers, costs, value and performance under current conditions; hosts discussions and showcases research and methods for identifying logistics value and performance.

The provision of transport and logistics services currently faces unprecedented complexity and price erosion. The importance of understanding how value is created for end users and consumers, and how it is integrated within end-to-end supply chains, has become apparent. Fuelled by globalisation, vertical disintegration, digitalization, and sustainability, there are considerations about accounting for the multiple, changing notions of time and distance costs accrued by the users of the system; but also in accounting for qualitative performance measures like speed, timeliness, and quality that have growing cost implications for the users, and for logistics value creation and performance.

Value and competitiveness in logistics have traditionally been researched in the domains of transportation, logistics, operations management, supply chain management, marketing and physical distribution. This scientific workshop underlines the importance of understanding logistics barriers, costs, value and competitiveness from these multiple domains in the present environment, and bring together researchers focusing on investigating the factors in competitiveness within the supply chain and logistics management.

Amongst other goals the workshop aims to identify new performance dimensions and the challenges in measuring them; explore the potential of socio-economic and behavioural research approaches in tracking logistics value; and implicate on the data requirements and performance appraisal for the future. Some of the current issues and important questions that the workshop wishes to explore are:

Globalisation, complexity and competiveness: Smart and effective transportation and logistics systems are widely accepted as the backbone of the current world economy that is characterized by globalization, vertical disintegration and complexity. How do these systems support or impede the globalisation and internationalisation considerations of firms? Do they, for example, pose barriers or risks in themselves, and what are the important value and competitiveness dimensions from this point of view?

Digitalization and competitiveness: Digitalization can make transportation systems smarter and more effective, but also create dependencies and additional complexity. The value created through Digitalization can be a key factor towards competitiveness in logistics. How do new technologies enhance value in the logistics system, e.g. by enabling enhanced services and servitization? Do they, for example, complement or substitute the existing value propositions of transportation and logistics? What are then the measures and indicators of performance related to digitalization?

Sustainability and competitiveness: One key aspect to be investigated in the context of competitiveness in logistics is the value of sustainability. The challenge of global warming calls for urgent action. On the one hand, online purchases and same day deliveries underline demand, while at the same time consumers also increasingly demand ecologically and socially responsible products and services. The core challenge for organisations and policymakers is to understand the true value and impact of sustainable supply chains, transport, and logistics.

Methods and data for the evaluation of competitiveness: Traditional cost-benefit analysis (CBA), service performance metrics and indexes (e.g. the LPI) are used for much of the evaluation and assessment of the competitiveness of these logistics systems. However, there are problems in accounting for the multiple and changing notions of time and distance costs accrued by the users of the system; but also in accounting for qualitative performance measures like speed, timeliness, and quality. To what extent do the existing evaluation techniques help understand the value creation in these systems and their competitiveness? Which other models, methods and additional data sources could be used?

The workshop will focus on papers with different approaches related to the competitiveness of transportation and logistics at the national/regional-, industry-, and firm-levels of analysis. We invite researchers to submit papers, or extended abstracts (not more than 2000 words), that are related but not limited to the above themes.

The main output of the workshop will be to:

• set the research agenda and platform for future research and collaboration within the area.

• ascertain the gaps in present research and relevant outlets for publications related to competitiveness and value creation in logistics. The workshop will create a dialogue between editors and other representatives from leading journals in the domains of transportation, logistics and supply chain management, operations management and marketing.

• prepare participants for submitting their work to the SIG-E1 Session "Assessment and Evaluation of Logistics Systems" at 15^th World Conference on Transport Research to be held on May 26, 2019, in Mumbai (WCTR 2019 Mumbai).

Practicalities

Please make paper and abstract submissions to vcl2018@cbs.dk with a copy of the submission to Aseem Kinra aki.om@cbs.dk

Participation in the workshop is free of charge. Registration is required.

Important Dates

Paper and abstract submissions (Extended): March 16, 2018 March 31, 2018

Deadline for registration: May 1, 2018

Workshop: June 12, 2018