INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR REVERSE LOGISTICS: THE INFLUENCE OF RELATIONSHIP COMMITMENT

The use of reverse logistics systems is becoming more common as firms realize the value that can be reclaimed from returned goods. This study investigates the influence of information systems (IS) support activity on reverse logistics performance, as well as the moderating effects of relationship commitment within reverse logistics arrangements. In a survey of CEOs of U.S. catalog sales electronics companies, information systems support is found to moderately affect two separate performance constructs related to reverse logistics programs. The research also indicates relationship commitment is critical to more fully realizing the value of IS support in reverse logistics arrangements.     

REVERSE LOGISTICS: THE IMPACT OF TIMING AND RESOURCES

Although reverse logistics has become a competitive necessity in many industries, there is a lack of agreement as to when formal reverse logistics programs should be introduced. The current research examines the issue of program introduction timing (first, early, late) in the context of the automobile aftermarket industry. The findings indicate that firms developing formal reverse logistics programs early in their industries – but not first – may be best positioned; however, there is also evidence that the timing/performance relationship can be influenced by resource commitment.     

Reverse logistics: Understanding end-of-life product management

As firms respond to stricter regulations and increasing consumer expectations, reverse logistics programs to support end-of-life product management strategies have become more prevalent. Despite a growing body of theoretical literature on this topic, many firms struggle to implement efficient and effective reverse logistics systems. In this article, we identify common strategic, tactical, and operational considerations needed to design reverse logistics programs and offer industry examples to show how organizations have excelled in these areas. Through a synthesis of literature and examples, we provide key takeaways across a range of reverse logistics activities. We present ways in which managers can implement best practices in reverse logistics that not only benefit the environment but also generate societal and stakeholder value, augment and improve customer service and loyalty, and increase market share and revenue capabilities.     

Reverse logistics program design: A company study

A series of visits to a Fortune 500 wholesale distribution company of technology products revealed a changing perspective regarding building and implementing reverse logistics programs. Five major initiatives define the reverse logistics program design process at this company: (1) Gain senior management support and turn reverse logistics into a company-wide initiative; (2) Involve your customers in the reverse logistics design process; (3) Give distinct recognition to the employees involved in handling returns within the firm; (4) Implement carefully developed written rules and procedures that reflect both internal and external concerns; and (5) Assign strict responsibility for the execution of the reverse logistics program. The study follows these five major considerations in more detail. The interviews and observations at this particular firm provide guidelines for managerial decisions relating to reverse logistics.     

Modeling and Analysis of Reverse Logistics

Many modeling techniques have been developed to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of forward logistics and supply chain management. As this article will illustrate, modeling techniques can be helpful in improving the management of reverse logistics as well. Companies and researchers are just beginning to appreciate the important differences between forward and reverse chains, and there is great opportunity to apply modeling methodologies to managing reverse logistics problems and issues. This article describes how modeling techniques can be utilized to improve reverse logistics processes and aid in solving real‐world reverse logistics problems. We focus on specific reverse logistics processes that firms, which sell products, are likely to address. In fact, the area of reverse logistics has broadened of late to include many activities that were not originally part of simply returning consumer products to a retailer. Herein, we present an overview of opportunities, where improved modeling efforts should be able to provide substantial benefits to supply chain professionals.     

Managing Returns in E-Business

ABSTRACT

This paper is a discussion of managing returned goods in e-business. After a discussion of literature on reverse logistics management issues it discusses some preliminary findings of a research project undertaken with the Australian e-business organisations. Research findings discussed in this paper indicate that a good return management process supports customer relationship management and enables capturing value by reselling, and redistributing returned products. It also highlights that effectively managing returns in e-business allows recapturing value from products. It is concluded from this research that reverse logistics is an important business process in e-business.     

PRODUCT RETURNS PROCESSING: AN EXAMINATION OF PRACTICES OF MANUFACTURERS,WHOLESALERS/DISTRIBUTORS,AND RETAILERS

Few research studies have published specific empirical data regarding the reverse logistics practices of companies. This multi‐stage study employed interviews, site visits, and a mail survey to collect responses from 230 members of the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC) regarding their reverse logistics practices. Results suggest that in spite of the growing importance of reverse logistics, few executives have product return processing as their primary responsibility and often undertake this activity along with other job responsibilities. Most firms handle the product returns process themselves and typically within the same facilities that handle forward logistics. Returning items directly to stock, repackaging and returning to stock, and selling as scrap, were the three top disposition options employed by firms. Results indicate that, contrary to general understanding, the majority of retailers and wholesalers reported a recovery rate of over 75% of product cost. Several hypotheses developed from the published literature on reverse logistics were tested. In many instances, these hypotheses were formulated on anecdotal information or single case studies and had not been empirically tested prior to this research being conducted.     

A social media analytics-based approach to customer-centric reverse logistics management of electronic devices: A case study on notebooks

With the advancement of technology, the rate of replacement of unused electronic devices by consumers has increased. Throwing away these devices wastes the scarce natural resources used in their production and also has harmful effects on the environment. Using the concept of reverse logistics leads to the reduction of waste of electronic products such as laptops and the reuse of their parts. To implement the reverse logistics process in the production process, companies need to know which parts of their products have problems or breakdowns when used by consumers so that they can make the right decision about reusing, repairing or recycling the returned product parts. In this paper, the most effective decision-making strategies in reverse logistics based on consumer feedback are discussed. The result of using this model presented in this research is reducing costs and increasing producer productivity, which will ultimately lead to consumer satisfaction. This paper focuses on social media data to gather consumer feedback to optimize the decision-making process in reverse logistics through a data analytics approach. A case study is conducted on Twitter data regarding consumer opinions about MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. By using DEMATEL and network analysis techniques, factors affecting the improvement of the quality of MacBooks have been prioritized. The results showed that the proposed approach can help manufacturers by (a) finding effective features on consumers' behaviour and attitudes through their feedback in social networks, (b) identifying how factors influence each other (c) prioritizing factors, to establish the reverse logistics process which leads to increase consumer satisfaction and improve their performance.     

Ethics Programs, Board Involvement, and Potential Conflicts of Interest in Corporate Governance

Board composition, insider participation on compensation committees, and director compensation practices can potentially cause conflicts of interest between directors and shareholders. If these corporate governance structures result in situations where actions beneficial to directors do not also benefit shareholders, then shareholders may suffer.Corporate ethics programs usually address conflicts of interest that may arise in the firm's activities. Some boards of directors take active roles in their firms' ethics programs by actively overseeing the programs. This paper empirically examines the relationship between ethics programs and potential conflicts of interest and the relationship between board involvement in a firm's ethics program and potential conflicts of interest.Evidence in this paper shows that firms with ethics programs have a lower percentage of inside directors on their compensation committees than do firms without ethics programs. Firms in which boards are actively involved in the programs have more independent boards (higher percentage of independent directors and lower percentage of inside directors) and are more likely to compensate outside directors with equity than are firms in which boards are not actively involved in the programs. Supplemental analyses show that the incidence of potential conflicts of interest is not significantly different between firms without ethics programs and firms in which boards are not actively involved in the programs. Taken together, the evidence in this paper indicates that a board actively involved in an ethics program, and not the simple existence of an ethics program, is related to the incidence of potential conflicts of interest.     

THE ROLE OF LOGISTICS IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

For many firms, a program of successful new product development (NPD) projects is critical to overall company strategy. However, the role of logistics in NPD has rarely been researched. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the relationship between logistics involvement in new product development and improvements in NPD project performance and NPD logistics performance. Senior logistics managers in manufacturing firms in the United States were surveyed to test these relationships. The analysis demonstrated NPD project performance and NPD logistics performance improved with the involvement of logistics in NPD.     

AN EXAMINATION OF REVERSE LOGISTICS PRACTICES

Managing reverse logistics is becoming an important element of supply chain management and, in some cases, a profit generating function. In this paper, reverse logistics activities and key reverse logistics management methodologies are discussed, as well as their benefits and the barriers to successful implementation. Economic and supply chain issues related to reverse logistics are examined, and a working definition of reverse logistics is developed.     

Logistics mode strategy of firms selling fresh products on e-commerce platforms with private brand introduction

The popularity of online shopping has enticed many firms selling fresh products to establish third-party stores on e-commerce platforms. For those firms. adopting which logistics mode between platform logistics and third-party logistics (TPL) for their third-party stores is the real decision problem. Moreover, many platforms have introduced their private brands of fresh products to occupy more make share, which will inevitably affect firms' operation strategies. To explore the optimal logistics mode strategy of firms selling fresh products on platforms and the impacts of platform private brand introduction on those firms' operation strategies, four theoretical models are constructed. Main results show that regardless of whether platforms have introduced their private brands of fresh products or not, the optimal logistics mode strategy depends on the sizes of the platform logistics cost and the service level difference between platform logistics and TPL. Furthermore, introducing platform private brands of fresh products will increase firms' willingness to adopt TPL for their third-party stores on platforms. These main results are robust considering the existence of fresh product supplier and different consumer's sensitivity to freshness-keeping efforts.     

供应链中逆向物流网络系统构建分析

供应链中的每一个企业都具有双重角色,既是供应商又是消费者,这种双重身份使每一个企业都会面对逆向物流,面对原材料或产品的回收费用.生产和环境的可持续发展,要求企业通过有效实施逆向物流,从供应链的范围来构建企业的逆向物流系统,节约成本,创造利润,塑造企业形象,增强企业的竞争优势.     

供应链信息系统中逆向物流活动的预测研究

本文涉及的有关问题是组织和协调这一新系统的逆向物流活动的一体化,逆向物流活动,是指再回收和加工废旧产品和再分配的可重复使用的材料。为更好地控制和管理这些活动,在这里提出了新的办法和信息支持系统。     

企业逆向物流系统社会效益绩效评价指标体系研究

逆向物流系统不仅创造经济效益,而且创造社会效益。基于社会效益视角,可设计一套对评价流程、构建原则、综合评价方法、评价指标,作为评价逆向物流系统绩效指标体系的根据。通过综合评判结果得出：逆向物流的产品回流量小、地点分散、可控性差等因素影响了逆向物流的有效运作;逆向物流系统的运作是否达到预期的目标,取得良好的效果,需要构建一个包括社会责任、社会形象、社会贡献与经济效益相匹配的、协调统一的、科学合理通用的社会效益绩效评价指标体系,并将其置于发展的战略地位。     

电子制造企业库存管理问题及对策分析

库存管理是企业物流管理的一个重要方面,对电子制造企业来说尤其重要。尽管很多电子制造企业采用了先进的采购方式和库存管理控制方法,但是仍然出现多余的库存或者库存不足的问题。本文探讨了在这种情况下电子制造企业如何应对库存问题。     

反向物流及其网络构建

由于环境压力的增加,产品回收问题近来日益受到人们的关注。这就需要为产生的物品从使用者到生产者的反向流动构建适当的物流网络。对类似这种物流网络的设计进行研究,分析近年来不同行业产品回收网络构建,比较反向物流与传统物流结构的差别,总结反向物流网络的基本特征,使产品材料的可回收利用成为一个重要的市场因素。     

多周期产品逆向物流库存控制问题研究

随着人们对可持续发展的日益关注,如何有效地进行逆向物流管理便成为物流研究领域中的热点问题。本文结合逆向物流问题重点研究了多周期产品的库存控制问题,提供了在市场需求为随机变量的情况下,采用定期订货方式的零售商确定产品最优订货量的策略。     

高职院校物流管理专业实习实训方案设计的探讨

提到高职物流管理专业实习实训工作,我们往往想到校内实训实验室建设、校外实训基地建设,或者是在具体的实习实训项目上进行研究探讨,尤其是由于物流管理专业涉及物流运输管理、仓储与配送、企业物流、国际物流四个专业方向,谈及对物流管理专业实习实训方案的制定与设计,许多同仁感觉无法用一个统一的方案来指导四个专业方向的实习实训工作,为了解决这个问题,本文拟探讨一个比较完善的建立物流管理专业实习实训方案,为物流管理专业实习实训提供一个创新型的实训模式,     

循环经济模式下物流体系的构建

循环经济所倡导的是一种与环境和谐的经济发展模式。循环经济理念下的逆向物流系统构建,是弥补市场外部效应的政府干预方式,但是现行我国逆向物流的发展仍然面对许多亟待解决的问题。推进我国逆向物流发展,必须制定、完善环境保护法律、法规,促进排污许可权市场交易。加强逆向物流理论研究,培养相关专业人才,积极推进企业逆向物流相关技术创新,积极引入第三方物流企业。