Agency decision making in freight distribution chains: Establishing a parsimonious empirical framework from alternative behavioural structures

A general framework in which two or more agents negotiate a contractual arrangement to provide distribution services has been presented in literature. In developing a framework to guide the empirical study, recognition of the difficulty in sourcing agent pairs is a major challenge and one that entails some amount of practical compromise. In this paper the authors present a new conceptual framework capable of capturing, through ideas of concession and power, without explicit interaction between agents, the interactive element of choice, and show how the authors implement this to deliver an empirical method that is tractable in terms of securing an adequate sample as well as being cost effective. The authors find that transporters appear to hold strong relative power with respect to on-time reliability and variable charges, regardless of the degree of concession offered by either type of decision maker; whereas shippers' preferences appear to dominate the supply chain response to policy measures influencing transit time. Importantly, both transporters and shippers do have a significant role to play in the formation of distribution chain preferences.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V99-4NSPVPT-1/2/1cebdb259f489c1c2af60b57f213f066
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01912615
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission from Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Hensher, David A
  • Puckett, Sean M
  • Rose, John M
• Publication Date: 2007-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 924-949
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part B: Methodological
  • Volume: 41
  • Issue Number: 9
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0191-2615
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01912615

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Concessions; Contracts; Cost effectiveness; Decision making; Design; Freight transportation; Physical distribution; Reliability; Supply chain management; Transportation; Variable costs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Agencies; Empirical; Framework; Interactions; Shippers
• Subject Areas: Design; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01080800
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 15 2007 10:33AM