Information Technology Resources and Customer-Service Process Coordination in Third-Party Logistics

Author

Jeffers, Patrick I. ; Joseph, Rhoda C.

Author_Institution

Arthur Lok Jack Grad. Sch. of Bus., Univ. of the West Indies, Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago

Volume

53

Issue

1

fYear

2010

fDate

3/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

69

Lastpage

83

Abstract

Adopting the supply chain paradigm, we define customer service as a multifunctional sequence of process activities supported by an intricate tapestry of information technology (IT) and non-IT resources that enable the coordination and communication necessary to create value for the customer. The resource-based view (RBV) serves as our theoretical lens for assessing the strategic contributions of IT in the customer-service process of third-party logistics firms. Our findings support the RBV assertion of significant direct and indirect impacts but suggest that the challenges of fully integrating IT resources as process components go beyond merely leveraging complementarity, as emphasized by RBV.

Keywords

customer services; information technology; logistics; supply chain management; customer service; customer-service process coordination; information technology resources; multifunctional sequence; nonIT resources; resource-based view; supply chain paradigm; third-party logistics firms; Customer satisfaction; Customer service; Globalization; Information systems; Information technology; Lenses; Lifting equipment; Logistics; Process design; Supply chains; Business process design; IT complementarity; IT interaction; IT strategy; competitive advantage; customer-service process; information technology (IT); process coordination; resource interaction; resource-based view; supply chains; third-party logistics;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0361-1434

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TPC.2009.2038739

Filename

5419149