Journal
JOURNAL OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Volume 25, Issue 3, Pages 661-681Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1016/j.jom.2006.05.012
Keywords
electronic commerce; service operations; logistics; transaction costs; strategic networks; operations strategy; empirical study
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The Internet has redefined information-sharing boundaries in distribution channels and opened new avenues for managing logistics services. In the process, firms have started to incorporate new service providers in their commercial interactions with customers over the Internet. This paper studies conceptually and empirically why Internet commerce firms (ICFs) have established relationships with these providers. Focusing on logistics services in outbound distribution channels, we rely on transaction cost theory to reveal that low levels of asset specificity and uncertainty drive Internet commerce firms to establish these relationships. Moreover, we apply strategic network theory to show that Internet commerce firms seek these providers because they offer access to relationship networks that bundle many complementary logistics services. In addition, logistics service providers make these services available across new and existing relationships between the Internet commerce firms, their customers, and their vendors. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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