Long-Term Partnerships in Japanese Firms’ Logistics Outsourcing: From a Sustainable Perspective

Abstract

This study aimed to reveal the actual state of Japanese firms’ logistics outsourcing, and examine their relationship with LSPs. This study addressed the following issues by conducting a case study of six leading manufacturing firms. First, it clarified the characteristics of Japanese-style logistics outsourcing as: the outsourcing of the total activities, the consigning to a single LSP, and the development of advanced information systems. Moreover, it examined the logistics outsourcing performance from a sustainable perspective, and concluded that Japanese-style logistics management enables firms to achieve high performance in all the economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Second, this study confirms that the traditional Japanese business practice of long-term partnerships is still maintained in logistics outsourcing management. Third, this study also explored how long-term partnerships create sustainable competitive advantages. Finally, based on these findings, a theoretical framework illustrating the relationship between Japanese-style logistics outsourcing and firms’ sustainable competitive advantage is presented. Our findings may encourage companies to develop a long-term partnership with their logistics service providers, and to put environmental and social indicators into their KPI system to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage by balancing the economy, environment, and society.