Award for groundbreaking research on supply chain design

DATE: 01.05.07   ISSUE 1, 2007
A joint AGSM, University of Wollongong and DHL research team recently received an industry award for their work on buyer preferences for outsourced logistics services.

Professor Timothy Devinney, AGSM alumnus and University of Wollongong Senior Lecturer Dr Tim Coltman, researcher Kate Hughes and DHL Vice President Commercial Supply Chain, Stuart Whiting, were awarded the Australian New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM) Best Paper in a Stream Award at a recent ANZAM conference in Rockhampton, Queensland.

The award recognised the research paper’s contribution to marketing.

“Decision makers make choices among alternative suppliers by comparing attributes at a holistic level,” Professor Devinney said.

“The secret to designing a supply chain is to start by understanding the needs and preferences of the customer.”

The research was based on a 'Best-Worst' method that required respondents to complete a set of experimentally designed service profiles.

Illustration: Gregory Baldwin

“The research identifies the customer’s utility for different service provider attributes. It measures customer demand based on a set of 21 attributes,” Dr Tim Coltman said.

The research was based on a 'Best-Worst' method that required respondents to complete a set of experimentally designed service profiles.

"Best-Worst" scaling is an ordering task that requires respondents to select the 'best-worst’, ‘yes-no’ or ‘least-most’ preferred items. Hence, there is a cost associated with each response that is not only more realist but eliminates biases such as ‘yea-saying’ and ‘nay-saying,” Dr Coltman explained.

The secret to designing a supply chain is to start by understanding the needs and preferences of the customer.
Photo: Professor Timothy Devinney

“The study shows that performance measures such as reliability, delivery speed, flexibility and capacity are important. Higher order capabilities such as professionalism and proactive innovation are also critical,” he said.

This research is the first phase of a larger supply chain research project supported by the Australian Research Council Linkage Grant Program.