Notre recherche doctorale a pour objet d’apporter un éclairage novateur sur la chaîne logistique dans le contexte des réseaux de franchise en s’appuyant sur la théorie des ressources et la théorie des parties prenantes. S’inscrivant dans une logique d’exploration, la recherche participe à enrichir les travaux sur les réseaux de franchise sous l’angle de la chaîne logistique. Une telle approche, jusqu’à présent peu explorée, permet de mieux saisir l’avantage compétitif que représente de la maîtrise de la chaîne logistique pour le réseau de franchise, ainsi que le rôle du prestataire de services logistiques (PSL) dans le contexte français. En effet, son rôle de conseil, voire de prescripteur d’évolution des processus,s’appuie sur sa connaissance des métiers de la chaîne logistique, imprégnée de la culture du client, et sur sa capacité à imposer les évolutions nécessaires vis-à-vis des 3PL auprès desquels il aura sous-traité une partie de ses activités. Il ressort de la recherche que la maîtrise de la chaîne logistique est un enjeu stratégique pour le réseau de franchise. Au travers d’études de cas, la relation de longue durée, la confiance et l’appropriation de la culture du réseau par le PSL sont des critères incontournables de l’avantage compétitif que procure la maîtrise de la chaîne logistique au profit du réseau de franchise. / Our doctoral research aims to bring innovative light on the supply chain in the context offranchise networks based on resource theory and stakeholder theory. As part of an explorationstrategy, research contributes to enriching the work on franchise networks in terms of the supplychain. Such an approach, hitherto little explored, makes it possible to better understand thecompetitive advantage of supply chain control for the franchise network and the role of thelogistics service provider (LSP) in the French context. Indeed, its advisory role, and even theprescriber of the evolution of processes, relies on its knowledge of the supply chain businesses,imbued with the customer's culture, and its ability to impose the necessary changes vis-à-vis3PLs from which it will have subcontracted part of its activities. Research shows that supplychain management is a strategic challenge for the franchise network. Through case studies, thelong-term relationship, trust and ownership of the network culture by the PSL are essentialcriteria for the competitive advantage of supply chain control in favor of the network franchise.

Parcel carriers are susceptible to changes in the supply chain industry, as the carrier industry consists of many stakeholders who have an impact on the way they function. The stakeholders in the carrier industry are directly affected by the market trends that in turn affect the carrier business. Currently, E-commerce has a major influence on supply chain design, the operation of parcel carriers and the consumers. One main area of this thesis study is to analyse the impact of E-commerce on the parcel carriers in the EU and the US. Over time, E-commerce has caused a shift in the logistics industry that has made the carriers update the solutions they provide to their customers and to update their operations to accommodate the changes brought about by E-commerce. Since the operations of carriers in the EU and the US are different, this study focusses on five major parameters (Segmentation, Networks, Services, Specification and Tariff Structure) that help understand the carriers better in these two regions. This study will also help European Logistics Software Providers to re-organise themselves so it may help them to perform better integration processes between the carrier and their customers. It is evident that E-commerce has affected the parcel carrier industry and that the Logistics Software Providers must consider these parameters to have harmonized collaboration between the stakeholders in the supply chain. It is also difficult to normalize the selection of factors to be considered in the selection of a parcel carrier since the factors have a different effect in different regions around the world.

Background  Global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions necessitates a decrease in carbon emission caused by the truck transport industry. To combat the threat of global warming, goals are being set up on a global, national and corporate level. These goals are putting pressure on logistics service providers to decrease the emissions within the truck transport industry. Implementation of green practices is found to be especially challenging within heavy truck transport due to weight and distance of the transport characteristics. In order to achieve emission reductions, logistics service providers are dependent on the alignment with their transport buyers, known as shippers to implement green logistics practices. Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify challenges and enablers for sustainable green transitions within heavy truck transports among shippers and logistics service providers. The study formulates two research question to help achieve the purpose, these questions are focused on challenges and enablers among both shippers and logistics service providers.  Method The study employs an explorative research approach in a multiple case study setting. Three configurations of shipper-LSP relationships are studied and analyzed through thematic analysis, the researchers also conducted a cross-case analysis to compare and identify similarities and differences between the cases in order to draw conclusions.  Conclusion A green transition within the heavy truck transport sector face numerous challenges. The challenges include a high dependency on vehicle development, lacking infrastructure, alignment issues between shippers and logistics service providers and trade off dilemmas. In order to overcome the issues findings, suggest that shippers and LSPs should focus on creating shared goals in order to facilitate implementation of green logistics practices and mitigate the challenges.

The logistics industry causes various harms to the environment. The literature assigns the main responsibility for alleviating such harms to two supply chain actors: shippers (logistics buyers) and logistics service providers (LSPs), which motivated studying them in this thesis. Specifically, this thesis explores and identifies how green logistics practices can be facilitated through aligning both actors throughout the different phases of their relationships. Two studies are compiled. The first study is based on five distinct cases -- three shippers and five LSPs, providing the basis for two papers: (i) one that analyses the institutional pressures (regulatory, market, competitive) on shippers to purchase green logistics services, and on LSPs to provide these services, and (ii) one that investigates the two actors’ stances on environmental concerns in the four key logistics purchasing phases (request for proposal, negotiations, contracting, execution), while proposing ways to align their efforts along such phases. The second study covers a single case of a dyadic relationship between a shipper and its LSP, handling enhancing logistics performance (cost efficiency, on-time delivery) in the early stages of their relationship. The findings indicate a general lack of regulatory pressure in driving shippers and LSPs to engage in green logistics, contrasted by a long-term influence of competitive pressure and a prevalent influence of market pressure. It was also found that both actors must put substantial efforts in the beginning of their relationships to reach a mutual business understanding, allowing performance and green enhancements. In the execution, it was found that both partners should regularly communicate performance metrics while modifying working standards, which would also support their green practices. For practitioners, insights are offered to align shippers’ and LSPs’ efforts within their relationships to attain positive performance and green outcomes. / <p>QC 20180223</p>

La recherche souligne, selon une perspective béhavioriste, l’importance grandissante de l’intermédiation logistique à travers le rôle dynamisant du PSL au sein des chaînes logistiques multi-acteurs. En s’éloignant de son métier historique, en l’occurrence la gestion de simples acheminements, le PSL évolue vers des services à plus forte valeur ajoutée, voire de nouveaux métiers, qui transforment en profondeur le fonctionnement de ces chaînes. S’inscrivant dans une logique d’exploration, la recherche participe à enrichir les travaux antérieurs relatifs au PSL, souvent de nature technique, par une approche béhavioriste. Le PSL est d’abord un acteur, doté d’objectifs propres, qui développe un comportement stratégique singulier ; il ne se résume pas à être un simple exécutant opérationnel d’activités issues d’une externalisation voulue par des chargeurs à la recherche d’une minimisation des coûts. Une telle approche, jusque-là peu explorée, permet de mieux saisir le rôle dynamisant du PSL dans les chaînes logistiques multi-acteurs, tout particulièrement dans le contexte français. Il ressort de la recherche que le PSL a acquis un pouvoir suffisant pour en influencer le fonctionnement. Il occupe une position de choix pour capter durablement de la valeur, autrement dit, bénéficier de transfert d’activités, de compétences et de ressources de la part des chargeurs. / The goal of our research is to underline, from a behavioral angle, the increasing importance of logistical intermediation through the LSP’s dynamic role within supply chains. By digressing from its historical profession, the management of simple carriages to be specific, the LSP is moving towards high added value services, even new trades, which deeply transform the chains’ functioning. By falling within an exploratory logic, this research participates in enriching the previous works about LSP, mainly of a technical nature, through a behavioral approach. At first, the LSP is an actor which has his own goals and who develops a singular strategic behavior: it does not amount to be a simple operational performer of activities coming from an outsourcing required by shippers in search of a minimization of the costs. Such an approach, which has not been explored so far, enables a better understanding of the dynamic role of the LSP in supply chains, particularly in the French context. It comes out of the research that the LSP has acquired enough power to influence its functioning. It is rightly placed to get some value durably, in other words, to benefit from transfer of activities, skills and resources from the shippers.

Sammanfattning Problemformulering och bakgrund: Textilföretag är i behov av en effektiv logistik. En sådan finns att tillgå externt hos tredjepartslogistiker. Det finns begränsad forskning som påvisar riskerna som outsourcing av logistikfunktionen innebär. Därför vill vi i denna studie jämföra risker med fördelar applicerat på den västsvenska textilmarknaden. Företagens utlåtande kring deras outsourcing av logistikfunktionen värderas och lyfts. Syfte: Syfte för den här studien är att undersöka hur användandet av tredjepartslogistik ser ut inom västsvenska textilföretag. Vi vill skapa förståelse kring vilka risker och fördelar som outsourcing av logistikfunktionen innebär. Fortsatt vill vi även undersöka hur situationen ser ut för textilföretag belägna i Västsverige, och vilka faktorer som spelar in i deras outsourcing av logistikfunktionen. Metod: Vi inledde vår kvalitativa forskning med att genomföra en litteraturöversikt, som vi därefter använde för att skapa en intervjuguide. Under intervjuerna följde vi guiden, men lät även respondenterna tala mer fritt vid behov. En sådan intervjumetod kallas för semi-strukturerade intervjuer. För att nå en slutsats ställde vi referensramen mot empirin. På så sätt kunde vi besvara våra forskningsfrågor. Diskussion och slutsats: Efter analys av vår empiri kom vi fram till att de västsvenska textilföretagen i stora drag delar den bild som litteraturen ger gällande de risker och fördelar som finns vid outsourcing av logistikfunktionen. Däremot finns vissa olikheter. Företagen anser att risken för beroendeförhållande samt vikten av kommunikation inte har samma betydelse som litteraturen anser. Vi slår fast att företagen resonerar likt litteraturen när det gäller eftersträvan av diverse konkurrensfördelar. Förslag på vidare forskning: Studiens urval är för litet för att kunna dra några generella och övergripande slutsatser kring västsvenska företags outsourcing av logistikfunktionen, annat än i de tre specifika fall som vi studerat. Därmed efterfrågar vi att framtida studier utökar antalet deltagande företag. Här hoppas vi att vår studie kan ge en god grund att bygga vidare på. / Formulation of Problems and Background : Textile companies are in need of effective logistics. This is available externally from third party logistics suppliers. There is limited research which demonstrates the risks involved in outsourcing of the logistics function. Therefore, we want in this study to compare the risks with the benefits applied to WesternSwedish Textile Companies. Purpose : The purpose of this study is to investigate the usage of third party logistics in Western Swedish Textile Companies. We also want to create an understanding of the risks and benefits that outsourcing of the logistics function entails. Further, we also want to investigate what the situation looks like for textile companies located in Western Sweden, and what factors are involved in their outsourcing of logistics. Method: We began by conducting a literature review which we later used to create an interview guide. The interview guide was used when interviewing three Western Swedish Textile Companies. During the interviews we followed the guide, though we also allowed the respondents to speak more freely if they chose. This methodology is called semi-structured interview. In order to reach a conclusion and answer our research questions, we compared the frame of reference against our empirical data. Discussion and conclusion: When analyzing our empirical data, we found that the companies broadly share the same impression as the literature regarding the risks and benefits involved when outsourcing logistics. We conclude that the companies included in our study put forth arguments which resemble what the literature emphasizes. However, there are some differences. Companies do not consider the risk of dependence on a third party, neither the importance of communication, as serious as the literature implies they should. Various competitive advantages are gained through the outsourcing of logistic functions. These outweigh any associated risks according to the companies involved in our study. Proposals for further research: The selection of companies in this study is too small to draw any general and comprehensive conclusions about the outsourcing of logistics function made by Western Swedish Textile Companies. This means that future studies will have to increase the number of participating companies in order to put forth a conclusion that is generalizable.