François Fulconis

Exploring New Competences in the Logistics Industry: The Intermediation Role of 4PL

Networking strategies continue to develop in most industries. They lead manufacturing and/or retailing firms to specialize in a few core competences and to become “brokers” who entrust external partners with peripheral activity management. This is one of the explanations for the rise of logistics service providers (LSPs), described in all modern textbooks dealing with supply chain management. Very recently, a new trend has emerged in Western countries: Some LSPs are becoming brokers, capable of organizing supply chain networks thanks to their perfect command of information systems. The LSPs called fourth-party logistics (4PL) have taken control of the intermediation function, positioning themselves at the heart of the networked economy. The use of the conceptual framework “transactional center” helps to better understand 4PL governance, and more generally the evolution of the logistics industry.

Purchasing of logistical services: a new view of LSPs’ proactive strategies

Purpose The purpose of this viewpoint is to analyze the emergence of a modified equilibrium in the relationship between buyers (“shippers”) and suppliers (“providers”) of logistical services. In the 1990s, the logistical service providers (LSPs) had relatively little power and were often asked to perform basic operations. The situation has evolved as a result of proactive strategies implemented by some forward-thinking LSPs. In this viewpoint, the emphasis is on the strategies developed by shippers which the authors labeled the “ramp effect”. Design/methodology/approach The authors discuss the impact of the ramp effect on LSPs’ innovation processes. This viewpoint is based on the authors’ experience in the field, on a literature review focused on the logistics industry and on the purchasing strategies applied to logistical services. Findings The authors show that the buyers of logistical services have lost some of their power because of two main factors: LSPs’ embeddedness in the shipper’s supply chain and the transformation of LSPs into orchestrators (labeled fourth-party logistics). This viewpoint discusses the relational disequilibrium between shippers and LSPs rather than the cooperative relationships between them. Originality/value The ramp effect as a source of innovation and proactive strategies for LSPs has never been covered in the management literature. This viewpoint provides both academics and practitioners with a different perspective of the relational disequilibrium between buyers and sellers of logistical services.

Competitive vs coopetitive strategies: lessons from professional sport leagues

Over the past decades, analyses of the functioning of professional sport leagues have been done from various angles: economic, financial and sociological; in some cases, comparisons were made between North-American and European leagues. The purpose of this paper is to look at this reality from a different angle, i.e. human capital management, by showing how different the models from both continents are.,Based on an identification of the major elements associated to human capital management in professional sport leagues in North America and Europe, this paper compares competitive and coopetitive strategies using an original framework based on consortium sourcing and pooling dimensions.,The paper underlines the benefits that North-American professional sport leagues get from acquiring players using a consortium sourcing perspective (coopetition). In Europe, the most powerful clubs use their financial resources to get the best players; as a result, it is always the same clubs with get the best results (competition). In the long run, the European approach might result in less attractiveness to TV viewers, and less revenues for TV networks.,This paper helps to understand the differences between professional sport leagues in North America and Europe; it also discusses the risk associated to the adoption, without any adjustment in the human capital management, in Europe of the North-American model based on a coopetitive perspective. This dimension is seldom mentioned in articles dealing with professional sport leagues.

The 3PL Provider as Catalyst of Coopetitive Strategies-An Exploratory Study

The subject of coopetitive strategies has been studied increasingly since the end of the 1990s in the academic literature on strategic management, offering an in-depth renewal of the way of looking at the evolution of exchange relations between firms and emphasizing that neither pure cooperation nor pure competition are satisfying explanatory models of the reality of business. In fact, cooperation and competition blend to give rise to a novel model of value creation: coopetition. This article makes use of this conceptual framework to study the role of third party logistics (3PL) providers in the operation of modern supply chains. 3PL providers appear to be the catalysts of coopetitive strategies, particularly when they manage modular platforms. An exploratory field study conducted in France has identified three 3PL archetypes in the dynamics of coopetitive supply chains: 3PL providers as caretakers, 3PL providers as lead operators, and 3PL providers as architects.

Gouvernance des sports professionnels : une approche en termes de mutualisation

RÉSUMÉ Les achats font l’objet d’une abondante littérature depuis plus de trois décennies, ce qui reflète pour cette fonction le glissement d’une vision opérationnelle à une vision stratégique. Ceci se traduit notamment par l’émergence d’une logique « gagnant–gagnant » ; par exemple, tout en maintenant la compétition entre elles, des entreprises mettent en œuvre des stratégies de coopétition et mutualisent leurs achats, entre autres pour réduire les coûts logistiques et les délais de mise à disposition des produits, mais aussi pour accroître la qualité de service rendue aux clients. Fort des réflexions menées sur ces phénomènes, l’article aborde de façon originale le domaine sportif sous l’angle des achats. L’objectif est d’examiner comment la notion de mutualisation peut être utile pour mieux comprendre les avantages découlant de l’approche collective des ligues nord-américaines en matière de politique d’achat de joueurs et, plus largement, de gestion du capital humain.

Football passion as a religion: the four dimensions of a sacred experience

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that football as a sacred experience is often raised, but has never led to an argued approach. Professional football (soccer) is a genuine societal phenomenon, both through the medias’ interest they cause and through the financial stakes that are related to it. It is common to read that football, through the passions it unleashes, for example in terms of tribal violence, has become a type of religion, with its believers (the fans) and its place of worship (the stadiums). Design/methodology/approach – The authors reviewed the literature, research reports and electronic documents on professional football practices to understand the religious dimension of fan passion in Europe (ritualism, collective beliefs, using of totemic objects, etc.). Findings – The paper suggests a reading grid of religions, founded on four interdependent dimensions (the Community, the Law, the Way and the Experience) and applies it to professional football by underlying its relevance in ...

An Investigation of Logistical Service in Franchising System: A Case Study in the French Context

In the past forty years, the franchising system has undergone a remarkable expansion, notably in France, retaining more and more the attention of economy and service management researchers. A recurring question relates to the sources of competitive advantage that a franchise network may have. This paper intends to contribute to the debate based on the fundamentals of the resource/competence-based view, and applying the reflection to the case of the logistical service. Based on a case study driven within a franchise network, it is possible to conclude that the supply chain competences of a franchisor play an important role in the level of perceived satisfaction of franchisees when customised solutions are proposed thanks to information technologies.

Commerce triangulaire : une relecture à partir de la démarche logistique

Le commerce triangulaire, dont une partie repose sur l’expansion d’un système esclavagiste, fait le lien entre les économies de l’Europe, de l’Afrique et des Amériques. Si la traite atlantique a débuté au milieu du XV siècle entre l’Afrique et la péninsule ibérique, la traite triangulaire s’est développée, quant à elle, du XVIe siècle au XIX siècle et a impliqué un nombre important de parties prenantes, tout particulièrement dans la gestion des flux. L’article s’appuie sur des travaux conduits par des spécialistes en histoire économique qui ont souligné le rôle clé joué par différents acteurs dans le commerce triangulaire, mais sans référence explicite à la démarche logistique. Tout en étant conscients de résumer la traite triangulaire à une activité homogène, alors qu’en plus de deux siècles de pratique intensive, elle a connu de multiples évolutions, les auteurs souhaitent proposer une analyse du phénomène à partir d’une rigoureuse organisation des transports fondée sur le modèle hub-and-spokes. Ce dernier renvoie, plus largement, à une logique de coordination des flux qui fonde la démarche logistique moderne.