Análisis preliminar de sensibilidad del modelo

Traditionally, customer relationships have been viewed as buyer and seller relationships, which are adversarial relationships and are very common in traditional business environment. Both buyer and seller struggle to gain so-called maximum benefits for their own companies, and none of them pay attention to the benefits of the business partner. In this kind of relationships, price is the key point, power is the tactic, and also ‘win-lose’ and adversarial situations are the results. In contrast, the new customer relationship between supplier and customer is a long-term partnership that encourages the parties involved to work collaboratively to achieve mutual benefits and reinforce the competitiveness of both parties.

131 parties involved. With the increasing growth in logistics outsourcing, more and more companies are entering into long-term relationships with their third-party logistics providers. The ability to sophistically manage third-party relationships has become a main factor of successful logistics outsourcing (Leahy, et al. 1995). Likewise, from the viewpoint of logistics providers, customer relationship has been a strategic focus of the provision of logistics services.

In this study, all the participating 3PL companies consider establishing long-term partnerships with customer is their main relationship strategy. The current situations discussed before have indicated that the participating companies and their main customers have entered upon a complex cooperation stage. The participating companies provide not only single logistics service but also value-added services and supply chain solution services. Bask (2001) emphasized that “the complexity of service varies from simple to complex, whereas the customer relationship varies from loose to close” (p. 475). The cooperation situation requires the companies to elevate the normal transactional relationships to strategic stage (Harrington, 1999). Pursuing partnerships has been observed from the within-case study results, which can be interpreted from the following aspects.

Willingness to Establish Partnership

All the case study 3PL companies have realized the importance of establishing partnership with customers, and have shown great willingness to set up close and long-term relationships with main customers. From the viewpoint of the participating 3PL providers, long-term partnerships result in more understanding, easy communication and obvious mutual benefits. Within today’s Chinese 3PL industry, more and more foreign and domestic competitors’ involvement results in increasing complication and intensive competition in marketplace. As mentioned earlier, it is difficult for the companies to survive by simply competing with low prices. The companies have introduced integrated and value-added logistics services and competed with both improved service and reduced costs. However,

132 long-term partnerships with customers are the prerequisite that leads to successful business cooperation and give both parties competitive edge in the marketplace(Tate, 1996).

Developing Compatibility

Having similar business concepts has been emphasized by all the case study companies as an essential factor in dealing with customers. This means both 3PL users and providers should have compatible corporate culture and value, which has been defined by Bowersox (1992) as ‘selective matching’ or ‘compatibility’, one of the key ingredients to a successful partnership. The results of within-case study have revealed that the participating 3PL companies have tried and built partnerships with the customers who have the similar ‘business concept’. Meanwhile, the companies also have put efforts in selling their ‘business concept’ to those immature customers who are not familiar with such compatible business concepts.

From the experience of the participating 3PL companies, it is easy to form a mutually beneficial relationship with those mature or compatible 3PL users. However, for those who are not compatible currently but with business potential, the participating companies have to work hard continually at developing long-term partnerships with them. As one of the participants expressed that 3PL providers should sell the concept to those immature users while providing logistics service.

Open Communication

Communications have been identified by Tate, (1996) as a critical element that can make the difference between success and failure in logistics outsourcing. The study results indentify that the participating 3PL companies and their main customers have communicated openly with each other. The information shared during the communications includes not only operational information but also strategic information.

133

with their main customers. The meetings have been involved in different levels of management, such as the meetings of presidents, general managers, and operation. To gain more understanding about each other, the communication has been expanded widely to various functions such as production, sales, and marketing from both sides. In addition to sharing operational information, the parties have also communicated with each other with strategic information such as sales strategy, new plants location selection, new branch development, and long-term cooperate strategy.

Mutual Commitment

A mutual commitment can be addressed in the relationships between the participating 3PL companies and their main customers. Commitment must go both ways, as Tate, (1996),

emphasized that “successful partnerships, like marriages, demand that both partners be committed to weathering and working out bad times” (p.11). In this study, the commitment can be identified by the two aspects below.

First, the commitment can be understood based directly on the customer base. As mentioned earlier, all three participating companies consider commitment is one of the important factors affecting the success of their contracts. This can be understood that if the 3PL providers make a commitment to their customers, the customers will keep outsourcing their logistics to the 3PL providers; while the 3PL providers will constantly provide satisfying logistics services to these customers in return for their commitment.

Second, the mutual commitment also can be interpreted from the direct investment by the participating companies and joint investment with customers in the customers’ logistics facility building and development. According to the results of within-case study, all of the three companies have more or less been involved in logistics infrastructures and facilities development for special customers. This kind of cooperation requires high level of mutual commitment between the parties. Also the cooperation is built up from long-term relationships and mutual trust. An uneven commitment in the cooperation may lead to a failure logistics partnership, and result in losses on both sides.

134

CHAPTER SIX