Estructuras dendr´ıticas ramificadas

Involvement in the Process of Reverse Logistics by Firm D

Goods accumulation Transportation or moving Warehousing/storage Sorting/selecting/inspecting Using the disposal options

Table 7.9 Involvement in Reverse Logistics Process by Firm D

Resources Used to Build Capabilities with Reasons – Firm D

To understand the goods accumulation in various categories with its reasons To understand the reasons for keeping temporary records of the goods to speculate the volume of goods accumulation

To understand how and why to use the precautionary measures

for know-how in transporting and moving goods from one place to the other for know-how in warehousing and storing the goods

For sorting/sorting/selecting/inspecting

For understanding and using/choosing the disposal option To understand how and why to use the supply chain relationship To understand how and why to speculate the time required Time

In transporting and moving /goods from one place to the other x In warehousing and storing the goods

For sorting selecting and inspecting For using the disposal option Effort

In transporting and moving /goods from one place to the other In warehousing and storing the goods

For sorting selecting and inspecting For using the disposal option Private Transport System

In transporting and moving goods from one place to the other Supply Chain Relationship

148 Storage Space

For warehousing/storing the accumulations Space for Bin

To place the bin Information

To in/form the suppliers about the accumulation for compensation Physical Attribute - Computer

To send information to the suppliers about the accumulation Physical attribute - Picture Taking Device

To take pictures to upload in the web channels like Facebook, eBay, Amazon, Gumtree and Website

Physical Attribute - Pen and Paper

For writing the reduced price and stick this in the product

For writing the temporary/permanent record of the goods accumulation Physical attribute bin and bin bag

Money

To invest in the other channels like Facebook, Website, eBay, Amazon and Gumtree Unethical Behaviour

To use the disposal option by selling the customer return goods as new Excessive Precaution/Prevention Behaviour

To use a very tight returns policy

Opportunistic Economic and Social Behaviour

To make personal use and office use of goods for economic gain

Table 7.10 Resources and Capabilities used by Firm D to Build Reverse Logistics Capabilities

Among the six studied businesses, Firm D is the only start up business, as during the data collection period it was found that the business had only been running for six months. As shown in Table 7.9 and Appendices G and H, Firm D has goods accumulation in various categories and is involved in several activities related to RL. Table 7.10 and Appendices G and H give an overview of the various capabilities and tangible and intangible resources used by Firm D to build capabilities. Formality was again not the norm for Firm D and they use tacit knowledge gained from past experiences as an informal way of doing things. Firm D uses both tangible and intangible resources to build capabilities for the RL process. The readily available and economical resources like the owner/manager or the staff members’ time and effort, and physical and tangible attributes were seen heavily deployed in all aspects of the process. They were, however, also found using a personal computer for writing emails to the supplier and for using Facebook and

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their website to sell and promote their goods. They also mentioned that they needed money to run the other channels for selling goods.

Firm D’s suppliers are all international and located abroad. Unlike Firms A, B and C, Firm D had a small supplier base of two or three suppliers, and this was because they are a newly established business without a contact for a large supplier. It was revealed that they had suppliers with whom they have an arms-length transactional relationship, and breaking the relationship with them would be easy if necessary. They had no dialogue with their suppliers about the goods that accumulated in the reverse channel, as they believe the suppliers can do nothing about this. However, they did receive advice from their suppliers, even though the advice was not always useful. They again had compassion and no resentment towards their supplier, as the owner of Firm D believed that ‘the suppliers can do nothing about the unsold and excess goods because

we ourselves have made the decision of what to buy and what not to buy’ (Owner, Firm D).

As shown in Appendix J, Firm D was involved in several cost-related activities and used various measures to avoid and reduce costs. As explained in Appendix J, some costs remained hidden which could bring adverse repercussions to the firm. As shown in Appendix I, various new themes have emerged from the analysis of Firm D relating to the use of resources, supply chain relationship, drivers, and barriers to RL. For instance, resources like ‘unethical behaviour’ has emerged as new theme, as they sold the returned goods as new to other customers without letting the customers know about this. As shown in Appendix H, Firm D was economically motivated to become involved in the RL activities; however, as analysed in Appendix H, they also faced various barriers prohibiting them from exploring, identifying and developing their capabilities.