Logistics strategies for short sea shipping operating as part of multimodal transport chains

Numerous studies about logistics strategies have been carried out but more often than not researchers have adopted a descriptive rather than a quantitative approach. The quantitative approach was addressed for the first time in 1987 and much of the work performed has been focused on North American based companies, thus creating a bias. Most studies have addressed product-oriented companies rather than service ones and the logistics strategies identified are of a general nature and often based on the work performed by Bowersox and Daugherty 1. To reverse this trend, this research investigates by means of a questionnaire specific logistics strategies that short sea operators can implement to integrate short sea shipping into multimodal transport chains. To achieve this, 75 potential best-practices were reduced by using factor analysis into a list of 13 functional strategies, of which eight were considered logistics strategies. The term best practice refers to a management idea that is supported by proper processes and provides superior performance; when associated with other management ideas, best-practices help to develop a logistic strategy that gives an organization a competitive advantage.