An empirical assessment of the operational performance through internal benchmarking: a case of a global logistics firm

Arijit Bhattacharya, Dhyan Albert David

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Abstract

This article solves an operational performance measurement problem of a global logistics firm through an internal benchmarking tool. The intended impact is to enable logistics firms to form a deeper understanding of their own internal processes and metrics. The methodology of this in-depth action research involves a sequential approach with a series of interviews, questionnaire-based surveys, operations data collated through observations and process mapping yielding real-world data. A series of statistical tests are conducted to analyse the collated data. Strategic priorities of the firm are integrated with the firm’s operational performance to ascertain the effective performance by considering both the tangible and intangible measures. The outcomes inform both practitioners and academics how the firm could improve its freight forwarding business’s profitability by ensuring that its operations meet the prioritised criteria. The ‘best practice’ derived from internal benchmarking forms an intermediate step towards external benchmarking. The outcomes facilitate investigating the current business strategy, the standard operating procedures and the scope of improving those.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)614-631
Number of pages18
JournalProduction Planning & Control
Volume29
Issue number7
Early online date4 Apr 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 May 2018

Keywords

  • Freight forwarding industry
  • operational performance
  • internal benchmarking
  • logistical strategies

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