Strategic Resource Management and Performance Enhancement of the 3PL Industry of Sri Lanka

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the strategic resource management for performance enhancement in the 3PL industry in Sri Lanka. The study reviewed the relevant and recent literature on strategic resource management and 3PL performance to investigate the research problem of the existing low-performance status of the 3PL industry. Supply chains of the world trade network in the twenty-first century highly depend on logistics performance and efficiency, since the variety of services outsourced to 3PL service providers have been increasing constantly. Thus, 3PLs need to assess their internal and external resources including potential external advantages and identify performance factors which bring detrimental effects to the logistics performance. This paper, therefore, systematically reviews extant literature to identify strategic resources and performance factors that are associated with 3PL industry performance. Thereby, fourteen performance factors have been identified with their influence on the industry performance including logistics costs, infrastructure facilities, capital investment, customs clearance, technology application, information technology, logistics competency, policy-making and governing systems, logistics research and innovation, timeliness, international shipment handling, service quality and standards, logistics capability and customer satisfaction. The main contribution of this research is that it enhances understanding of 3PL performance, strategic resources, performance factors, and applicability of four strategic management theories to the identified problem including Resource Based View, Resource Dependency Theory, Transaction Cost Theory, and Network Theory. 3PL performance can be enhanced through bundling strategic resources, acquiring external resources, forming networks and minimizing transaction cost for customers. This paper contributes to the sparse literature that has explained the positive relationship between strategic resource management and performance enhancement of the 3PL industry.