Paul R. Murphy

• Ph.D.
• Professor Emeritus at John Carroll University

Purpose This research explores the concept of omnichannel fulfillment steering (OFS) and demonstrates how retailers can influence a consumer’s fulfillment decisions through commonly used financial incentives such as discounts, credits and the opportunity to avoid home delivery fees. Design/methodology/approach We present insights from two theoreti...

Purpose Since the emergence of e-commerce uprooted traditional brick-and-mortar retail in the early 2000s, many retailers have reacted by first independently servicing both the online and in-store channels (multichannel retailing) and subsequently integrating both channels to provide a seamless front-end customer interface (omnichannel retailing)....

Responding to calls for replication research in the supply chain management literature, the current article reports the results of a replication study that looked at the performance of logistics outsourcing relationships among German logistics managers. More specifically, this article investigates the performance of logistics outsourcing relationsh...

Purpose – The central tenet of this paper is that a firm's efforts to nurture a long-term relationship with a third-party logistics (3PLs) will be influenced by its strategic orientation toward its own customers. The purpose of this paper is to propose that there will be a spillover effect of a firm's relationship marketing orientation (RMO) toward...

In this paper, the effects of two dimensions of justice—procedural and distributive—on key attitudinal and behavioral elements of logistics outsourcing relationships are investigated. The findings suggest that the fairness of policies adopted by a third-party logistics provider (3PL) and respective outcomes nurtures a customer's trust in and long-t...

There is a long-standing history of retrospective articles in the peer-reviewed literature when a particular journal reaches some type of publication milestone, generally an anniversary that ends in zero (e.g., 10 years) or five (e.g., 25 years). With this in mind, the purpose of this article is to present a retrospective of the research published...

Purpose The logistics discipline has been characterized by tremendous change since the early 1990s. One result is that the logistician's relevant skill set has likely changed as well. To this end, the present paper aims both to update, and to provide a longitudinal perspective of, a 1991 study that investigated the skill requirements of senior‐leve...

While there is little question that the logistician's role(s) and responsibilities have undergone dramatic change in recent years, managerial skills and knowledge remain the foundation of effective and efficient logistics management. With this in mind, this article uses Poist's (1984) BLM (Business, Logistics, Management) framework to compare skill...

While there is little question that the logistician's role(s) and responsibilities have undergone dramatic change in recent years, managerial skills and knowledge remain the foundation of effective and efficient logistics management. With this in mind, this article uses Poist's (1984) BLM (Business, Logistics, Management) framework to compare skill...

Purpose This paper provides a comparison of users and providers of third‐party logistics (3PL) services with respect to relationship marketing elements, such as trust and communication, as well as relationship marketing outcomes, such as retention and recovery. Design/methodology/approach Constructs for the relationship marketing elements and outc...

This article uses a relationship marketing perspective as the basis for evaluating third-party logistics arrangements. In particular, the study investigates whether 3PL relationship outcomes (e.g., customer retention, service recovery) are influenced by select relationship characteristics (e.g., communication, reputation) and/or select customer att...

This article uses a relationship marketing perspective as the basis for evaluating third-party logistics arrangements. In particular, the study investigates whether 3PL relationship outcomes (e.g., customer retention, service recovery) are influenced by select relationship characteristics (e.g., communication, reputation) and/or select customer att...

Despite the increased importance and corporate visibility of logistics – and its concomitant opportunities – the demand for college educated entry-level logisticians continues to greatly exceed their supply. The current study, which responds to this persistent shortfall of talented students, was designed to investigate three primary issues: student...

By 2005, users of third-party logistics services may be spending an average of nearly one-third of their total logistics budgets (compared to 20 percent today) to support 3PL services (Gooley 2000). Yet, very little research has examined managerial activities that might influence the performance of these logistics outsourcing relationships. Over th...

The present paper adds to the relatively limited empirical literature involving green logistics by comparing US and non-US firms with respect to select propositions regarding environmental issues, practices, and strategies. For a majority of propositions evaluated, the study results indicate that US and non-US firms tend to share similar perspectiv...

Although the Internet's potential impact on supply chain management appears enormous, to date, most of the relevant literature has been anecdotal in nature. The present paper adds to the relatively sparse empirical literature by looking at select web site practices involving supply chain participants. More specifically, the paper investigates possi...

This study attempts to infuse relationship marketing theory into the study of logistics outsourcing relationships. In particular, the study demonstrates that not all of the partnerships between customers and providers of third-party logistics services are the same in terms of their level of development. The existence of distinct levels of partnersh...

If the logistics discipline is to reach its full growth and potential, it must become more accepting of the concept that logistics managers have a responsibility to seek socially beneficial results along with economically beneficial ones in their decision making. However, compared to corporate functions such as accounting and marketing, the logisti...

While mail surveys continue to be a widely used research technique, relatively little empirical research exists that assesses their effectiveness among industrial (commercial) organizations. To address this literature void, the present paper reports the findings from a mail survey of international freight forwarders. More specifically, this paper i...

Internships are an increasingly essential component of the educational preparation for the contemporary logistics major, and are often viewed as a “win-win” situation for both the intern and their employer(s). Despite their growing importance, there has been limited discussion of logistics internships in either the practitioner or academic literatu...

There appears to be an increasing acceptance of the relevance and importance of logistics internship programs for companies that employ logistics interns, the students who seek these opportunities, and the academic institutions that strive to facilitate the success of these programs. In this article, we provide the results of one of the first empir...

The World Wide Web offers the potential for logistical constituencies to simultaneously reduce logistics costs and improve customer service. However, there has been limited empirical research to date concerning logistics constituencies and web-related issues. To address part of the literature void, this article reports the results from a survey of...

Provides results from a recent empirical study of US-based international freight forwarders (IFFs). Compares IFF demographics with those from previous empirical research and finds that the IFF industry is still dominated by small companies and that IFFs continue to diversify their revenue bases. Presents information concerning contemporary issues a...

Environmental issues affect numerous logistical decisions throughout the value chain. This research identifies strategies that are most and least popular for managing and responding to such issues, and provides evidence of relationships between select company characteristics and the particular types of strategies employed in managing logistics-rela...

Summarizes previous logistics research into the benefits of, and barriers to, electronic data interchange (EDI). Argues that information management in general, and EDI in particular, is vitally important for today’s international freight forwarder. Presents the findings from empirical studies of international freight forwarders and customers of int...

Discusses the results from an empirical study that investigated potential career frustrations and concerns of women in distribution, defined as female marketing and logistics professionals. In general, both groups of respondents have some reservations about career opportunities in their respective fields. Moreover, perceptions about career opportun...

Logistical friendliness (unfriendliness) refers to the ease (difficulty) of arranging international freight operations to/from a particular country. The present paper builds upon previous research by 1) examininglogistical friendliness and unfriendliness as two different constructs (rather than as opposite ends of the same continuum), and 2) linkin...

With logistics increasingly adopting a strategic orientation in many firms, senior-level logisticians must possess certain skills in order to successfully manage the logistics function. This article argues that the contemporary senior-level logistics manager needs to be proficient in three categories namely: business, logistics and management skill...

Using data compiled from a recent of businesses located in a major metropolitan area, the present paper evaluates a series of propositions concerning rail-truck intermodal. In general, the study results tend to support the various propositions, and key findings suggest that users and nonusers of intermodal transportation have different perceptions...

The service quality literature indicates a variety of gaps between expected and perceived quality, and that service quality is a key determinant of customer satisfaction. As such, the present paper examines international freight forwarders (IFFs) and IFF customers with respect to various services which might be provided by IFFs; the paper also repo...

Previous carrier selection studies involving both shipper and carrier perspectives have discovered numerous differences between shippers and carriers, at least in terms of mean score comparisons. However, analysis of the relative importance of the selection factors (not reported in previous studies) uniformly shows a high degree of similarity betwe...

Focuses on the logistics-marketing interface and possible mechanisms for enhancing co-ordination between the two functions. A comparison of both logistics and marketing practitioners reveals that there were minimal differences in the usage of 14 co-ordination-enhancing techniques. The results also suggest that improvements in the relationship betwe...

Uses the results of a study of 441 US-based international freight forwarders (IFFs) to discuss selected electronic data interchange (EDI) and information management issues. Addresses specific issues including: usage and importance of EDI; major benefits and barriers of EDI implementation; evaluation of key information systems issues; and influence...

Public concern over resource depletion, congestion, waste disposal, and various types of pollution has focused increased attention on environmental issues. These environmental issues are expected to broaden the scope of logistics and influence the way in which logistics managers do their jobs. To date, there has been relatively limited empirical re...

Most firms have traditionally offered one level of logistics service to all customers. This often results in some customer groups receiving more service than necessary, while other groups receive less service than necessary. The emerging concept of logistical segmentation suggests that companies can structure their logistical offerings to meet the...

This article presents results from a continuing, multiterm project designed to assess the effectiveness of instruction in business ethics. Both univariate and multivariate analyses indicate that student abilities to identify the presence of ethical issues have been enhanced by instruction in business ethics. This study improves on previous research...

Logistics problems have been identified as the biggest obstacle facing U.S. businesses in international sourcing. However, neither the purchasing nor the logistics literature contains much information on logistical considerations in global sourcing. This article presents the results of an exploratory study designed to learn about selected logistics...

Previous research has identified that the marketing and logistics functions come into conflict and disagreement on a number of issues. The present paper discusses marketer views for improving cooperation with the logistics function, and finds that the most frequently used cooperation techniques are top management support, information sharing, and a...

This article reports the findings of a survey to assess the management of environmental issues in logistics. More specifically, the study focuses upon the major issues, impacts, and strategies relating to environmentalism as perceived and practiced by U.S. logistics executives. The survey found that that the major issues hazardous waste disposal an...

A frequently overlooked component of succesful international trade involves the efficient distribution of products. The present paper looked at international freight forwarder perceptions of the easiest and most difficult countries for arranging international freight operations. The forwarders overwhelmingly indicated that Great Britain was the eas...

International marketing practices cannot be successful without a well-run logistics system. Because a country's logistical “friendliness” or logistical “unfriendliness” can have a profound impact on the efficiency of cross-border trade, one of the most important decisions in international trade involves which country(ies) to serve. Reports on a stu...

Presents a contemporary baseline study of US-based international freight forwarders. Provides much needed information on industry characteristics, which should reduce the occurrences of managers making important distribution decisions based only on conjecture, subjective perceptions and commonly held assumptions. Addresses three research questions,...

This paper develops a framework for classifying existing transportation choice research by using two dimensions: the decision(s) being researched and the respondent's role(s) in the decision process. Following a discussion of this framework, the paper then presents the results of an empirical study involving a single decision (international water p...

Responding to Randall and Gibson''s (1990) call for more rigorous methodologies in empirically-based ethics research, this paper develops propositions — based on both previous ethics research as well as the larger organizational behavior literature — examining the impact of attitudes, leadership, presence/absence of ethical codes and organizational...

Investigated the influence of postcard prenotification among a business population on response rates, response speed, response quality, and cost-effectiveness. 441 firms were randomly assigned to receive or not receive prenotification of a mail survey. Results argue that postcard prenotification is an effective technique for increasing the response...

With logistics increasingly adopting a strategic orientation in many firms, senior‐level logisticians must possess certain skills in order to successfully manage the logistics function. This article argues that the contemporary senior‐level logistics manager needs to be proficient in three categories namely: business, logistics and management skill...

Previous research on mail survey response has been focused on consumer and/or student populations, with little effort aimed specifically at industrial organizations. This paper reports on a planned test of the impact of postcard prenotification on large industrial respondents. The results indicate that postcard prenotification had positive impacts...

One of the continuing concerns of the motor carrier industry is the need to upgrade the knowledge and skills of its salespeople. The paper reports the findings of a study which attempts to identify the specific characteristics of salespeople that require upgrading or improvement. The study is unique in the sense it examines and compares the views o...

A mail survey was conducted among 535 worldwide water ports and water carriers to learn about (1) the importance of various port selection factors and (2) the influence of contemporary trade issues on international port operations. Analysis of 134 responses (25 per cent response rate) revealed general agreement among respondents in terms of port se...

This paper examines the factors and issues considered important by ports and carriers involved in higher value-added exports. Our survey reveals that low freight handling charges, equipment availability, and a lack of problems caused by labor regulations were considered especially important by exporters dealing with higher value-added products. The...

Although the marketing discipline has become a more important functional area in many railroads since passage of the Staggers Act of 1980, much of the formal research has been devoted to pricing issues. Other elements of the marketing mix can impact profitability; consequently, U.S. freight railroads were surveyed about their sales force management...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Maryland, 1985. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 179-184).