Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Business economics - Supply, Production, Logistics, grade: 1, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, language: English, abstract: The process of globalization and the removal of barriers to international trade have led to an increased importance of Supply Chain Management for most businesses involved. To remain competitive, there is a need for all partners within the supply chain to collaborate and communicate (Zacharia et al. 2011; Christopher 2011). These two requirements, together with the creation of efficiency in all processes involved, an increased concentration on core competencies and the outsourcing of certain functions, can enhance the competitiveness and the service level of a company, as discussed by Christopher (2011). According to Bolumole (2003), there exists an imbalance between what companies seek to achieve and what they are able to perform in-house. Therefore, “the rationale for outsourcing to third party increases” (Bolumole 2003, p.93). This assignment will illustrate the development of third party logistics companies (3PLs) from the initial outsourcing to a collaborative partnership in supply chains today. The essay will be divided into three parts: development of 3PL, drivers for outsourcing as well as outsourced activities and how these add value to businesses.

Logistics and supply chain outsourcing is an area of constant growth, and global sourcing is now a competitive requirement. This text covers both strategic and operational aspects with observations and practical advice.

"This book is concentrated on the key players of the outsourcing paradigm; the organizations that provide logistics services, the Third Party Logistics (3PL's), as well as their clients, presenting and promoting the lessons learned by their cooperation"--Provided by publisher.

This book provides a framework for thinking about economic instiutions such as firms. The basic idea is that institutions arise in situations where people write incomplete contracts and where the allocation of power or control is therefore important. Power and control are not standard concepts in economic theory. The book begins by pointing out that traditional approaches cannot explain on the one hand why all transactions do not take place in one huge firm and on the other hand why firms matter at all. An incomplete contracting or property rights approach is then developed. It is argued that this approach can throw light on the boundaries of firms and on the meaning of asset ownership. In the remainder of the book, incomplete contacting ideas are applied to understand firms' financial decisions, in particular, the nature of debt and equity (why equity has votes and creditors have foreclosure rights); the capital structure decisions of public companies; optimal bankruptcy procedure; and the allocation of voting rights across a company's shares. The book is written in a fairly non-technical style and includes many examples. It is aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students, academic and business economists, and lawyers as well as those with an interest in corporate finance, privatization and regulation, and transitional issues in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and China. Little background knowledge is required, since the concepts are developed as the book progresses and the existing literature is fully reviewed.

For reseach in all subjects and among different philisopical paradigms, research methodologies form one of the key issues to rely on. This volume brings a series of papers together, which present different research methodologies as applied in supply chain management. This comprises review oriented papers that look at what kind of methodologies have been applied, as well as methodological papers discussing new developments needed to successfully conduct research in supply chain management. The third group is made up of applications of the respective methodologies, which serve as examples on how the different methodological approaches can be applied. All papers have undergone a review process to ensure their quality. Therefore, we hope that this book will serve as a valid source for current and future researchers in the field. While the workshop on “Research Methodologies in Supply Chain Management” took place at the Supply Chain Management Center, Carl von Ossietzky Univ- sity in Oldenburg, Germany, it is based on a collaboration with the Supply Chain Management Group of the Department of Operations Management at the Cop- hagen Business School and the Department of Production Management at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. We would like to thank all those who contributed to the workshop and this book.

Until now, no book dedicated to international logistics and supply chain management had existed. Featuring numerous case studies and diagrams obtained from logistic operators, Branch‘s book remedies this oversight, and skilfully illustrates his ideas in practice.