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Governance is critical to an alliance relationship as it aids in curbing opportunism and thus in achieving higher performance. While research suggests relational governance as well as formal control mechanisms as viable means to reduce opportunistic behavior in an alliance relationship, the effectiveness of the interplay of these governance forms remains an important issue. This research addresses this challenge by applying social contract theory to resolve the uncertainties surrounding whether relational governance, exercised by joint actions in the performance measurement process (PMP), can be effectively complemented by the formal control mechanisms of output and process controls. Based on a survey of 197 horizontal alliances of German logistics service providers and using structural equation modeling, we find that if formal control mechanisms are legitimized by underlying agreements, which are established through relational governance (i.e., joint actions), the two governance forms indeed complement each other. However, if no such legitimization through social contracts is present, the complementation is counterproductive. Furthermore, it is shown that opportunism in the setting of horizontal alliances is also detrimental to alliance success. Keywords: partnering (alliances); performance measurement; social contract theory; relational governance; structural equation modeling, INTRODUCTION Over the last two decades, a trend toward more cooperative ventures has emerged, with many companies, especially in the logistics sector, active in one or more horizontal alliances (Cruijssen, [...]

Various market challenges have led logistics service providers (LSPs) to engage in horizontal cooperations with each other, while maintaining their general legal independence. As an idiosyncrasy, horizontal cooperations entail the opposing forces of competition and cooperation, also referred to as coopetition (Bengtsson and Kock 2000; Tsai 2002). This constellation facilitates the development of opportunism and conflicts, which raise the risk of relationship failure. Adequate governance mechanisms provide a basis to avoid failure and drive cooperation success. This paper focuses on the postformation cooperation management phase and identifies the specific effects that operational governance has on cooperation commitment and cooperation effectiveness. Based on survey data from 226 LSP cooperations, we show that both formal and social governance mechanisms have a substantial performance effect. In this regard, the results differ fundamentally from studies on vertical buyer-supplier relationships. With respect to the specific setup of the cooperation, a differentiated view is provided. Results indicate that two types of cooperation complexity are of relevance: organizational complexity and strategic complexity. The former drives the relevance of formal control; the latter increases the relevance of both formal and social control for cooperation success. Keywords: horizontal alliances; transportation and logistics; alliance complexity; survey methods; structural equation modeling, INTRODUCTION Over the last decades, logistics service providers (LSPs) have developed into crucial linchpins of efficient and flexible supply chain processes. The tendency of companies to outsource logistics business functions [...]

Flint, Larsson, Gammelgaard and Mentzer (2005) and Wagner (2008) emphasize that innovativeness may help logistics service providers (LSPs) differentiate themselves from their competitors. Within the domain of innovation, relationship-specific proactive improvement by LSPs may play a vital role because in logistics outsourcing relationships, the problem of ex post adaptation exists (Rindfleisch and Heide 1997). So far, however, it remains unclear to what extent LSPs may utilize their proactive improvement to create customer loyalty and whether a focus on either cost or performance improvements is preferable. The present study analyzes 298 logistics outsourcing relationships using a survey method and structural equation modeling to assess the effect that proactive cost improvement and proactive performance improvement have on customer loyalty. Additionally, the moderating effects of 'service complexity' and 'length of contracting period' on the base effects are analyzed. The results reveal that proactive cost improvement and proactive performance improvement are both strong drivers of all core dimensions of loyalty (retention, extension, and referrals). However, this finding is a composition of two different patterns. Cost improvement, and thus efficiency is the main driver of customer loyalty when the outsourced services are simple and the contracting period relatively short. A clear shift of importance is observable when services increase in complexity and the contracting period lengthens. In such settings, customer loyalty is primarily driven by proactive performance improvement and thus, effectiveness, while cost improvement plays a subordinate role. Keywords: business-to-business marketing; outsourcing (make or buy); transportation; distribution and logistics; survey methods; structural equation modeling, INTRODUCTION Competition in the logistics service industry has constantly increased over the past decades as the penetration of logistics markets steadily grew. Today, about 80 percent of industrial companies outsource [...]

Considerable research on merchandise returns has looked at marketing elements of the sales process (e.g., product display) and how they influence returns. However, marketing and order fulfillment processes are temporally decoupled in remote purchase situations such as online retail. While both are intricate parts of the overall sales transaction, it is logical to believe that elements of order fulfillment may also be influential in explaining and controlling merchandise return. This study focuses on the packaging aspect of the order fulfillment process to explore how it may influence return incidents in online retail. Following insights from Signaling Theory, we propose that a product's package is a signal that communicates valuable information about the product to the buyer. We partner with an online retailer to study the outcome of a natural experiment involving product packaging during order fulfillment. Our results show that packaging influences returns, reducing them most significantly if the signaling is consistent across packaging levels.

The rapid growth of Internet retail platforms (e.g., Shopify and Wix) and marketplaces (e.g., Amazon, eBay, and Etsy) has given rise to a new wave of entrepreneurship. These are platform entrepreneurs—individuals who establish micro‐retail businesses on third‐party platforms. While there are now millions of such entrepreneurs worldwide, there has been limited scholarly investigation regarding the role of Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) policies that they can adapt to benefit their small businesses. Because the success of such businesses is intricately driven by the reviews they receive, we deem it essential to investigate how such reviews may be related to their LSCM policies. We conduct an observational field study at one such small platform seller. By investigating items sold under varying merchandise return policies (MRPs), we seek to isolate the relationship between MRP, and the likelihood, positivity, and depth of the reviews left by shoppers. Based on the concept of contractuality, rooted in Sociometer Theory, our results reveal that a more lenient MRP may serve as a perk that may positively impact the customer's review writing. However, the relationship is not monotonic. Instead, there is evidence that the effect of extended MRP leniency on reviews tapers off beyond a certain point.

As the logistics services outsourced by companies increase in scope and complexity, the challenge of designing appropriate contracts grows. Here, the price model, which determines the remuneration, takes a central position. In practice, however, the agreed-upon contracts often fail to govern the relationship and set wrong or misleading incentives for either or both of the involved parties. In order to provide a conceptual basis and to identify promising avenues for future research in the increasingly important field of pricing third-party logistics services, this article provides a comprehensive review of the existing literature on logistics and industrial service pricing using a refined version of the established Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) group relationship management framework.