Title: Shaping the international logistics strategy in the internationalisation process

Authors: Gino Marchet; Marco Melacini; Sara Perotti; Elena Tappia

Addresses: Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Raffaele Lambruschini 4/B, 20156, Milan, Italy ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Raffaele Lambruschini 4/B, 20156, Milan, Italy ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Raffaele Lambruschini 4/B, 20156, Milan, Italy ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Raffaele Lambruschini 4/B, 20156, Milan, Italy

Abstract: Internationalisation has increasingly become a strategic issue for companies. Ample evidence confirms the key role of logistics in supporting the company internationalisation process, especially in today's context characterised by growing demand in speed and flexibility. Setting the logistics strategy in line with corporate objectives for each export area over time is crucial and represents a challenge for logistics directors worldwide. The aim of this paper is to address this gap by providing empirical-based evidence on how the international logistics strategy should be shaped accordingly with company internationalisation choices. The research is based on case studies with a sample of 14 exports areas of six companies. Results offer a new approach with respect to previous contributions that studied specific logistics issues separately. From a practical viewpoint, managers can benefit from a full picture of both the variables to be set up and the potential alternatives to be selected when designing the international logistics strategy.

Keywords: internationalisation process; international logistics strategy; multiple case studies; exporting; export areas.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSCOR.2016.075914

International Journal of Supply Chain and Operations Resilience, 2016 Vol.2 No.1, pp.72 - 93

Received: 22 Apr 2015
Accepted: 13 Nov 2015

Published online: 12 Apr 2016 *

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