Alberto Eduardo
Besser Freitag
Candido Mendes
University, Brazil
E-mail: alberto.besser@professor.ucam.edu.br
Fabiano Cunha da
Silva
Candido Mendes
University, Brazil
E-mail: fabiano.cunha2011@hotmail.com
Submission: 4/2/2021
Accept: 10/30/2021
ABSTRACT
Retail plays an important role in the trade sector of the Brazilian economy, with net operating revenues of nearly BRL 1.7 trillion and more than 7 million workers in 2018, according to the latest Annual Trade Survey from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The entry of large multinational companies into the Brazilian retail market, where it is worth highlighting Amazon, has negatively impacted the market of Brazilian retail companies, which still use archaic methods and disqualified labor in their operations and processes. Amazon provides better logistics services that directly add value to the quality of products offered through a leaner and more profitable supply chain. Additionally, the behavioral changes brought about by Covid-19 have made consumers more satisfied with online shopping experiences than with visits to physical stores. The increase in internet shopping and the reduction of visits to sales outlets has caused a migration of consumption to digital media, which may generate long-term transformations in the strategies of companies. Thus, the objective of this research is to provide a conceptual proposal of the use of logistics as a competitive advantage in retail organizations, considering the best management practices for the logistics sector. As a research methodology, a systematic literature review was adopted, based on the PRISMA protocol, allowing the identification of 94 records, 12 of which were included in the literature review, due to their adherence to the researched theme. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a conceptual proposal for the use of logistics as a competitive advantage in retail organizations, comprising five aspects: Information Systems, Application of KPIs aligned with the Strategic Objectives of the Organization, Creating Value for Products, Modern Management Concept and, Need for Organizations to recognize the Benefits and Advantages of Logistics.
Keywords: logistics; productivity; performance indicators; retail; covid-19
1.
INTRODUCTION
Over
the last decades, logistics has become an important factor of competitive
advantage in retail business organizations, due to the importance of cost
reduction, productivity increase, solutions offering, value addition to
commercialized products and services and the optimization of processes in the
supply chain, from raw material suppliers to the delivery of finished products
to customers, who are increasingly demanding in this globalized market. Retail
plays an important role in the Brazilian economy's trade sector, as shown in
Table 1.
Table 1: General data of trading companies
|
|
Trade division |
||
Data |
Unit |
Trade of
vehicles, parts and motorcycles |
Wholesale trade |
Retail trade |
Expenditure on salaries, wages and other remuneration in trade
companies |
One Thousand BRL
(1) |
22.664.609 |
59.580.206 |
155.180.371 |
Number of trading
companies |
Units |
147.570 |
202.836 |
1.150.177 |
Number of local units with resale revenue |
Units |
159.240 |
228.200 |
1.265.220 |
Personnel employed on December 31 in trade companies |
Persons |
894.436 |
1.694.794 |
7.623.197 |
Net operating
revenue |
One Thousand BRL
(1) |
345.061.488 |
1.658.759.130 |
1.692.750.485 |
(1)
1 USD = 5,719 BRL
(Central Bank of Brazil, March 29, 2021)
Source: IBGE (2018)
Drucker
(1962) stated logistics as being the “dark side” whereby the North American
economy might find factors to increase productivity at business organizations,
making logistics central to the development of business activities,
particularly in the retail market, focus of this study. In face of economic
changes in constant transformation, more competitive markets are created and
with efficient and effective managerial demands in operations, in such a way
that logistics has been standing out over time as an important managerial
concept (Carvalho, 2002).
Additionally,
the behavioral changes brought by Covid-19 have made consumers more satisfied
with online shopping experiences than with visits to physical stores. The
increase in internet shopping and the reduction of visits to outlets has caused
a migration of consumption to digital media, which may generate long-term
transformations in companies' strategies.
According
to a study by SBVC (2020), 91% of consumers say they are satisfied with their
online shopping experience, ten percentage points more than their satisfaction
with physical stores. Just over half (53%) of respondents are visiting physical
retail less and 55% shop at least monthly in online channels. In addition, 14%
of online consumers made their first online purchase during the pandemic.
Considering
the above mentioned context, the following research question was defined: How
can logistics contribute with the development of companies within the Brazilian
retail market? The subject matter of this study is justified, primarily due to
the entry of large multinational companies into the Brazilian retail market,
where Amazon is worth mentioning, offering better logistics services which
directly add value to the quality of offered products, by means of a leaner and
more profitable supply chain. Amazon's arrival has negatively impacted the
market of Brazilian retail companies, which still use archaic methods and
unqualified labor in their operations and processes.
This
research also intends to study little or poorly explored gaps in daily business
life, with a focus on logistics operations and the optimized application of
operational processes, in addition to the creation and monitoring of
performance indicators in companies, and information systems in the logistics
sector, focusing on productivity increase, expense reduction, and serving as a
competitive differential for business organizations.
Based
on the aforementioned, the objective of this research is to present a
conceptual proposal for the use of logistics as a competitive advantage in
retail organizations, considering the best management practices for the
logistics sector, presenting Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) and information
systems, to enhance the results of companies.
This
study adopted as methodology a systematic literature review, based on the
PRISMA protocol with searches in scientific databases Scielo
and Capes Journals Website (search subject), besides books and technical
journals specialized in the logistics field, exploring subjects such as:
· A
brief history of logistics in the business environment;
· The
importance of logistics in the supply chain flow; and
· The
main factors for increasing logistics productivity as a competitive advantage
in retail business organizations.
In
addition to this introduction, the study is structured as follows: the second
section presents a literature review of the main logistics concepts and their
relation with the retail market. The third section discusses the research
methodology used, a systematic review of the literature. In the fourth section the
results are analyzed and discussed, followed by the conclusions in the fifth
section and references.
2.
LITERATURE REVIEW
As
from the investigated scientific literature, the study was divided into four
subsections, for a better understanding of the addressed topics.
2.1.
Logistics
Logistical
practices have existed for centuries, and it was mainly in wars that their
strategies were used as a competitive advantage in the logistical ability to
manage supplies, meet demands, with their results in operations being crucial
in the military organization. However, it was only much later, and in the
recent past, that business organizations recognized the benefits and advantages
of logistics (Carvalho, 2002).
At
the same time in which logistics is one of the oldest economic activities, it
is also considered one of the most modern managerial concepts, being a
facilitating agent in the exchange processes of production surplus between
people, leading to the emergence of three important logistics functions: stock,
storage and transport. In a more modern way, the concepts of logistics will be
explored as of the 50's, with its emergence and application in the business
environment, where previously the term transportation was the main point to be
observed and studied within the organizations, where it should be noted that
2/3 of the logistic costs are generally directed to the transportation sector
(Neves, 2010).
From
the 1950's to the 1970's, the term business logistics became stronger in the
market, with various projects being developed in the private sector and, in
Brazil, it is worth mentioning the people transportation companies (COMETA), as
the forerunners of the first quality programs and the introduction of
performance indicators in their operations, implementing controls such as: fuel
consumption, vehicle maintenance, driver training hours, etc. It is also
important to highlight Companhia Metropolitana
de Transporte Coletivo de
São Paulo (CMTC) and Viação Aérea
Rio Grandense (VARIG), with the application of broader
concepts and greater use of logistical resources in their operations.
From
the 70's and until the mid 2000's, logistics is more
directed and applied inside the companies in their operations, where a new
broader concept emerges: the supply chain, encompassing all the efforts
involved in the production and delivery of the final finished product,
integrating several areas from the supplier's supplier to the final client's
client (Carrara, 2007). This concept is wider, because it covers not only the
level of commitment of the producing company's employees, but also a large net of
contacts, with the collaboration and mutual commitment among all the companies
responsible for delivering the final product at the lowest cost, in the
shortest time and with the highest quality, where it is extremely common the
gathering between contractors and contracted parties, seeking to increase the
synergy, commitment and collaboration of all the elements involved along the
supply chain, adopting a posture of great commercial partnership in the
negotiations.
In
Tsai's (2008) view, the supply chain systemic approach contradicts to a great
extent the archaic and extremely confrontational relationship between buyers
and suppliers adopted in the negotiations previously established in the buying
and selling processes, being replaced and known today by the approach called
Efficient Consumer Response (ECR).
Since
the 2000s, the term supply chain is evidenced as a fundamental element, being
strongly explored in the current scenario, evolving towards a supply network,
with a more updated perspective and working in a globalized way, mainly due to
the increase in the flow of imports and exports, being a primordial and
fundamental factor for the survival and maintenance of competitiveness of
multinational companies, expanding the availability of their products and
services to the most distant nations.
Logistics
is the process of strategically managing the purchase, transportation, and
storage of raw materials, parts, and finished goods (and related information
flows) by the organization and its distribution channels in such a way that
current and future profitability is maximized by delivering orders at the
lowest associated cost (Christopher, 2009).
2.2.
Logistics
and Retail Market
For
Churchill and Peter (2013), retailers create value for manufacturers by making
their commercialized products available to demanding consumers, transferring
information about the needs presented by consumer behavior in relation to the
offered products, including taking risks for perishable products that have a
higher possibility of losses, promoting the manufacturers' products and
offering services and conveniences to consumers that make the products become
objects of desire for consumption.
When
it comes to retail supply chain management, the market's need to obtain
increasingly faster responses to the demands generated at the end-consumer, has
driven companies to look for more flexible structures that have the necessary
skills for the new scenario created by the economic globalization, mainly
driven by the retail market (Arbache, 2011).
2.3.
Logistics
and KPI's
A
company, based on streams, applies rigorous standards to measure or evaluate
the performance of its logistics services (Carvalho, 2002), where these
standards and results are measured through performance indicators, also called
Key Performance Indicators (KPI's), which serve as a tool for analysis and
control of the quality of logistics services performed by suppliers to any
company. Thus, this section aims to describe the improvements in companies,
through the analysis and study of performance indicators used in the logistics
environment.
All
evaluation systems applied in the business environment, should preferably be
composed of performance indicators that allow the integration of the different
processes and areas, providing a solid basis for decision making. According to Bititci (2015), performance indicators must be aligned with
the company's strategic objectives. In general, it is observed in the
literature that these performance indicators should preferably be an index, which
must be clear, objective, and aligned with a competition strategy (Bititci, 2015; Kennerley; Neely, 2003).
Performance
indicators guide the business organization not only to measure a certain goal,
but also to solve a problem, according to Table 2, where the creation of each
KPI was based on the information of a defect in its operational process,
identified from the experience of one of the authors of this work, responsible
for the logistics of a fashion company, which exists for over 30 years, with
operations throughout the Brazilian territory.
Having
performance indicators, which are clear, objective and easy to understand in an
organization is a primary and diferenciatory factor
to strive for continuous improvements, and ensure that all employees,
regardless of hierarchical levels, can move in the same defined direction,
aiming for the same objectives and strategies outlined by management (Neves,
2010). Performance indicators also represent an important communication link
between executives, to transmit to their subordinates the mission and vision of
their company, through the integration of all employees at various operational
levels to achieve the defined strategic objectives.
Table 2: Observed problems and proposed indicators
Observed problems |
Proposed indicators |
Products delivered after the
deadline to customers |
Average percentage of orders
delivered on time |
Products delivered to customers with damages |
Average percentage of products being delivered damaged |
High employee absenteeism |
Average percentage of the
main reasons for employee absenteeism |
Source: The authors (2021)
When
creating KPI's, the following caution must be taken (NEVES, 2010):
· KPI
must be aligned with the company's strategic planning;
· Important,
measurable and realistic business goals should be defined;
· KPI’s
must have clear rules and be easy to calculate;
· After
the KPI's are created, it is necessary to constantly monitor the obtained
results and make sure that the company is within the expected performance; and
· The
measured deviations must be corrected through KPI's analysis and continuous
improvements must be proposed.
According
to Neves (2010), the main logistics indicators are:
· Perfect
Order: Measures the % of orders delivered on time to customers, complete,
undamaged, and without problems in their tax documentation;
· Order
Cycle Time: Measures the actual time between the receipt of the order and
delivery to the end customer;
· Stock
Coverage: Measures the time in which the existing stock is sufficient to meet
demand, without the need for replenishment;
· Dock-to-stock
time: Measures the time between the unloading of the products at the receiving
dock until the material is available, properly addressed and free for the separation
processes;
· Inventory
Accuracy: Measures the % accuracy between physical and book inventory;
· Transportation
Cost: Measures the proportional % of the transportation cost in relation to the
total value of the transported goods; and
· Transportation
Damages: Measures the % of damaged goods in relation to the total value of
transported goods.
2.4.
Logistics
and Information Systems
Fleury
and Fleury (2011) point out that, despite the broad movement with the need for
continuous evolution and changes required by the market, there are still major
barriers to be overcome for the evolution of operations; both to implement new
management concepts, as well as operational practices and information
technologies.
The
globalization trend is generating a new global vision of operations in
logistics (Dornier et al., 2000) where, firstly, there is a need for
significant cost reduction in logistics operations, now perceived as a source
of differentiated services and of competition and, secondly, technology
allowing greater access to information for planning and management purposes,
from suppliers to the final customer and, thirdly, companies are avoiding the
internal vertical integration of the organization and migrating to an external
integration, in connectivity with the globalized world, building a large
logistics chain of commercial partners.
Before
addressing these technologies, it will be briefly discussed Information Systems
(IS) and the main location to be worked in this study with these technologies,
which are the Distribution Centers (DC). According to Karim (2011), IS are
data, processes and technologies that work together to collect, process, store
and distribute information, aiming to enhance and streamline the
decision-making process in organizations. For this author, the importance of an
IS is focused mainly on providing more accurate and
faster information so that decisions are grounded more effectively.
The
Management Information Systems (MIS) deal with a process of data transformation
into information that are used for decision analysis in the organization
structure, as well as provide the support and administrative security to
achieve the company's expected results (Oliveira, 2009). As stated by Laudon
and Laudon (2007), one of the objectives of implementing an IS in an
organization is to improve the decision-making processes by managers, who use
real data, provided by IS.
In
the opinion of Rodrigues and Pizzolato (2003),
"the DC is a regional warehouse configuration where consolidated shipments
are received from several suppliers. These loads are fractioned in order to
group the products in correct quantity and assortment, then forwarded to the
sales points". According to Lacerda (2000), the DCs represent a great
advantage in productivity increase and cost reduction for companies that
receive in a single way (a single load) the orders that were placed with
several suppliers, thus reducing transportation costs, since the shipments that
are received by the DCs are consolidated.
The
investment in IS of companies that manage the DCs, such as a Warehouse
Management System (WMS), will make it possible to reduce significantly the
operating costs of the retail company, placing it in a competitive position in
the market (Ma & Liu, 2011). By deploying the WMS, the information
circulates within the company, among employees (leaders and subordinates), in a
more agile way, minimizing deficiencies, helping the company with the control
and reduction of inventories, improving the profitability of the business and
reducing costs, where it is worth highlighting the reduction of costs with
human resources, because productivity is enhanced and thus a smaller number of
people will be required to perform a particular task.
According
to Banzato (2011), with the implementation of a WMS,
the company can improve in two important business fronts. The first is reducing
logistics costs and the second is enhancing the results of the quality of
services offered to the customer. The cost reduction is achieved through better
control of activities performed by the workforce, resulting in a more
functional DC that will require a lower workload from its employees, generating
greater gains for retail companies.
It is
worth noting that the most frequently observed improvements in retail logistics
operations are directly related to the significant reduction in the need to
work overtime, a reduction also seen in the hiring of personnel as the company
grows commercially. Perhaps the greatest advantage of having an automated
environment with a WMS is to obtain a real-time record of all errors made,
which are immediately discovered and corrected, avoiding failures in future
processes (Banzato, 2011).
When
it comes to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), there is a real need for
integration among the various existing sectors in companies, becoming more
evidenced and popular in corporate business in recent years (Tsai, 2008). Also
according to the author, the ERP system provides not only the integration of
the various sectors in business organizations, but also reduces costs,
processing time and real-time data exchange in an integrated way in companies.
Garcia
et al. (2009) state that the IS of ERP type had an increase in its use by large
and medium-sized companies after the 90's, becoming part of their business
strategies and for this reason the decision making process about the deployment
of this system, although extremely necessary, is also quite complex and
delicate. There are some ERP's known worldwide, among them, those of SAP and
ORACLE.
3.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Regarding
the nature of a research, the criteria for classifying the types of research
vary from author to author, following interests, objectives and fields.
Ander-Egg (1978) classifies the nature into two types: pure basic or fundamental
research, which seeks scientific progress and aims at knowledge for knowledge's
sake, and applied research which, as the name implies, has practical interests
in solving problems. When the solution to a research problem has no apparent
application to a practical problem, such research is called "pure"
rather than "applied" (Booth, Colomb &
Williams, 2019). Based on the above, the nature of this research can be
classified as applied, considering that the presented conceptual proposal aims
to encourage the use of logistics as a competitive advantage in retail
organizations.
The
strategy for collecting information was the bibliographic research, defined by
Gil (2002) as a compilation consisting mainly of books and scientific articles.
Its purpose is to analyze different positions that encompass a given subject.
Marconi and Lakatos (2003) also state that such research is based on important
works carried out with the capacity to enrich the material.
The
studies were collected throughout the month of October 2020 in the databases Scielo and Capes Journals Website (search subject). The Scielo database is an electronic library covering a
selected collection of scientific journals basically in Portuguese and Spanish,
with blind and peer-reviewed documents, ensuring their quality. Scielo was chosen because it contains high quality
articles, such as scientific journals, books, congress proceedings, and
industry publications.
The
Capes Journals Website was officially created by the Coordination for Improvement
of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), founded by the Brazilian Ministry of
Education on November 11, 2000, and is a virtual library that gathers and makes
available a large collection of national and international scientific
production. Regarding the Capes Journals Website (search subject), only the
contents of peer-reviewed journals were studied, ensuring the quality of the
collected material.
The
research process involved a systematic literature review using the PRISMA
protocol (Moher et al., 2009). A literature review fulfills several purposes,
among them, it shares with the reader the results of other studies that are
closely related to the one being conducted, fills gaps by expanding previous
studies, and provides a framework for establishing the importance of the study
and also a reference for comparing the results with other findings (Creswell,
2010).
In
Robson’s (2011) view, a systematic literature review is a specific way of
identifying and synthesizing the evidence of a research study, with emphasis
on:
· Provide
comprehensive coverage of the available literature in the field of interest
studied;
· Quality
of the reviewed evidence presented;
· Follow
detailed and explicit approach to data synthesis; and
· Use
of transparent and rigorous processes throughout the conducted researches.
The
systematic literature review was divided into four phases, as follows: 1)
Identification of records - in Scielo and Capes
Journals Website (subject search), 2) Screening - by excluding duplicated
records, 3) Eligibility - by excluding unavailable text, method or author, and
4) Inclusion - by excluding documents not aligned with the purpose of this
study. To search for records in the databases, the search phrase and boolean operators ((logistics) AND (retail)) were used.
The
search phrase was defined based on the professional experience of one of the
authors, responsible for the logistics area of a company in the fashion sector,
as well as through preliminary research with a few articles, from which the
most repeated terms were selected. To increase the number of records, it was
decided to search the scientific bases allowing the identification of documents
of any kind, including articles from scientific journals and congresses. As a
filter, records identified in the period of 2010 to 2020 were used.
4.
RESULTS ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.1.
Literature
Review Results
Table
3 shows the results of the systematic literature review, along the four phases
of the PRISMA protocol (Moher et al., 2009).
Table 3: Information flow through the phases of a
systematic literature review
Scientific database |
Search phrase |
1. Identification |
2.Screening |
3.Elegibility |
4.Inclusion |
|
|
Exclusion Criteria |
Duplicated records (#2) |
Text, authors or method not
available (#24) |
Texts not aligned with the
scope of this study (#56) |
Scielo |
logistics AND retail |
16 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
Capes Journals Website |
logistics AND retail |
78 |
1 |
22 |
46 |
|
Total |
94 |
92 |
68 |
12 |
Source: The authors (2021)
The
search phrase ((logistics) AND (retail)) was used in the two mentioned
databases. In Scielo, 16 records were retrieved, and
in the Capes Journals Website (search subject), 78 records were retrieved,
totalizing 94 records in the first identification phase.
In
the second phase, duplicated documents were eliminated, reducing the initial
number to 92 records. Texts not available, even after a complementary search in
Google Academic, as well as texts without author or method were excluded in the
third phase, resulting in 68 remaining documents. In the last phase, texts not
aligned with the scope of this study were excluded, leaving 12 papers dealing
specifically with the logistics and retail theme, which were included in the
literature review, in addition to books with important contributions to the
studied subject. Table 4 displays the main topics that were identified, with
their respective references.
Table 4: Topics and references
Topics |
References (year) |
Logistics |
Carvalho (2002), Neves (2010), Carrara
(2007), Tsai (2008), Christopher (2009) |
Logistics and Retail Market |
Churchill and Peter (2013), Arbache (2011) |
Logistics and KPI's |
Carvalho (2002), Bititci
(2015), Kennerley and Neely (2003), Neves (2010) |
Logistics and Information Systems |
Fleury and Fleury (2011), Dornier et al. (2000), Karim (2011),
Oliveira (2009), Laudon and Laudon (2007), Rodrigues and Pizzolato (2003),
Lacerda (2000), Ma and Liu (2011), Banzato (2011), Tsai (2008), Garcia et
al. (2009) |
Source: The authors (2021)
4.2.
Qualitative
Overview
The
systematic literature review used in this study specifically aimed to identify
and synthesize the evidence for this research, with literature available in the
field of logistics and retail. There is quality in the reviewed evidence and a
detailed and explicit approach to summarize the addressed subjects, using
transparent processes throughout the conducted research. When analyzing the
documents included in the literature review (Table 4), it was evidenced that:
· Year:
There is no specific year that stands out for the quantity of studies, with the
exception of 2011, in which five studies by different authors were identified,
aligned with the theme of this research;
· References:
All the authors of the studies are different, so there is an opportunity for a
researcher interested in the relationship between logistics and retail to
become prominent in this field of research;
· Institutional
affiliation: There is no institution that distinguishes itself with research in
the field of logistics and retail;
· Country:
Regarding the countries of origin of the collected records, there is a
predominance for Brazil, because the application of the concepts focused on
logistics was concentrated on the internal needs of consumption associated with
the external needs of exports from the Brazilian market;
· Source:
Similar to references and institutional affiliation, there is no publication
that is renowned for research involving logistics and retailing;
· Method:
Among the various methods described it is worth highlighting the systematic
review of the literature.
4.3.
Conceptual
Proposal
Through
the content analysis of the studies included in the literature review, it was
possible to establish a conceptual proposal of the use of logistics as a
competitive advantage in retail organizations (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Conceptual proposal of the
use of logistics as a competitive advantage in retail organizations
Source: The authors (2021)
The
conceptual proposal of the use of logistics as a competitive advantage in
retail organizations is discussed in more detail as follows.
· Information
Systems - Cruz et al. (2015) investigated a transportation problem considering
the expedition of goods, using the Excel SOLVER as a tool for the linear
programming (LP) modeling problem to support decision making. The model allowed
to suggest enlarging the use of vehicles, the demand absorbed by each store and
identified important points, such as the fact that the pallets demand and DC
expedition capacity are aligned, having no fleet sizing problems nor
installations. The model designed by Cruz et al. (2015) made it possible to
obtain information on how to allocate charges for expedition before
operationalizing activities, allowing to plan the operation more efficiently based
on data collected in the company. It was possible to increase the number of
pallets sent to stores, when compared with the historical decisions made by the
company.
· Application
of KPI’s aligned to the Strategic Objectives of the Organization – According to
Cruz et al. (2015), in order to obtain results that actually contribute to an
improvement in a company’s expedition planning, it is necessary that the data
collected fairly represent the company's reality. This finding is of great
importance in the meaning that the quality of the information that feeds the
KPI's will be proportional to the quality of decision making based on them, and
can significantly affect the competitiveness of the organization, positively or
negatively.
· Value
Creation for Products – As informed from the Brazilian association of handling
logistics (ABML), the logistics provider is a logistics service provider that
specializes in the management of logistics operations activities, or part of
the various stages of the supply chain, adding value to stored products of its
customers, with the power to at least simultaneously provide services in three
activities: inventory control, warehousing and transportation management (Rocha,
Silva & Rosini, 2018).
· Modern
Managerial Concept – Delivering products to the consumption sphere is one of
the important trade functions that take place in commercial companies. Rational
management of these processes plays an important role in the distribution of
goods. Recent studies point to the adoption of managerial decisions in the
logistics system, considering purchasing interests (Kush et al., 2020).
· Need
for Organizations to recognize the Benefits and Advantages of Logistics - The
knowledge about the benefits and advantages of logistics, can support an organization
in the appropriate decision regarding the supply chain strategy, such as lean,
flexible, responsive and agile, as described by Neto, Fusco and Machado (2014).
5.
CONCLUSIONS
This
study intended to describe how logistics concepts have relevance and gain a new
dimension in the structural changes of business organizations, especially in
the retail market within the globalized competitive context and the present
moment of the Covid-19 pandemic, where the competitive contribution that
logistics provides, through performance analysis systems and applied
technologies as factors of competitive advantage, was mainly addressed.
It is
believed that the objective of this study was reached, by means of the
development of a conceptual proposal for the use of logistics as a competitive
advantage at retail organizations, comprising five aspects, namely: Information
Systems, Application of KPIs aligned to the Strategic Objectives of the
Organization, Value Creation for Products, Modern Managerial Concept and, Need
for Organizations to recognize the Benefits and Advantages of Logistics.
Despite
the importance of further research involving logistics in the retail business,
it is proven that companies that have a logistics structure supported by
technology, processes and performance indicators, combined with a
meritocracy-based management, with training and development of people, will
have important competitive advantage factors in the business environment,
especially in the retail market.
In
addition to these studies, it is not enough to react to technological changes,
customer demands, and market trends that usually move the company's bases, it
is necessary to evaluate and identify the values that guide the business
strategy, establishing the pace of change according to the market, which at
this moment was seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The
organization must follow its own path as the driving force of the company's
performance, evaluating profitability, assigning priorities, examining
performance indicators, constantly diagnosing its own results, and having the
competence to direct and, when necessary, change the steps to be followed with
strategic measures to achieve success.
It is
crucial to rethink new concepts for productivity increase in all segments of
the retail business management, where by means of the analysis of networks and
supply chains, a new focus can be given, creating value, generating
profitability and offering a greater financial return for the company, as well
as high quality products for customers and a positive impact on society.
There
are limitations in this research on the subjects of logistics and retail, which
did not consider worldwide scientific databases such as Scopus and Web of
Science, generating a low quantity of material available with the necessary
quality, dealing specifically with the Brazilian retail market, but this does
not diminish the importance of the results found.
For
future research, it is suggested to verify the negative impact on the retail
business in times of economic crisis caused by Covid-19 and how logistics can
contribute to the reduction of economic losses in retail companies.
6.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
“We
certify that there are no conflicts of interest associated with the work
described in the article.
All
corporate or institutional affiliations and all sources of financial support to
the research is properly cited or mentioned in the manuscript.”
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