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This study investigates the factors influencing the actual usage of freight forwarding services in Indonesia, focusing on the roles of desire, outcome expectancy, and perceived self-efficacy, with delivery risk and perceived trust acting as moderating factors. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), this study examines how personal cognitive factors and external risks influence users' attitudes and behaviors toward freight forwarding services. Data were collected from 616 respondents across Jakarta, Surabaya, and Makassar utilizing a structured questionnaire. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings reveal that desire significantly influences both attitude and delivery risk, while attitude has a strong direct effect on actual usage. Outcome expectancy and perceived self-efficacy demonstrated weaker effects, particularly on attitudes, suggesting that other factors, such as trust and risk perceptions, play a more significant role in this context. Additionally, delivery risk was found to moderate the relationship between desire and attitude, while perceived trust did not moderate the link between attitude and actual usage. The research underscores the importance of trust-building and risk mitigation strategies for freight forwarding service providers in Indonesia. The study also provides theoretical contributions by applying SCT to the logistics sector and offers practical implications for enhancing service adoption in emerging markets.

Background: The freight forwarding industry is undergoing digital transformation through the implementation of online platforms designed to enhance operational efficiency and transparency. Despite these benefits, the adoption of these platforms has been slower than anticipated due to customer concerns and industry-specific challenges. Methods: This study investigates the factors influencing the intention to adopt and the actual use of online platforms for freight forwarding services among business customers in Thailand. A modified Unified Theory for Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, incorporating perceived risk, serves as the theoretical framework. Survey data were collected from 400 respondents in managerial or higher-level positions involved in freight shipping within Thai firms and analyzed using a structural equation model (SEM). Results: The analysis reveals that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions positively influence adoption intention, while perceived risk negatively impacts it. Firm size moderates the effect of social influence, with a stronger impact observed in larger enterprises. Conclusions: The findings offer practical insights for Thai freight forwarders, suggesting strategies to improve customer acceptance and encourage the adoption of online platforms. Addressing the identified factors could lead to improved efficiency and greater integration of digital technologies in the logistics industry.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the role of freight forwarding companies in detecting and reporting trade-based money laundering. The proximity of freight forwarding companies to shipping-related trade-based money laundering red flags places them in an ideal position to detect suspicious transactions. Design/methodology/approach The study used semi-structured interviews with expert participants in freight forwarding shipping and compliance aspects around freight forwarding. This study focuses on the South African context. Findings Freight forwarding companies are well-positioned to detect, investigate and report on trade-based money laundering schemes. However, the companies are not always aware of the guidelines designed to assist in identifying trade-based money laundering schemes. Thus, freight forwarding companies develop internal processes to identify trade anomalies but are often unable to link trade anomalies to illegal financial flows and trade-based money laundering schemes. Research limitations/implications The current regulations on money laundering can be extended to freight forwarding companies by the respective regulators for enhanced anti-money laundering protection. This study is limited to freight forwarding companies in a South African context. Practical implications Increased awareness among staff in freight forwarding companies can assist them in identifying trade-based money laundering red flags to detect and prevent trade-based money laundering schemes. Social implications This paper assists other role players and policymakers in the trade process to create a better awareness of trade-based money laundering. The limited obligations on freight forwarding companies to comply with anti-money laundering regulations lead to a more volunteer-like compliance practice. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that offers insight into the role of freight forwarding companies in detecting trade-based money laundering in South Africa.

This article exposes the prospects of using structured analysis and design technique (SADT), its advantages and capacities for the study of processes in a freight forwarding company to improve the quality system for consigner service provision. We review the modeling of high-capacity container (HCC) transportation by a transport and logistics company using the SADT method and IDEFO notation, as well as the efficiency of using the SADT methodology to describe and research freight forwarding processes that can be confirmed by the list of its key application areas.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of cooperative purchasing on buyers' purchasing power. Purchasing in the humanitarian sector has traditionally been characterized by a low level of coordination due to inter-agency competition for funding, diverging mandates and other organizational differences. Relationships with commercial suppliers have also remained arm's-length and often dormant due to high levels of uncertainty and strict public procurement rules and regulations. However, recent pushes for increased efficiency and effectiveness are driving humanitarian agencies toward cooperative purchasing - a purchasing strategy that is claimed to be highly beneficial for members of the purchasing consortium not least for its ability to increase buyers' purchasing power. In reality, the effectiveness of the strategy in increasing purchasing power is unclear. Design/methodology/approach - The authors study a single case of several humanitarian organizations aiming to increase their leverage in buying freight forwarding services by joining forces. Findings - Following several incidents during the process, the cooperative purchasing initiative did not contribute to increased power in the case. It was found that in addition to increased volumes, the effect of the strategy on other sources of power such as interconnections is also of importance. Research limitations/implications - The research is limited to the boundaries of a single case study including the perceptive view of respondents interviewed. Practical implications - The findings of the study provide insights for organizations aiming to practice cooperative purchasing. Originality/value - The findings of the study provide insights for organizations aiming to practice cooperative purchasing.

Purpose Supply chain resilience (SCR) is essential to the success of firms. However, very few studies have focused on the relationships between different types of integration, SCR and service performance from the perspective of third-party logistics providers (3PLs). The purpose of this paper is to develop and assesses a conceptual model for these relationships. Design/methodology/approach A total of 161 3PLs in Taiwan were surveyed and their responses were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM/PLS). Findings The responses of respondents demonstrated that, of the three types of integration (internal integration, customer integration and logistics collaborator integration) used by 3PLs, internal integration had the greatest effect on SCR. Customer integration was found to have three fully mediating effects on the relationships between internal integration and service performance, between logistics collaborator integration and SCR, and between logistics collaborator integration and service performance. Originality/value This study provides useful information on how different types of integration manifest in the SCR and service performance of 3PLs.

Freight forwarding companies commonly encounter difficulties in handling uncertainties, especially demand uncertainty under the circumstances of no sufficient historical data or accurate forecasting approach. A two-stage robust optimization method is proposed for service network design under demand uncertainty. We employ probability-free uncertainty sets to illuminate the potential scenarios and develop a column-and-constraint generation approach as the solution method to solve the introduced robust models exactly. As indicated by the numerical results, the algorithm we proposed herein performs better than the Benders decomposition approach in terms of computing speed and quality of the solution. Comparative results demonstrate the robustness of the proposed models. We also analyze the structural properties of robust solutions, which provide operational flexibility against uncertainty.

The domain of urban freight transport is becoming increasingly complex. Many urban supply chains are composed of small and independent actors that cannot efficiently organize their highly fragmented supply chains, thereby negatively affecting the quality of life in urban areas. Both companies and local administrators try to improve transport efficiency and reduce external costs, but the effects of such interventions are difficult to predict, especially when applied in combination with each other (an urban logistics scheme). This paper presents an agent-based simulation model to quantify the effects of urban logistics schemes on multiple actors. We provide a detailed mathematical representation in the form of a Markov decision process. Based on an extensive literature study, we aggregate data to represent various actors in typical Western European cities. We perform numerical experiments to obtain insights into urban logistics schemes. The results show that most schemes yield significant environmental improvements but that achieving long-term financial viability is challenging for urban consolidation centers in particular. We also demonstrate that interventions, such as subsidies and access restrictions, do not always yield the intended effect. In a backcasting experiment, we identify conditions and schemes to achieve a financially viable urban consolidation center.

The business value of information technology (IT) has been one of the top concerns of both practitioners and scholars for decades. Numerous studies have documented the positive effects of IT capability on organizational performance but our knowledge of the processes through which such gains are achieved remains limited due to a lack of focus on the business environment. Such a linkage therefore remains the subject of debate in the information systems literature. In this study, we fill this gap by investigating the mediating role of business process agility and the moderating roles of environmental factors. On the basis of matched survey data obtained from 214 IT and business executives from manufacturing firms in China, our analyses show that even though firm-wide IT capability presents the characteristics of rarity, appropriability, non-reproducibility, and non-substitutability, its impact on organizational performance is fully mediated by business process agility. Our results also show that the impact of the environment is multifaceted and nuanced. In particular, environmental hostility weakens the effect of IT capability on business process agility, while environmental complexity strengthens it. The theoretical and practical implications of this study, and its limitations, are also discussed.

PurposeDigital freight forwarder (DFF) start-ups and their associated business models have gained increasing attention within both academia and industry. However, there is a lack of empirical research investigating the differences between DFFs and traditional freight forwarders (TFF) and the impact of digital start-ups on incumbents' companies. In response, this study aims to examine the key business model characteristics that determine DFFs and TFFs and propose a framework illustrating the extent to which digital logistics start-ups influence incumbent logistics companies.Design/methodology/approachBased on the primary data gathered from eight interviews with experts from start-ups' and incumbents' logistics companies, as well as secondary data, the authors identify the main factors of DFFs start-ups that have an impact on TFFs and analyze the similarities and differences in regard to the business model components' value proposition, value creation, value delivery and value capture.FindingsThe results show that differences between DFFs and TFFs appear in all four business models' components: value proposition, value creation, value delivery and value capture. In particular, the authors identify three main factors that need to be considered when assessing the impact of DFFs on TFFs: (1) the company size, (2) the market cultivation strategy and (3) the transport mode.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to specifically examine the key business model differences between DFFs and TFFs and to propose a conceptual framework for understanding the impact of digital logistics start-ups on incumbent companies.