بازگشت محصول و دانش لجستیک : تاثیر روی عملکرد شرکت

Survey data on reverse logistics processes from 284 Spanish firms are used to test a structural model that analyzes the importance of returned materials and the creation of logistics knowledge within processes of reverse logistics and their effects on organizational performance. The results show that the cost of reverse logistics and the value of returns were found to be positively related to reverse logistics activities. Further, their proper management and the creation of logistics knowledge that improves organizational performance.

Reverse logistics are responsible for the flow of items such as products, components, and materials (Krikke et al., 2003) from their place of consumption to their place of origin, in order to recover some of their initial value or to find the most appropriate use for these materials. They are used especially in the case of dangerous products, pollutants, and high-value products or products that experience a high number of returns (Stock, 1998, Rogers and Tibben-Lembke, 1999, Daugherty et al., 2005, Lambert et al., 2005 and Stavrulaki and Davis, 2010). Reverse logistics constitute a complex process, more expensive than and different from distribution of a new product (Fleischmann et al., 1997 and Hofmann, 2010). This process varies depending on the reason for the return (Rogers and Tibben-Lembke, 1999). The wide variety of products to be returned—from defective products to leftovers and seasonal, recyclable, obsolete or dangerous products—means that the value and fate of the products varies greatly, ranging from repair and component reuse to storage, recycling, disposal, and treatment. Organizations must thus address not only the business costs associated with manufacture and distribution of products on the consumer market, but also the control costs related to the proper management of waste generated by each product on consumption. These costs can change during the process of return of the products, since return may require activities that are not necessary when the product is new. Therefore, the costs of reverse logistics are of great importance for any organization (Rogers and Tibben-Lembke, 1999). Reverse logistics activities can include refurbishment and re-packaging, which may also change the price, quality, and value of the items returned to compete on the market with new products (Jahre, 1995). Given the increase in returns resulting from competitive customer satisfaction policies (Srivastava and Srivastava, 2006, Hameri and Hintsa, 2009 and Jack et al., 2010), reverse logistics are a key element in optimizing resources while minimizing the negative impact on costs (Rogers and Tibben-Lembke, 1999 and Stock et al., 2002). Further, processes of knowledge management play an important role in reducing the high degree of uncertainty in processes of reverse logistics, since they facilitate management of the diverse and changing resources characteristic of these activities (Wadhwa and Madaan, 2007). Knowledge management processes are particularly important in all of these processes, especially in the creation of logistics knowledge (Nonaka, 1994, Nonaka and Konno, 1998, Stentoft and Halldorsson, 2002, Wadhwa and Madaan, 2007 and Flint et al., 2008). Due to the growing importance of reverse logistics as a tool that allows the organization to control the impact of higher costs and to improve the value of products, and because creation of logistics knowledge offers advantages for managing all of these processes, it is important to understand the potential benefits of reverse logistics for the organization by analyzing how these variables are related to each other in order to improve organizational performance. To achieve these goals, we propose an empirical model to analyze how the importance of costs and the value of returns affect the importance of reverse logistics processes. We also examine the influence of these interactions, together with creation of logistics knowledge, on company performance. We test the main relationships between these variables in an integrated model in order ultimately to analyze the results and possible implications to be derived from them. This paper is divided into an examination of the relevant literature, followed by development of the hypotheses and presentation of the methodology and the results/conclusions, implications for practice, and directions for future research.

The process of product returns is complex, with varying costs and activities that give reverse logistics a relevant role in the firm. Reverse logistics permit the firm to manage these costs by adjusting to uncertainty and obtaining the value of the returned material. The contributions of the paper to the literature are the following: (1) The study analyzes the importance of cost of returns for reverse logistics activities and the way in which they simultaneously affect the capacity of the organization to obtain the value of the recovered material at a time of increasing returns, with new potential benefits for the organization. A positive and significant relationship was found between the importance of cost of reverse logistics and the value of the returned material. Thus, our findings show that, the greater the cost of returns, the lower will be the return value of the materials, since the final price of reused materials and products will be higher. In addition, the costs and value of returned material affect the importance of the reverse logistics activities. In a situation of increasing product returns, reverse logistics are vital to reducing costs through specific reverse logistics programs. Firms could thus adapt their activities to product-market characteristics in order to recapture the value of returned material and recover assets, thus obtaining new profits. This study uses a new approach and provides results to extend previous research, such as studies by Srivastava and Srivastava, 2006, Rogers and Tibben-Lembke, 1999, Hellström and Johansson, 2010 and Jack et al., 2010. (2) This study also analyzes the importance of creating logistics knowledge and the way in which modes of conversion of knowledge facilitate reverse logistics activities, minimizing the negative impact of the costs and increasing the value of the recovered products. Our results indicate that the capability of creating new logistics knowledge helps firms to face the high variability of returns, thus enhancing reverse logistics activities and improving the processes of product return and decision-making. This research relates the widespread model of knowledge management developed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) to reverse logistics activities, a topic of increasing importance in the literature analyzed. It complements studies by Nonaka and Konno, 1998, Bowersox et al., 1999, Daugherty et al., 2002 and Wadhwa and Madaan, 2007. (3) Managing cost returns through reverse logistics and the creation of logistics knowledge influences organizational performance positively, as our results have confirmed for the companies analyzed, thus supporting previous research by Fawcett and Clinton, 1996, Nonaka and Konno, 1998, Flint et al., 2008 and Yang et al., 2009. (4) Our research contributes to supporting a series of practical implications and cases that could help a reverse logistics practitioner. These implications include the use of strategic alliances to reduce operating costs (Hu et al., 2002), the importance of adapting the firm to reverse logistics activities through optimization of location centers (Srivastava and Srivastava, 2006), use of returnable items (Hellström and Johansson, 2010), implementation of reverse logistics programs to take advantage of returns as raw materials (Rogers and Tibben-Lembke, 1999 and Krikke et al., 2003), internal and external commitment to reverse logistics (Carter and Ellram, 1998), and use of logistics information systems to capture and disseminate new logistics knowledge (Jack et al., 2010).