Toward a relevant agenda for warehousing research: literature review and practitioners’ input
Author
Summary, in English
The main purpose of this research is to provide
an agenda for future warehousing research relevant for
both academic development and practitioners’ needs. In
order to suggest a practically relevant future research
agenda, first a comprehensive literature review was performed
to identify research areas covered in the literature.
Then, 15 warehouse managers and senior consultants were
interviewed to add empirical input to the development of
potential future research areas. The literature review
reveals gaps, both methodology- and topic-wise. A considerable
methodological imbalance is observed. Some of
the highlighted managerial concerns have been investigated
in the literature extensively, but the managerial
concerns emphasized mostly do not belong to the most
researched categories. While most of the practitioners’
concerns relate to supportive aspects of warehousing
business, a relatively high number of the reviewed studies
highlight operational problems. The suggested future
research agenda highlights the importance of supportive
aspects of the warehousing business, employment of real
data in analysis and empirical research methods. The
insights from practitioners stress the expected trends of
business environment such as more volatile demand, higher desire for customized services and more expansion of
e-commerce.
an agenda for future warehousing research relevant for
both academic development and practitioners’ needs. In
order to suggest a practically relevant future research
agenda, first a comprehensive literature review was performed
to identify research areas covered in the literature.
Then, 15 warehouse managers and senior consultants were
interviewed to add empirical input to the development of
potential future research areas. The literature review
reveals gaps, both methodology- and topic-wise. A considerable
methodological imbalance is observed. Some of
the highlighted managerial concerns have been investigated
in the literature extensively, but the managerial
concerns emphasized mostly do not belong to the most
researched categories. While most of the practitioners’
concerns relate to supportive aspects of warehousing
business, a relatively high number of the reviewed studies
highlight operational problems. The suggested future
research agenda highlights the importance of supportive
aspects of the warehousing business, employment of real
data in analysis and empirical research methods. The
insights from practitioners stress the expected trends of
business environment such as more volatile demand, higher desire for customized services and more expansion of
e-commerce.
Department/s
Publishing year
2015
Language
English
Pages
1-18
Publication/Series
Logistics Reserach
Volume
8
Issue
1
Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Springer
Topic
- Transport Systems and Logistics
Keywords
- Literature review
- Research agenda
- Warehousing
- Material handling
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1865-0368