Understanding ICT management in small transport and logistics service providers

Information technology has become an important dimension of third party logistics service providers (3PLs) business as their competitive advantage increasingly depends on the ability to create value for customers through ICT applications. Recent industry developments have contributed to widen the technological gap between large and small 3PLs. This is particularly critical for those markets that are populated by a high number of small 3PLs such as the Italian logistics service industry. The fragmentation of the Italian market has facilitated the entry of large foreign logistics groups. These developments has further challenged small Italian 3PLs to such an extent that they could be marginalised as “tier suppliers” or even forced out of the market. From the research point of view, while the dissemination of ICT in large 3PLs has been largely investigated, there is still a lack of research in the field of small logistics providers with little empirical investigation analysing the adoption of ICT by small 3PLs. The main objective of this paper is to give an overview on the dissemination and adoption of ICT in small Italian 3PLs based on a field survey. The preliminary results show that despite the low level of technology usage of the surveyed companies, it emerges a distinctive cluster of providers that appears more dynamic in using ICT to face the fast changing business environment.