Title:
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Mode choice decisions and the organisational buying process in multimodal transport : a triangulated approach
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Transportation is considered as one of the major components of the logistics process
which refers to managing the movement of goods by using different modes and routes to
provide the required level of service quality in a cost-effective way. Decisions regarding
the choice of particular modes or routes and the processes involved include many
different criteria to be considered by the buyers of these services. Although previous
literature focused heavily on the carrier and mode selection processes, a detailed analysis
of the decision-making in terms of the main stages and relevant factors in multimodal
transport from a marketing perspective has been limited. This thesis explores the
decision-making and buying process related to multimodal transportation by considering
multimodal transport as an overall service and investigating the buying processes of
freight forwarders as one of the important intermediaries in the transportation channel.
Turkey has been selected as a specific case study. The research aims to examine the
perceptions regarding multimodal transport according to some determined criteria by
considering the factors related to the business environment and the buying process on the
part of the participants.
A triangulation method is used to analyse the buying process of freight forwarders in
multimodal transport. Firstly, exploratory semi-structured interviews were carried out;
secondly, a Delphi study was conducted to obtain an insight into the multimodal transport
applications in Turkey by focusing on the main drawbacks, the decision-making
processes and the related criteria. The findings of the semi-structured interviews and
Delphi study provided a basis for the survey design as the next stage of the thesis.
Thirdly, a survey questionnaire was conducted with the participation of freight
forwarding companies; it aimed to explore the buying process in multimodal transport by
focusing on the mode choice perspective. Factors related to the business environment and
the perceptionso f the respondentsw ith regardst o multimodal transport were analysed.
Lastly, a specific case study which focused on the different route and mode combinations
between Turkey and United Kingdom was conducted. The case study used a specific cost
model to analyse the possible routeing options and mode combinations between the two
countriesb y consideringt he perceptionso f the participantsa bout the options presented.
Since Turkey is still developing in terms of multimodal transport operations, an in-depth
analysis regarding the perceptions about this specific transport operation according to
some determined criteria and the investigation of buying process by integrating the
logistics and marketing management concepts has been an important contribution of the
study.
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