Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse how theories evolve within scientific fields: why they receive attention and why they eventually become less attractive. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a literature review and focusses on the theoretical structure developed by...

Purpose – To provide a framework for understanding and analyzing economizing in differentiated distribution networks. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is conceptual and reviews and develops some of the concepts and ideas provided by Wroe Alderson. The developed framework is then used...

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate how the efforts of improving transport performance within the scope of one business relationship are embedded in a transport service triad, which, in turn, is embedded in the wider supply network. Design/methodology/approach: The theoretical...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse how different ways of organising transport and logistics activities in construction impact on efficiency. The paper scrutinises three particular transport and logistics configurations: the de-centralised coordinated configuration,...

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to identify and discuss the transport service triad (TST) as a key unit of analysis to understand the operations and conditions for change in freight transport systems at the micro level, i.e. at the level of analysis where business decisions and change...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the transformation of the perspective applied to distribution structures in the late 1900s. This change implied that the previous focus on channel management by a channel captain was abandoned because of changes in the business reality. This...

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to describe and analyse the evolution of the supplier base of a buying firm and the reasons behind these changes. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a case study of the changes over 52 years in a sub-set of the supplier base of a firm...