Paper info

Horizontal inter-organizational collaboration: the case of third-party logistics

Andreas Ekeskär , Malena Ingemansson Havenvid and Tina Karrbom Gustavsson

This paper was published at the conference '35th Annual ARCOM Conference' in 2019.

As a measure to increase performance, improve safety and reduce environmental
impact, the use of third-party logistics (TPL) solutions has increased in the
construction industry. Other measures are inter-organizational collaborative methods
and agreements between different actors. The purpose of this study is to explore how
a TPL solution can affect inter-organizational relationships, specifically in the
horizontal dimension. Findings are based on a case study of an urban development
project with a TPL solution mandatory to use for all construction actors working side
by side in parallel and sequential stages. The analysis is based on the industrial
network approach, using the ARA-model for identifying and analysing interorganizational
interactions among main contractors. The findings indicate that the
contractors do collaborate with each other on both technical and organizational
resources, as well as coordinate activities between each other, and that the TPL
solution has a vital role in bringing them together and improves collaboration. This
nuance the predominant view of the construction industry as being characterized by
adversarial relationships and lack of inter-organizational collaboration. It also
extends the knowledge of what a TPL solution can contribute with besides improved
logistics.