Logistics outsourcing interfaces: the role of customer partnering behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the customer partnering behavior dimensions – operational information exchange, planning, sharing of benefits and burdens, and extendedness – influence goal achievement and goal exceedance at the interface between customer firms and their logistics service providers. Design/methodology/approach – This research develops a conceptual model of relationships between the customer partnering dimensions and logistics outsourcing performance (goal achievement and goal exceedance). The model is then tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings – The results indicate that sharing of benefits and burdens has no significant effect on performance, while the other partnering dimensions positively influence goal achievement and goal exceedance. Amongst these partnering dimensions, extendedness demonstrates the strongest effect on both performance dimensions. Furthermore, operational information exchange primarily influences goal exceedance, while planning primarily impacts goal achievement. Originality/value – The paper extends the extant logistics outsourcing literature by examining the effects of established customer partnering dimensions on performance.