Bundling Strategies in Global Supply Chains

Acciaro’s dissertation <link erim events _blank>Bundling Strategies in Global Supply Chains focuses on the application of the business practice of package sales to the logistics industry. Although the use of package sales, also known as bundling, is a pervasive business practice, its use in the logistics and ocean transportation industries has been rather limited. As a consequence of the increasing complexity of the ways we move products and raw materials from factories to warehouses and final consumers, producers and retailers increasingly demand door-to-door prices for bundles of logistics services, similarly to the way passengers demand simple airline tariffs. Because traditionally logistics services were provided all by different operators (deep-sea transportation by ocean carriers, terminal handling by ports, road transport by hauliers, etc.) they have generally been priced individually and independently. Since the 1980s though, transport and logistics providers have begun to expand their business scope to include also services complementary to their core activities.

Acciaro is the first with a coherent presentation of the application of the practice of package sales to the container-based logistics sector. The thesis offers a broad and comprehensive discussion on the application, theoretical and methodological issues related to the use of package sales among other advanced pricing techniques to the container transportation industry. If properly used these pricing techniques have four major benefits: they can contribute to a better service to customers, improve the efficient utilisation of (logistics) resources, be a source of competitive advantage, and increase revenues and profits.

Michele Acciaro has defended his dissertation on June 10, 2010. His promoter is <link people hercules-haralambides _blank>Prof.dr. Hercules Haralambides, Professor of Maritime Economics and Logistics, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University. Other members of the Doctoral Committee are Prof.dr.ir. Rommert Dekker, Prof.dr. Peter Marlow and Prof.dr. Steef van de Velde.

About Michele Acciaro

Michele Acciaro was born in June 1979 in Sassari, Italy. In 1998 Michele moved to Rome, to study at the Faculty of Statistics, University of Rome 'La Sapienza'. In 2001 he participated in the European Exchange Programme 'Erasmus', and studied at Erasmus University for six months. During this period he followed his first course in Maritime Economics. In 2003 Michele graduated (cum Laude) in Statistics and Economics from the University of Rome La Sapienza, with a thesis on Port Economics.

In 2003 he was employed at PriceWaterhouse Coopers in Rome as junior consultant, where he worked on the European Commission’s study on Scenarios, Traffic Forecasts, and Analyses of Corridors on the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-STAC) among other projects. In 2004 he joined the Center for Maritime Economics and Logistics (MEL) of Erasmus University as research associate, after the successful completion of his MSc in Maritime Economics and Logistics for which he was awarded the NOL/APL Prize for Student Excellence.

In November 2004, he was granted a four-year scholarship from the Sardinian Region to carry out PhD research at Erasmus University on Maritime and Port Economics. In 2005 Michele was awarded the Young Researcher Best Paper Prize at the IAME Annual Conference in Cyprus and in the same year he took the position of Assistant Academic Director at MEL.

Next to his research and education activities, Michele worked on several consultancy projects, including, the project Port Financing and Pricing Practices in the Seaports of the European Union, where he was lead researcher for the Baltic States, the Netherlands and Cyprus, and in the research project on Bundling of Liner and Logistics Services supported by the NOL Foundation.

Abstract

The development of logistics has offered a wide range of new business opportunities for transport operators. Shipping lines have been taking advantage of these opportunities and have expanded their business scope beyond the movement of cargo, to include, for example, coordination among transport modes, route rationalisation and even value added logistics services. Carriers offer today transportation as part of integrated global supply chain solutions in an attempt to provide a better service to their customers as well as improve their bottom lines. This appears to be a winning strategy since an increasing number of industry players are investing in logistics operations and infrastructure.

The offering of products and services jointly as a package or bundle is a common marketing strategy in a variety of industries and also appears to be a successful strategy for enhancing shipping lines’ competitiveness and profitability. Only limited research is available though to better understand under what conditions such bundled sales are possible; what attitude shippers show towards this industry trend; how bundling strategies could be developed optimally; and how they could be priced. This thesis is a contribution to research in this area and provides an analysis of the viability and the benefits of bundling strategies in the container industry, and specifically with reference to the joint provision of ocean transportation and other logistics services.

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