Critical success factors for the marketing of logistics service providers in Mauritius

Abstract

Critical success factors are the areas in which organisations have to do well if they are to remain competitive and profitable. These factors should link directly into the organisation's strategy.They can provide the basis for meaningful, thought provoking discussion which describes the current situation and present a focus or goal for any change.This research examines the factors that are considered important and critical from a customer’s and business’ perspective in the process of delivering logistics services.The importance of these factors to the textile and non-textile manufacturing industries have been presented. The role of the logistics service provider / freight forwarder has also been explained.The various relevant literatures, theoretical models and findings of previous studies dealing with this subject have been researched and presented. Three propositions have been made based on the literature review and a questionnaire was developed to seek inputs from local users of logistics servicesso as to analyse the importance of these factors in the Mauritian context.The overall findings suggest that companies from both the textile and non-textile sector value the importance of the following factors namely; Quality, Cost-Saving, Agility, Information Technology, Lead-time, Relationship, Reliability, Logistics Facilities, and Network of Agents. However, the textile and non textile companies value these factors, in the process of delivering logistics services, differently. Quality is an important dimension in this process while information technology is a factor which is not significantly different from all other factors.