Determinants of carrier selection: updating the survey methodology into the 21st century

Abstract

This paper summarizes the key developments of carrier selection literature, especially from the view of survey research. Based on the literature review suggestions on how to make the analysis of carrier selection more rigorous are made. In addition to the most predominant determinants of carrier selection such as cost, reliability and service level, new constructs measuring the role of information sharing capabilities and environmental issues are introduced.The second objective of the paper is to empirically test the suggested improvements in methodology with survey data. Research constructs measuring the role of both the old and new determinants of carrier selection are formulated and tested. Further, the constructs of carrier selection are tested against set of variables classifying the firms such as firm size, industry and strategic orientation of the firm in order to see if the strategic orientation of the firm is influencing the carrier selection criteria. Methods of content analysis are used to sum up the previous literature in order to identify the key determinants of carrier selection that have previously been used. Based on the literature review, updated research constructs of carrier selection are formulated. Further, these constructs are tested with factor analysis in order to analyze the validity of the constructs.The empirical data employed in the analysis consists of a self-reported survey data of 483 manufacturing and trading firms operating in Finland. The survey data is analyzed by using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and ANOVA in order to see whether the carrier selection criteria are dependent on the characteristics of the firm.The paper is expected to contribute on two separate levels. First, the paper introduces and empirically tests an improved survey methodology of how to analyse the carrier selection. As the survey methodology includes new constructs such as the role of information sharing and environmental questions, the empirical results presents evidence on what is their relative role compared to more traditional determinants of carrier selection. Further, the results provide empirical evidence on the effect of firm characteristics on the importance of carrier selection criteria. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.