Towards the deployment of customer orientation: A case study in third-party logistics

Customer orientation concerns the degree to which an organisation focuses on customers, recognises their desires and places meeting their needs as a first priority. As managing the needs of individual customers in supply chains become increasingly important, logistics companies have been recognising customer orientation as a critical aspect of their success. This study explores some of the challenges in the deployment of customer-oriented logistics systems and argues that the so-called product intelligence model can provide an approach for developing such systems. Using an industrial case study, in this paper we examine customer orientation for a third-party logistics provider by examining both the development of information systems that enable the offering of flexible logistics offerings to the end customer and the impact of providing these offerings on a company's performance. We conclude with a set of functionalities required by information systems of logistics providers that wish to enhance customer orientation in their offerings.