Resource Commitment and Reverse Logistics Performance
Findings
answer the following questions.
Did Daugherty, Richey, Genchev & Chen (2005) find any significant relationship between resource
commitment to reverse logistics programs and economic or service quality-related performance?
How did they come to their conclusion that resource commitment must be focused and that they should
be targeted to information technology capabilities?
What was a limitation of this study and why did Daugherty, et.al. (2005) consider that particular issue to
be a limitation? Explain.
Daugherty, Richey, Genchev, and Chen (2005) found out that resource commitment has no
significant and direct relationship to reverse logistics programs, service quality-related and
economic performance. The authors established that resource commitment should be focused on
critical program performance. Besides, the authors established that resource commitment is
insignificantly related to service quality and economic performance. Therefore, the findings were
that resource commitment has significant and direct impacts on the performance of reverse
RESOURCE COMMITMENT AND PERFORMANCE 2
logistics; however, they have an indirect and negative impact on service quality or economic
performance of organizations. The variance was due to the different times required to execute
varying projects with diverse complexities and scales
Daugherty, et.al (2005) Conclusion
Daugherty et al. (2005) concluded that resource commitment has no significant and direct
relationship to a service quality-related and economic performance and organizations should
ensure resource commitment is focused on a program in order to enhance performance.
Companies should establish significant technological support in order to effectively and
efficiently handle returns. Reverse logistics companies will potentially gain more pay-off
through better economic performance and more efficient operations. Besides, relations of
customers should be positively impacted through enhanced service quality. Logistic companies
should establish proper information support to facilitate returned products through faster and
smooth re-manufacturing or refurbishing in order to improve customer satisfaction.
Limitation of Study
The research focused solely on the automobile industry, which was not sufficient for a
comprehensive conclusion. Despite the results being relevant, Daugherty et al. (2005) research
were limited by the size of the sample. Thus, future research should consider other industries to
obtain all-inclusive larger sample size. Measuring critical relationships was limited to
respondents’ self-assessment that could result to bias outcome. Moreover, focusing on the
automobile industry was not as extensive as they do not significantly utilize outsourcing, which
could provide internal capabilities for handling returns and more customer requirements.
RESOURCE COMMITMENT AND PERFORMANCE 3
References
Daugherty, P. J., Richey, R. G., Genchev, S. E., & Chen, H. (2005). Reverse logistics: superior
performance through focused resource commitments to information
technology. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation
Review, 41(2), 77-92.
