Structural Equation Modeling as a Basis for Theory Development within Logistics and Supply Chain Management Research

Abstract

SummaryDespite the recent debate on theories, logistics and SCM research still lacks a focus on theory development. Research will undoubtedly advance through rigorous empirical approaches, such as the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) within theory construction. SEM is well established in many fields of economic research, as it allows for validity of the structures and constructs in proposed theoretical models to be tested. This paper discusses the contribution of SEM to theory development and presents guidelines for the application of SEM to analyze both measurement and structural models. It exemplifies the use of SEM to capture and analyze the impact of logistics on the performance of companies. Based on a sample of 245 German companies, it emerges that logistics service levels have a greater impact on the performance of companies than logistics costs.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 24 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.