Methodology 4.1 Introduction

This chapter discusses both the conceptual framework and the practical elements of the research. It explores the research questions in more depth, and discusses what methods are the most appropriate, given the aims and nature of the research. And this chapter describes and explains the methodology deployed in this study, and then describes methods of collecting data and data analysis. The research process in this research is introduced in this chapter.

Grounded theory qualitative methodology will be mainly implemented in this thesis (Cameron & Price, 2009), as well as case study for New Zealand Couriers Ltd. The case of New Zealand Couriers will be observed and studied, and the reverse logistics services in New Zealand Couriers will be focused on. The case study allows researchers and audiences to deeply review and investigate some common phenomenon and problems to find the correct solutions. As per previous chapter the literature review includes logistic and supply chain management, reverse logistics, supply chain optimization, 3PLs and relevant literature and theoretical findings in supply chain management; relevant data will be collected from literature review, observation, and qualitative interview. And the collected data will be interpreted and analyzed to write up findings/ conclusions. The interpretive approach will be mainly used to conduct the research and answer the questions. The qualitative research will be the main research aim in this thesis, due to the exploratory nature of the research itself, such as the limitations of measurements, subject and research questions. It is difficult to measure the level of optimization and uncertainty by quantitative research, as lacking existed theories of reverse logistics to support quantitative research (Bryman, 2007).

There are several approaches, which has been adopted in this research, shown as below.

¾ Literature review on logistics and supply chain management, reverse logistics, supply chain optimization, 3PLs and theoretical findings in supply chain management

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¾ The method of observation is used to collect the primary data, and it helps audiences to understand the big picture of NZC and its operations and business processes.

¾ Case study, New Zealand Couriers offers customized reverse logistics services to

different clients, according to the different clients’ needs and products. The case study is employed to deeply analyze each single case.

¾ Evaluation of the performance in NZC is on the basis of existing key performance

indicators compared with initial targets and benchmarking of some key performance indicators.

¾ The method of qualitative interviews is also used to interview various personnel, such as managers, staff, and customers, and discuss results achieved in the last couple of years, identifying the main reasons for deviations and improvement potential in the future.

¾ Documentary analysis is utilised to analyze and interpret the phenomenon and data,

which are obtained from observation.

4.2 Objectives

The core of this research is to explore the uncertainties in 3PLs reverse logistics. The uncertainty is one of the significant factors, which directly influence the performance of supply chain system (Chopra & Meindl, 2004). There are many researches and theories about the uncertainties in traditional forward logistics; however, there has been limited attention to theory-based research in the returns management arena (Jahre, 1995a; Carter and Ellram, 1998; Daugherty et al., 2001) Managing these returns is known as reverse logistics (Louise, 2010). With the development of economics, the 3PLs reverse logistics will play an increasingly important role in the supply chain system; therefore it is necessary to consider how to improve the 3PLs reverse logistics. In the research, the key uncertainties in 3PLs reverse logistics service will be investigated, and the solutions of how the 3PLs reduce the uncertainties in order to optimize the 3PLs reverse logistics will be discussed. And one of the main objectives of this research is to answer the research questions; the four researches questions are shown as below.

79 Research Questions:

1. What are the uncertainties in 3PLs reverse logistics based on the case of New Zealand Couriers Ltd?

2. What are the impacts of uncertainties in 3PLs reverse logistics on the performance of reverse logistics service?

3. How to reduce the uncertainties in 3PLs reverse logistics in order to optimize the reverse logistics services based on the case of New Zealand Couriers?

The case study will be employed to conduct an in-depth investigation about the reverse logistics services in New Zealand Couriers. In the research, the research questions will be answered and also the audiences will understand some key concepts, identify the uncertainties in 3PLs reverse logistics, and know how to optimize the reverse logistics by reducing the uncertainty in reverse logistics. The seven different types of return/ reverse logistics models are summarized from the knowledge, which is gained from the day to day operations in New Zealand Couriers. Due to the external viability and replicability of case study, the research focuses on the return models rather than the specific companies. And the companies, which are employed in return/ reverse logistics models in New Zealand Couriers, are just used for purpose of illustration and explanation.