FACTORS INFLUENCING LOGISTICS SERVICE DELIVERY: THE CASE OF ETHIOPIAN SHIPPING AND LOGISTICS SERVICE ENTERPRISE

Abstract

Logistics becomes a more important part of the business economic system and perhaps complex in the competitive globalized economy of today due to the new requirements of the service-oriented economy. Although the government of Ethiopia has been taking initiatives related to logistics to improve the capacity of the subsector, existing practices are not performing in order to provide an improved logistics service. Given the greater governmental recognition of the sector as a strategic sector and the associated inefficiencies and shortcomings in the provision of services, it was hoped that this study would contribute to the improvement of ESLSE in the provision of logistics services. Thus, the general objective of the study was to assess the factors that influence the provision of logistic services in the ESLSE, being the specific objectives of the study; assess the influence of the process of the enterprise in the provision of logistic services; determine the influence of the ESLSE staff's competencies in the provision of logistics services, examine the influence of distribution support in the provision of logistics services and analyze the influence of information and communication technologies in the provision of logistics services. For this purpose, this study used quantitative research methods as the main source of data. In addition, the study used explanatory types of research design with the SPSS 22 tool used for the analysis of the resulting data. The population from which the information required for the analysis was derived is the 187 respondents (customers), as exporter, importer and transporter of the company. The study incorporated descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze the data collected from the respondents. The results obtained from the multiple regression analysis show that distribution support and information and communication technology are important factors that influence the provision of logistics services of the enterprise. Based on the findings, it has been recommended that the enterprise work mainly on the use of information technology and basic infrastructure and software in order to guarantee reliable present and future quality service provision.