The impact of innovative telecommunication technologies on the logistics sector

Project Report from the year 2007 in the subject Business economics - General, grade: 1,9, European Business School - International University Schloß Reichartshausen Oestrich-Winkel, language: English, abstract: 1 Introduction1.1 Nature of the Problem and ObjectiveThe role of international trade has been redefined by the emergence and high pace ofglobalization. The effects are among other things that routes of transportation becomelonger, product life cycles shorten, and the requisite for the availability of goods andservices increases (Christopher, 2005, pp. 207). Keeping this in mind, the logistics industryis one of the fastest growing industries world-wide and benefitted in particular ofthis shift towards a globalized world. Even though logistics as such has prevailed over along time, it has been only recently that the industry has received an enormous boostdue to the global adherence and new technical developments. It was mainly because ofthe standardized container that this accretion, and globalization itself, could happen. Butalso the 'New Economy' accelerated this growth to a significant extent by introducingcomputers and telecommunication media, and thereby established a dynamic, highcompetitive and world-spanning market. At the same time, companies demand moreand more premium solutions from logistic service providers1 in order to cope with thecompetitive environment. The importance of the innovative and crucial factor of telecommunicationtechnology (TT) in this specific sector can therefore not be denied.More importantly, it is of significant matter to have an understanding, as well as knowinghow to implement and take advantage of these technologies, in order to gain ormaintain a competitive edge over rivaling companies. (Christopher, 2005, p. 9).The objective of this paper is therefore to describe the impact which modern and innovativeTTs can have on the logistics sector. In order to pursue this goal, it is importantto focus on three points: