A STUDY ON ROLE AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS LOGISTICS SERVICES

Fierce competition in todays market has forced business enterprise to invest in and focus on logistics services. The growth in telecommunication and transportation technologies has led to further growth in logistics management. This article aims in understanding the role and customer satisfaction towards logistics services. The logistics management takes into consideration every facility that has an impact on cost. It plays an important role in making the product conform to customer requirement. Also it involves efficient integration of suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses and stores and encompasses the firms activities at many levels, from the strategic level through the tactical to the operational level. ogistics is a challenging and important activity because it serves as an integrating or boundary spanning function. It links suppliers with customers and it integrates functional entities across a company. !ith the ever"growing competition in todays market place it becomes necessary for a firm to use its resources to focus on strategic opportunities. This includes several internal factors like management style, culture, human resources, facilities and several e#ternal factors like technology, globali$ation and competition. This is where the concept of logistics plays a ma%or role, i.e. it helps to leverage certain advantages the firm has in the marketplace. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The ob%ectives of the study are& '. To study the awareness of the customers towards logistics. (. To know the satisfaction level of customers with logistics services. ). To study the problems of customers in logistics services. *. To suggest some remedial measures. METHODOLOGY LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The limitations of the study are given as follows. i
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The study was mainly based on the primary data. Therefore, the validity of the
Assistant ,rofessor, ,- .epartment of International /usiness, 0ree 1arayana -uru 2ollege, 2oimbatore"'34

.ata depends on the responses given by the respondents. ii. iii. iv. The period of the study is only about four months. This makes difficult to ensure the accuracy of results due to limited time duration. The study is confined to respondents in 2oimbatore region alone. Therefore, the results cannot be generali$ed. The findings are based only on the information given by the respondents.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE '. 5ichael Tracey and 2hong eng Tan 6(33'7, have studied on 89mpirical analysis of supplier selection and involvement, customer satisfaction, and firm performance:. They have inferred that supply chain management as a system of operation continues to evolve. This study employs confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis to e#amine empirically the relationships among supplier selection criteria 6quality, delivery reliability, product performance and unit price7, supplier involvement on design teams and in continuous improvement programs, four dimensions of customer satisfaction 6competitive pricing, product quality, product variety, and delivery service7, and overall firm performance. (. ;ingyu <hang, 5ark A. =onderembse and >een"0u im 6(3347, has presented an article on 8 ogistics fle#ibility and its impact on customer satisfaction:. The main purpose of the study was to succeed in an uncertain environment, firms must respond to changing customer needs, and logistics fle#ibility is an important part of the response. This paper defines logistics fle#ibility, creates a framework to understand it, and shows how it relates to customer satisfaction. The study uses a large sample survey 6n?(@)7 from the 0ociety of 5anufacturing 9ngineers to develop valid and reliable instruments to measure logistics fle#ibility and to test the relationships among the variables using structural equation modeling. The results indicate strong, positive, and direct relationships between fle#ible logistics competence and capability, and between fle#ible logistics capability and customer satisfaction. ). Aonald B. /allou 6(33C7, studied on 8Aevenue estimation for logistics customer service offerings:. The main purpose of the study was in logistics strategy, it is now being recogni$ed that revenue generation is as important as cost reduction. Although

it has long been known that logistics customer service has a positive effect on customer satisfaction, little research has been conducted to determine precisely the degree to which logistics customer service affects sales and generates the revenues for the firm. The purpose of this paper is to identify, categori$e, and illustrate methods for estimating revenues associated with various levels of logistics customer service offerings. The purpose is achieved through simulation, statistics, and case studies. The findings reveal that, when the revenue effects of logistics customer service can be appro#imated, logistics strategies can be formulated that optimi$e profits andDor return on investment. Etherwise, logistics strategy is in danger of being sub" optimi$ed when logistics customer service levels are treated as planning constraints and costs minimi$ed to meet them. *. 2hristian /usse and 2arl 5arcus !allenburg 6(3''7 have studied on FInnovation management of logistics service providers& Foundations, review, and research agendaF. The purpose of this paper is to provide a sound basis to facilitate further research on innovation management at logistics service providers 6 0,s7. 2ontent analysis of e#tant literature was undertaken and supplemented by conceptual deliberations. Future 0,"specific innovation research should be undertaken. !hile comparatively much knowledge on innovation management by e#ist, it is hardly integrated. 5ore comprehensive studies of processes and systems are required. 0,s does already 0,sG innovation