The Survey Methodology

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 9/1/1998

This year for the first time, the Giants of Shipping project team conducted the survey over the Internet. To ensure participation by a broad cross-section of the nation's shippers, the team contacted more than 2,000 logistics managers at the corporate, divisional, and business-unit level. Each was invited to participate in the survey via the Internet and was given a unique identification number. The survey mailing list was derived from several sources, including past participants, members of industry organizations who have "director "or "vice president of logistics" or transportation titles, and a purchased list.

Once online, the participants were invited to complete two surveys. First, a common set of questions sought information about their demographics, management activities, modal use, productivity efforts, and carrier performance. One of the two additional sets of questions concentrated on supply-chain and outsourcing activities. The second focused on technology.

The results of the Internet survey were somewhat disappointing. The researchers received a total of 280 usable responses, compared with 470 usable responses to the 1997 paper survey. That response rate, however, still is substantially better than pre-1997 surveys, when the team received fewer than 100 responses each year. In addition, unlike last year, a large number of respondents completed both parts of the survey, which produced more than 200 responses in each group.

Dr. Karl Manrodt, executive director of the Office of Corporate Partnerships at the University of Tennessee, says, "We had hoped that the online methodology would make it easier for our respondents to participate in the study. In fact, it may have been harder; one respondent commented that he was disconnected from his service provider three times. We have learned a lot from being one of the first Internet surveys in the logistics discipline. These findings will help us next year as we develop a shorter and more targeted instrument."

Dr. Mary Holcomb, associate professor in the University of Tennessee's Department of Marketing, Logistics, and Transportation, adds, "We have to remember that we received 280 responses to the survey. That gives us a good idea as to where the field is headed."

Once the surveys were completed, Manrodt, Holcomb, and their staff of graduate students tabulated the data. They, along with Richard Thompson, a partner in the supply-chain practice for consultants Ernst & Young LLP, and Edward Oldham, an Ernst & Young manager, reviewed and analyzed the data. A final review brought in Logistics Management & Distribution Report Editor in Chief Peter Bradley.

The full results will be presented by Logistics, Ernst & Young, and the University of Tennessee at next month's annual meeting of the Council of Logistics Management in Anaheim, Calif.