Logistics has faced tremendous change throughout the last four decades. During this time the focus of the organization has moved from controlling internal factors to focusing on the final customer. Logistics has become critical in effectively and efficiently achieving this goal.; Early in the 1990's a study commissioned by the Council of Logistics Management was done suggesting that logistics should no longer be bound to the delivery of a product. Rather, logistics is critical in the benefit delivery process, whether a product is involved in the process or not. The term "service response logistics" resulted from this effort, and was defined as the management of responsive activities.; The purpose of this exploratory research was to answer three basic questions. First, in a dynamic market, how do firms become more responsive to the needs of individual customers? Second, as organizations become more responsive, internal functions become more important. The problem then is how these support services are defined, and how they constrain or expand the firm's ability to adapt to customer requests. Finally, how are these internal functions integrated and coordinated to effectively deliver the requested benefits to the customer?; The research focused on three industries: the foreign exchange process in a large wholesale bank, contract logistics, and health care. While these three industries have many differences, a general model illustrating how activities can be coordinated was developed. This model suggests that in order to be responsive to the needs of individual customers, organizations must diagnose the customers needs, develop solutions, and deliver the benefit as requested. Diagnosis and solution development are normally done by an employee, while the delivery of the benefit can be accomplished by either internal or external providers.; The research also suggests that the interaction of the physical involvement of the customer in the benefit delivery process and the benefit delivery complexity warrants further research.
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