Outsourcing in logistics activities: an application on Turkey's top 500 industrial enterprises

Recently, along with the business functions that necessitate higher expertise level and larger investments; logistics activities, which are intimately related with these functions, have become more complex. In addition, increasing competition requires reviewing the strategic alliances that are to be established for effectively performing the activities outside the companies? core competencies. For this purpose, evidently ?logistics activities? constitute an important part in the outsourced business activities. Examining the strategic alliances especially between large scale companies and professional logistics service providers, will play an important role in gathering information relevant about the subject. In this research, current outsourcing levels and contracting structures, outsourcing decision processes, service provider selection criteria, effects of outsourcing on the companies and the future plans of the companies about outsourcing the logistics activities of the large-scale industrial organizations were discussed. For this purpose firstly, the concept and context of logistics, basic logistics activities and concepts related with logistics were referred. Secondly, the concept of outsourcing was studied and reasons which lead the companies to outsourcing, outsourcing decision process, supplier selection procedures and the possible advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing were investigated. In the research section, data collected by the survey applied on ?Turkey?s Top 500 Industrial Enterprises? were investigated by frequency and chi-square analysis techniques. Results show that, the large-scale enterprises? outsourcing behavior in logistics is corresponding with the results of similar research on industrial enterprises in other countries.