Factors affecting internationalization process of third party logistics companies

Requirements of the logistics industry in the world as well as its share in total exports of services in Turkey increases every day and is placed near the top in the service sector. Accordingly, researches on the development of the export of logistics services and the identification of the obstacles to this sector are important. In this context, the subject of this study is defined as the factors affecting the internationalization process of third-party logistics (TPL) companies operates in Turkey. This study examines the internationalization process of the third-party logistics companies operating in Turkey, seeks to determine the factors that affect operational and managerial decisions related to the entry forms and service exports. The other aim of the study is to reveal and explain a conceptual model by analyzing the primary and secondary data obtained by qualitative and quantitative research methods. As a result of analysing in-depth interviews with experts and literature review, factors affecting the internationalization process of third party logistics enterprises are grouped under different categories and which factor is affected more by which factor and what factors are important for other factors are determined. In this study, both qualitative and quantitative research methods is used in order to obtain more reliable results in solving the research problem. In the study, literature review and in-depth interviews as qualitative methods; multi - criteria decision - making methods and non - parametric tests as quantitative research methods are used. The data obtained from in-depth interviews are analyzed with content and descriptive analysis. In the study, Analytical Network Process (ANP) analysis is used for multi-criteria decision-making methods. The reliability and validity of the research are tested by Friedman and Kendall's W tests. It is concluded that TPL companies prefer to cooperate with local partnerships and agencies in international markets. The most important reasons are that the transaction costs are more appropriate and the negative effects of cultural factors are minimized. In addition, the most important factors affecting the internationalization process of TPL enterprises are political factors, economic factors, cultural factors and long-term relationships, while the least ones are the number of vehicles, number of employees and internal market saturation. Another result of the study is that the importance of these factors does not show a significant difference according to the modes of transport (sea, air, land). Furthermore, it is determined that there is consistency between the points given by the experts to the factors. It is thought that this study is one of the few studies on the subject and will enlighten similar studies in both the sectoral and academic environment.