Behavioural Antecedents of Inter-firm Linkages in the Irish Road Freight Industry

Plant, Eoin; McGovern, Jim

Abstract

The Irish road haulage industry exhibits a structure dominated by single-vehicle owner-managed operators. This has implications for the Irish economy through reduced efficiency. It is crucial that Ireland’s transport policies sustain its trade-dependent economy and this study can help inform those policies.

The European Union has made a commitment to promoting sustainable mobility through advanced transport logistics. One of the principal areas not previously addressed is that of barriers to collaboration.

This paper argues that collaborative networks can aid sustainable transport and increase efficiencies in logistics. It addresses the attitudes of operators towards collaborative alliances. A theoretical framework of behavioural economics is presented and a conceptual
model based on it was employed for extracting attitudes. Non-economic factors were explored as key influencers of decision-making.
The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used as the foundation of the research methodology. A mixed-method survey approach was used, that is, qualitative and quantitative methods. Content analysis of the qualitative interviews was carried out in order to develop a list of modal accessible beliefs. A structured postal questionnaire was utilised as the primary research instrument. Structural Equation Modelling was applied in order to model the key influencers on owner-managers’ intentions to perform collaborative activities.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (Published)
• Conference Name: The 43rd Annual Conference of the Universities’ Transport Studies Group
• Start Date: Jan 5, 2011
• Publication Date: 2011
• Deposit Date: Aug 6, 2020
• Book Title: Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Universities’ Transport Studies Group
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2680170
• Related Public URLs: http://utsg.net/archives/2011-milton-keynes