A SYSTEM OF INDICATORS TO MEASURE LOGISTICS PERFORMANCE OF REGIONS

Introduction: Performance measurement systems play an important role in managing a business as it provides the information necessary for decision-making and actions (Holmberg, 2000). The same argument holds for managing a sustainable development of logistical infrastructure, with respect to the triple bottom line – financial, social and environmental performance measures (Hazen, Skipper, Ezell and Boone, 2016). A number of indices which measure the logistics performance of countries [such as Logistics Performance Index (LPI) by the World Bank (Arvis et al. 2016), Global Competitiveness Report by the World Economic Forum (Schwab and Sala-i-Martin, 2015)], exist. These indices provide a valuable reference framework to evaluate the relative standing of several countries in relation to each other. However, they were not developed for the purpose of capturing regional differences and they do not consider criteria for sustainable performance. Regions within a single country can differ substantially from each other. For example, the southeastern part of China has a high population density with proximity to seaports, whereas western China is sparsely inhabited and remote from seaports. Such differences directly affect logistics performance; regions in the southeast of China have better logistics infrastructure than other regions of China. Within a single country, depending upon the region, the ease of doing business may differ and provide a region with advantages or disadvantages. Awareness of these differences allows for a sustainable development, since the respective needs of each region can be addressed by politicians and decision makers. Purpose: The aim of this research is to develop a framework on how to measure the logistics performance capability of regions within a particular country. Contrary to existing indices, drawing conclusions based on the overall logistical performance of a country is not core of this research. So far, an indicator system has been established and the regions of Austria were evaluated as an example. The results give politicians and decision makers in logistics and infrastructure development a better understanding of regional differences and enable a sustainable improvement of logistics within regions. This research builds upon the limited existing research on how to measure logistical performance within a country (e.g., Özceylan et. al. 2016).