Factors Influencing Horizontal Cooperation Among Logistics Enterprises: An Empirical Study from Vietnam

Horizontal cooperation is seen as an effective way to raise a competitive advantage in logistics and transportation. However, there are many logistics enterprises still operating individually instead of cooperating. This research aims to investigate the factors influencing the decision of horizontal cooperation by surveying a large sample of Vietnamese logistics companies. This study employs 161 logistics companies to examine correlations between potential factors and horizontal collaboration. The structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the conceptual model and the relationships among variables. The findings revealed that information sharing was the most important predictor of 161 supply chain providers’ horizontal collaboration decisions, which resulted in increased profitability or service quality. Besides, trust in partners was found to be positively related to the degree of horizontal cooperation among logistics companies. Finally, the finding of this research is that reputation had a positive effect on the strategy of horizontal cooperation. Our findings suggest that SME managers should be concerened about their information sharing, their reputation as well as their trust in partners if they would be invited in cooperation with another firm to increase service quality, performance, and competitive advantage.