The notion of enablers and barriers is a very important research arena. Based on the
comprehensiveness of our work prior to the questionnaire, a good set of both enablers
and barriers has been identified. Several important issues need to be addressed. Which
enablers or barriers seem to actually have the most negative or positive impact? Second,
it would be useful to understand why a specific determinant is an enabler in one
situation/company and a barrier in another. How can one turn a barrier into an enabler,
which we learned from both case studies and the Delphi study to having been done in
many firms? Finally, as comprehensive as this list is, over time some new issues
influencing logistics measurement are likely to appear. We need to be able to identify
when that happens, especially barriers, and learn how to deal with them.
Since a big issue today is return on investments, research on what measures link to
behaviors and activities that result in better financial returns is a priority. A theme in
both the Delphi study and the case studies is the problem of actionability of the
measures. Having the measure is one thing, but being able to use it to direct specific
actions and then getting a return on those actions is a big issue. Are there any particular
measures that have led to successful actions that provide greater potential returns?
Tracey et al. (2005), Lockamy and McCormick (2004), and Hofman (2004, 2006) have
already provided some insights into this problem.