Exploring the Impact of National Culture on Logistics Performance

The increased logistics complexity due to supply chain globalization requires a deeper understanding of a country’s logistics performance. This performance is usually captured through infrastructure, services and procedure elements and understood in operational and economical terms. This thesis adds a social view to understand logistics performance variation across countries through focusing on their national culture dimensions. Using secondary data from the international Logistics Performance Index (LPI) report as well as the scores from Hofstede’s national culture dimension surveys, the impact of national culture on logistics performance was explored. Statistical results showed Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance dimensions were found to have a negative correlation with the LPI while Individualism as well as Long Term Orientation were both positively correlated to the LPI. This cultural understanding adds to the growing social literature research on logistics performance and can guide logistics managers in their decisions regarding where and when to locate their resources.