Development of the Private and State-owned Logistics Enterprises in China : case study in GREE and CHINATRANS.

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the current status and development of the private and state-owned Third-party Logistics (3PL) companies. In China, there are mainly two common kinds of ownerships, one is state ownership, and the other is private ownership. These two forms of ownerships have enormous influence in various industries. The state-owned company GREE and private company CHINATRANS are taken as the case study in this thesis. The management systems of these two companies are analyzed by interviewing their managers. Furthermore, an innovation assessment tool is used to examine the innovative performance for these two companies. The return on investment model is also used to compare on the financial problem. Based on the analysis of management, cost and innovation aspect in GREE and CHINATRANS, the pattern of different ownerships affecting 3PL companies is identified. The conclusions of this thesis are: The private Third-party Logistics companies have a more flexible management system than the state-owned Third-party Logistics companies. Moreover, the private Third-party Logistics companies have a good performance on cost management and human resource. The core-competitiveness for them shows in the grasp of the market. The state-owned Third-party Logistics companies have a strict management system; they have advantage of innovation management, especially for new technology development. Excellent service is their core competence. Nowadays, Chinese third-party logistics industry has a low ROI, but still has a large space for 3PL to improve. Through the case study of GREE and CHINATRANS, value-added services and low cost operation are effective approaches to increase ROI.