The majority of logistics research is primarily populated by quantitative research viewed through a positivist lens. Increasingly, there are calls for logistics research to more frequently employ qualitative methodologies. The trend in management research generally is increasingly to use methods and approaches which provide a middle ground between the contrasting positivist and phenomenological paradigms and perspectives. Methodological triangulation, using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, increasingly provides multidimensional insights into many management research problems. This paper urges logistics researchers to think about the paradigm through which they view the world and to explore the use of alternative methodologies. If the ultimate aim is to gain knowledge about the world then one needs to do this in the most valid way possible. This paper describes the dominant research paradigms and perspectives and their generally concomitant research methodologies and describes some research (decision-making concerning choice of ports/ferries) where methodological triangulation, using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, yielded greater insights than would have been the case if a single research methodology had been employed.

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This paper investigates the impact of a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) strategy upon transportation operations in a supply chain. Specifically, the issue of batching to enable better use of transport vehicles is studied. A system dynamics methodology is used to develop difference equation models of three scenarios -traditional, internal consolidation and VMI. The holistic nature of inventory management within VMI enables batching to minimise transport demand without negatively impacting the overall dynamic performance of the supply chain. Using the concept of cost escapability, it is shown that transport cost savings are possible in both the short and long term.

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