Motivation

In a connected world, transport companies are under increasing pressure to work more efficiently, more sustainably and in a more customer-orientated way. At the same time, competition and demands for flexibility and quality are increasing. Collaborations between companies are seen as a promising response to these challenges. By working together, companies hope to be able to offer customers a more comprehensive range of services, benefit from additional expertise, increase efficiency and strengthen their own market position.

But what types of collaboration are there? How do they differ depending on the industry or objective? What characterises successful collaboration and what are the necessary requirements? This thesis answers those questions and offers the opportunity to work on a highly relevant topic at the interface of transport, management and strategy.

Objective

The aim of this thesis is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the structures, strategies and success factors of co-operations in the field of transport. The general theoretical foundations of collaborations as well as all transport sectors (passenger and freight transport as well as all modes of transport) are to be taken into account as a framework for consideration.

Initially, a well-founded overview of the relevance and development of collaborations will be created, including a systematic definition of terms and theoretical categorisation. An essential part of the work is then to carry out a systematic literature and internet search in order to form a comprehensive and solid database for further analyses. Based on the results, all types of collaboration will be described and differentiated and clustered with regard to their objectives, organisational characteristics and typical areas of application, with the aim of creating a comprehensive taxonomy. The different forms of collaboration will then be critically discussed and compared in a structured manner. In doing so, precise success factors and hurdles will be analysed and requirements and framework conditions recorded. The result of the work should provide a classification for collaborations and thus make an important contribution to the scientific foundation and practical design of collaborations.

Literature

• Cruijssen, Frans; Dullaert, Wout; Fleuren, Hein (2007): Horizontal Cooperation in Transport and Logistics: A Literature Review. In: Transportation Journal 46 (3), S. 22–39. DOI: 10.5325/transportationj.46.3.0022.
• Karam, Ahmed; Reinau, Kristian Hegner; Østergaard, Christian Richter (2021): Horizontal collaboration in the freight transport sector: barrier and decision-making frameworks. In: Eur. Transp. Res. Rev. 13 (1). DOI: 10.1186/s12544-021-00512-3.
• Meyer, Michael D.; Campbell, Sarah; Leach, Dennis; Coogan, Matt (2005): Collaboration – The Key to Success in Transportation. In: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (1924), S. 153–162. DOI: 10.1177/0361198105192400120.

General Conditions

If you are interested in writing this thesis, please send your transcript of records to Max Preisinger. In a meeting, the modalities and focus of the work can be discussed according to personal preferences. You can start your work by arrangement at the next possible date.