Evaluating New Business Operation Models for Small and Medium Size Logistics Operators within Low Emission Zones

With the enforcement of LEZs, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have to explore different business operation strategies to remain in market. Examples of these strategies are change in delivery operations, change in delivery vehicles, new strategies etc. In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach based on Gap Analysis and Importance Performance Analysis for selecting the most viable strategy for SMEs. In the first step, we identify the criteria for evaluating business strategies using literature review and discussion with logistics experts. In the second step, we conduct gap analysis to identify the gaps between the expected performance of the business operation strategies and the perceived performance. Lastly, we conduct Importance-Performance analysis to determine the areas in which business operation strategies perform best or worst and in which areas they need to improvise. A numerical application is provided.