Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges faced by the logistics sector of
Pakistan. According to World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) report, the logistics
performance of Pakistan declined in 2018 as compared to 2016 for all six key indicators,
namely: Infrastructure, customs, quality of logistics services, international shipments,
timeliness, and tracking and tracing. To understand the reason behind the decline a
qualitative study was conducted. The study adopted a thematic analysis methodology in
which twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with informants in the
logistics and supply chain sector. These experienced informants helped in gaining in-depth
insight into the research problem. The data collected were analyzed using the qualitative data
analysis software ATLAS.ti.
It was found that the performance logistics sector of Pakistan was lacking in terms of both
hard and soft infrastructure and this study focused more on studying the challenges in hard
logistics infrastructure that could be embedded in the challenges in soft logistics
infrastructure. Moreover, in this study, a framework was developed that represents the
challenges existing in hard and soft logistics infrastructure in Pakistan. The major challenges
were the inefficiencies of the government, minimal use of ICT services, and an incompetent
workforce. The findings from this research had implications for logistics users and logistics
service providers present in the logistics sector and could be used by policymakers for
undergoing improvements in the logistics industry of Pakistan. The research findings from this
study were contextual and need to be applied cautiously. This study contributed to the
existing literature in the context of overcoming the challenges in the logistics industry of
Pakistan and improving them by considering the strategies adopted by developed and
developing countries to tackle similar issues. Furthermore, this research addressed broad but
under-explored issues and strengthened the academic debate within this research stream.
