Envisioning E-logistics Developments In Turkey On The Way of Accession To The EU: A Focus Group Study

Effective uses of information technologies make the logistics companies more competitive, supporting every stage of their operations. Also rapid growth of e-commerce increases both firms’ and individuals’ demands on e-logistics services. Therefore this research focuses on e-logistics developments in Turkey mainly in the light of its relations with the EU. Turkey is a candidate country of the EU and e-logistics is a new concept for Turkey. For both reason Turkey adapts the EU rules in enactment process of this sector. Investigating the major drivers that encourage an emergence of e-logistics in Turkey, a focus group interview is used in this study. It was found that e-logistics has a positive progress in Turkey, in spite of that country’s legal infrastructure and organizational structures of logistics companies are not fully ready to answer demands of e-logistics facilities yet. Research findings show that foreign logistics firms, invested in Turkey, are the main e-logistics operators and more successful in this terms, comparing with domestic ones.