Iwo Nowak: For some time now, voices have been emerging in foreign and domestic circles associated with logistics, pointing to the need to consider whether logistics could become a science. Therefore, I would like to ask you, Professor, whether logistics has already developed sufficiently solid foundations to truly become a science?
Prof. Lech Bukowski: I cannot answer with a simple yes or no at this moment, but I would like to approach the problem in a comprehensive manner. I assume that we do not need to discuss what science is in general and that everyone interested in the problem knows this. However, three aspects must be distinguished in science. The first is scientific research, which has been conducted in the area of broadly understood logistics for 25-30 years worldwide, in Europe, and in Poland. If we consider the scientific nature of logistics in this respect, the answer is affirmative. But it must be emphasized that research concerning logistics is focused on other, already recognized areas of science, such as transport, operations research, management, machine design and operation, etc. This is a method known in professional literature as borrowing certain theories to solve new issues, tasks, and problems in other areas. The second aspect is related to the division of science into fields and scientific disciplines. And here, the whole matter is complex and ambiguous.
I. N.: Why?
Prof. L Bukowski: Because over many years we have managed to create a system as complicated as probably nowhere else in the world. For people practicing science, the main division is the distinction between fields and disciplines of science in which doctoral, habilitation, and professorial degrees are awarded. In this classification, 17 fields of science have been distinguished, such as, for example, humanities, economic, and technical sciences, divided into over 70 scientific disciplines, among which there is no discipline related to logistics. Therefore, we cannot earn scientific degrees in logistics. On the other hand, we have a newer division according to which so-called grants, or research projects, are awarded. According to this classification, there are 5 fields of science divided into 70 scientific disciplines; unfortunately, logistics is still missing among them. Added to all this is a third area, in my opinion very important, represented by the Polish Academy of Sciences. Logistics appears here in one place – as the Logistics in Transport Section in the Transport Committee of Division IV of Technical Sciences. This is only a certain segment of logistics, which, although supporting a very important area of scientific research, is far from complete.
I. N.: So there is a substitute for logistics in science?
Prof. L. Bukowski: Looking at it formally, logistics as a science does not exist in Poland.
I. N.: But perhaps there is some theory of logistics mature enough to be considered representative of this trend?
Prof. L Bukowski: Here, too, there is no unambiguous answer, although everything indicates that such a theory does not yet exist, although it is most likely currently being born. And not only in the environment gathered around our “Total Logistic Management” Applied Logistics Conference. I will immodestly say that the paper I presented five years ago, “Logistics – an applied science or just a fashionable method,” provoked a lot of discussion on this topic. And here, a nod to the “Logistyka” magazine, which was the only one to take up this topic and create opportunities for prominent specialists to speak in its columns. For example, the latest issue contains, among other things, a very interesting, albeit controversial, statement by Dr. Eng. Józef Okulewicz from the Warsaw University of Technology, which contains many accurate observations.
I. N.: And what does this matter look like abroad?
Prof. L Bukowski: In recent months, I have scanned world literature in the field of logistics, focusing primarily on journals where the scientific aspect dominates in published articles. It turns out that since about the mid-1990s, articles referring to this topic have appeared more and more frequently. For me, a fundamental signal is a 2004 article in the International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, authored by three American professors, the title of which can be translated as: “Towards a unified theory of logistics.” They point to the need to build a theory that comprehensively and in a unified way captures the knowledge characteristic of a new scientific discipline, which logistics could indeed be. In 2007, in the Journal of Supply Chain Management, two authors from Scandinavia also write about this in the article “Building logistics theory.” So the world is moving towards finding theoretical solutions also in the area of logistics. I believe it would be highly irresponsible on our part if, having significant achievements in this area, great intellectual potential, the experience of many companies, and the interest of media such as, for example, “Logistyka,” we slept through this period and then accepted a theory that someone imposes on us.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2009.