Logistics as a field of knowledge – part 2

Conciseness, and even precision of the lecture – the pursuit of abstraction – is here in apparent contradiction with the material entities of the research objects. The subject of research is simultaneously the subject of knowledge acquired during the research. In the case of economic events, it is difficult to imagine research covering all of them; usually, representative methods are used and research results are extrapolated. In such cases, scientific reliability requires a precise description to satisfy the principle of experiment repeatability. Concluding, there is a demand for scientific disciplines that allow for the application of more general laws and principles in specific conditions. This does not mean, however, that one can create separate sciences based on a different perception of known and described laws, principles, and regularities.<\/p>

The term logistics is burdened with the weight of several decades, during which management concepts developed along with the development of modern forms of enterprises. One cannot consider the evolution of logistics in isolation from the realities that shaped it. The perception of, for example, transport and warehousing processes and their significance in business strategies has undergone significant revaluation. Today they are called logistics processes, but also supply chains. At the same time, however, it is not claimed that Frederick W. Taylor was a great logistician – and yet it was he who created the assembly line, material, tool, time, and wage standards, etc., which is essentially an example of the functioning of the logistics 7R principle. As a result of a certain conceptual expansion, technological processes have been covered by production logistics, but this might not be a mistake if it were not for the fact that they are also understood as proper production processes, which by their nature are characterized by dynamics. Any movement of matter, even if initiated in a conscious way, is not logistics. Logistics is calculating, referring to specific areas of activity – it is broadly understood control of processes of flow of matter, people, energy, and information, in an efficient and effective manner. However, what is the object of its influence cannot be logistics.<\/p>

For many years, much has been done to cover an ever-increasing area of human struggle in the field of rationalizing all flows with logistics – like a large tarpaulin. Indeed, one could even assume that a certain specific area of knowledge has been defined so broadly. However, it cannot be called a science in any way. The title of a scientific discipline can belong to a field that has a defined research area, and it does not predispose it to the title of a universal science, often in reality taking the form of guidebooks and instructions for action. The logistics manual for a US Army company commander is actually a collection of regulations and document templates; it has as much in common with science as any textbook – it is empiricism in its pure form, it serves teaching, not science.<\/p>

Management, i.e., the pursuit of a goal through the implementation of planning, organizing, implementing, and controlling functions using personnel, material, financial, informational, and marketing resources in an efficient and effective manner, is a very good – because true – theory of logistics. Applied sciences and disciplines must also delve into the nature of the real processes they concern. The methodological and methodical foundation of management is embedded in strong scientific foundations. However, it remains to define the area that constitutes the domain of logistics management.<\/p>

The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2\/2009.<\/p>