The article includes statements by Janusz Górski, CEO of Schenker Sp. z o.o., and Dr. Jakub Brdulak, supervisor of the “Managing in the Company of the Future” course at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH).
As the economy grows and enterprises capture new markets and customers, companies need new technologies and solutions to gain a competitive advantage. In search of innovation, businesses utilize, among other things, the support of scientific institutions. Universities present companies with the results of their research: both those commissioned by enterprises and those conducted on their own initiative.
Mutual benefits give rise to cooperation, which in turn fuels universities with practical knowledge while helping them fund research, and practitioners receive fresh results from analyses of ongoing market processes. In short, patents and new technologies improve business operations, and the demand for new solutions provides an opportunity for the development of science and research. The continuous and increasingly intense transfer of knowledge and exchange of experience between companies and universities opens up new development opportunities for all participants in this process. It is therefore gratifying that more and more Polish companies and universities are recognizing this potential and taking initiatives to strengthen ties between their environments. An example of a market that has developed thanks to cooperation between companies and universities and research institutes is the United States. Universities in the USA work closely with the business sector, meeting their needs. Thanks to this approach, companies are involved in the research process. This action increases the efficiency of both the university conducting the research and the enterprises using its results.
An example of such a solution is the incentive system for academic staff at the University of Denver. A researcher develops their competencies in the field of entrepreneurship and receives feedback on the extent to which their knowledge and research address the needs of enterprises. In Poland, which is currently a dynamically developing market, cooperation between universities and business is not yet as developed as in the case of the United States. However, one can observe a desire, both on the part of universities and companies, to strengthen these ties. With Poland’s accession to the European Union, one of the most rapidly developing sectors of the Polish economy in recent years is the TSL (Transport, Spedition, Logistics) industry. Market development makes logistics a well-known and very dynamic field of knowledge. Thus, the profession of a logistician is gaining international renown with great development prospects. A high-class specialist, educated in the field of transport processes, forwarding, logistics, logistics management, implementation of new processes improving the quality of services and the company, or outsourcing, is a sought-after employee both in our country and abroad. On the other hand, a dynamic market forces rapid development and innovative solutions in the customer service process. It has become natural to demand cooperation between the logistics industry and universities educating future employees specialized in this field.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 4/2008.