Determinants of marketing and logistics management in a micro-enterprise

Abstract

Abstract At present, under the conditions of some turbulent changes observed in our environment, micro-enterprises seek for opportunities to win their competitive positions in the market and in the sectors in which they operate The aim of the article is to present marketing and logistics management as one of the methods applied to achieve the market objectives of micro-enterprises. As an integrated method, marketing and logistics management may contribute to the improvement in competitiveness; hence, the recognition of conditions required for the application of this method may also contribute to the improvement in competitiveness. In the article, a review of literature related to the discussed problems is presented. The expert literature on the analysed subject does not provide any publications on micro-enterprise management, and scientific research in that sector is very scarce and provides only some general data. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the processes taking place in the micro-enterprise sector in more detail, especially in the field of modern methods of management. In the article, some considerations on the specificity of integrated logistics and marketing processes are presented. Research methods: a review of expert literature and the Author’s own case-study research. The research was carried out in the years 2015-2018 among a group of micro-enterprises in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province, Łódzkie Province, Mazowieckie Province and Wielkopolskie Province. The aim of the research was to identify conditions required for marketing and logistics management in micro-enterprises and to define the impact exerted by the factors that determine the implementation of that process. Recognising knowledge as a fundamental determinant of the implementation of modern management methods in the aspect of micro-enterprise operation requires some in-depth analysis. The article presents the results of the research based on the case-study of integrated marketing and logistics management, on the example of a virtual micro-enterprise. The main conclusions: In a virtual micro-enterprise, it is possible to indicate the field of integration of marketing and logistics processes and to define their courses and conditions. Knowledge of logistics and marketing allows us to extend the field referring to the environment of the analysed company in virtual space.