Editorial to the first issue of Logistics Research

Abstract

Current estimates of annual logistics spending are in the order of 900 billion Euros for the European Community, of 1,400 billion Dollars in the United States, of about 4,000 billion Dollars worldwide. These numbers are the financial shadows of an enormous volume of ‘‘real’’ jobs and work taking place daily in the field of logistics, of equipment employed, of the consumption of materials and immaterial resources, of challenges of organization and management. Over the last decades the ‘‘Logistics Industry’’ and the ‘‘Function’’ of Logistics have been recognized and established as very large and vital elements of the ‘‘real world’’ of modern business and economic activities. The situation is different in the ‘‘academic world’’—the world of ideas, hypotheses, methodologies, concepts, of research questions and answers: The ‘‘science’’ of logistics is not yet fully recognized there. It is not perceived on par with the older, established disciplines of Economics, Physics, Mathematics, and not even with the younger fields of Marketing, Informatics, Engineering, etc. Some reasons for this are obvious. There is fragmentation by geographies and cultures: Communication between the American/Anglo-Saxon ‘‘communities’’ of logistics and supply chain researchers on one hand, the other communities of logisticians in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere, is progressing, but still far from perfect. Academics in logistics typically received their original education in Operations Research or General Business Administration, in Marketing, Engineering, Geography, etc. This is where their loyalty and sense of identity is primarily rooted. And in the past, the field has been driven more by the adaptation of developments and best business practices, rather than by original results of research, and by a set of clear cut, broadly accepted academic standards, methods, paradigmatic approaches. A quite practical consequence of this situation is the difficulty for young academics in logistics to get their work published in ways that they receive full credit and ‘‘rankings’’ that are ever more required for the advancement of their careers. To overcome the disciplinary, geographical and cultures barriers that fragment and inhibit the field so far will be a huge challenge for the coming years. The ambitious goal which the publishers and editors of our new journal LOGISTICS RESEARCH hat set for themselves, therefore, is to make a contribution towards meeting this challenge. We hope that LOGISTICS RESEARCH will complement the already existing options to publish academic work in a unique way through its mission of