Material Economy and Logistics 04/2024

The aim of the research undertaken in the article is to evaluate the efficiency of intellectual capital utilization in publicly listed companies within the transport and logistics industry. To achieve this goal, a critical analysis of the literature and secondary data analysis were conducted, focusing on the data contained in the annual reports of the analysed companies. Descriptive statistics were also employed. Furthermore, the VAIC™ method, developed by Pulic, was applied. This method allowed for examining the efficiency of utilizing the companies' intellectual capital (human capital and structural capital) as well as its involvement in generating added value for the companies. The study covered transport and logistics companies listed on the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) and the NewConnect market. The time range included the years 2016–2022. The research revealed that among the analysed companies, intellectual capital (ICE) demonstrated the highest efficiency in creating added value as measured by VAIC™. However, there were significant differences in this respect, with the intellectual capital efficiency index ranging from 1,050 to 13,807. Despite these differences, all studied companies share the characteristic that the efficiency of human capital represents the largest share of the index. This indicates that companies generate the highest return on every unit of investment in human capital. The article addresses a research gap in the area of assessing efficiency of the intellectual capital.

The article contains the basic principles of operation of state physical reserves. The motive for taking up this topic was a synthetic presentation of this system, explaining its adaptation to the conditions of a market economy (especially in the years 1990–1995). During this period, extensive research was carried out and the experience of other European Union member states was used. The results of research were used to prepare the Act on State Reserves and Mandatory Fuel Stocks, which entered into force in 1996 and remained in force until 2021. Many examples of the active use of reserves in solving various economic problems were presented. The article also reflects the process of adapting the system of operating reserves and mandatory stocks to the standards in force in the European Union. The following fragments of the text contain the characteristics of the functioning of the reserves in the second decade of the 21st century. The text ends with a synthetic description of the functioning of the Government Agency of Strategic Reserves. Its operations have generated millions of losses in recent years. The positive experiences of the Material Reserves Agency were negated and the historical continuity of the rational operation of the reserves was interrupted. The text contains several examples of this.  

The article concerns logistics competencies in the theory, research and practice of functioning of supply chains. The publication is divided into two parts. The author, in the course of theoretical arguments (Logistics competencies in the theory, research and practice of functioning of supply chains – part 1) supplemented with the results of empirical research (Logistics competencies in the theory, research and practice of functioning of supply chains – part 2), assumes that that logistics competencies are the most valuable resource at both the micro- and meta-logistics levels. Some of the theoretical considerations focus on highlighting logistics competencies as one of the most important types of conditions for the functioning of supply chains. Competencies are viewed from two perspectives: competencies of supply chains and competencies of logistics staff. The empirical part of the publication reviews research on logistics competencies considered from the perspective of supply chain management. Based on the author's research, logistics HR competences useful in management at the levels of micro- and meta-logistics were identified.

The main goal of the paper was to determine the importance of using statistical quality assessment tools used in SPC to optimize quality from the point of view of obtaining stable results that meet the requirements set by customers or technical documentation. The analysis of quality parameters of blast furnace pig iron produced by a selected production plant was carried out, in which selected SPC tools were used. The analysis used data from the output of the production process and concerning the quality of the finished product, i.e. metallurgical pig iron. The following parameters: content of Si, Mn, P, S, C and the temperature of the finished product were analysed. The analysis included results from tests from 36 consecutive calendar months. Control charts of average values and quality capability indices were used to evaluate selected quality parameters.

The article is an attempt to show the importance of the minimum wage in the economy and TSL branch. In this article authors made an effort to describe the trends in the minimum wage in the European Union and selected countries around the world. The article contains research results covering the development of the minimum wage in relation to the Gross Domestic Product of the Republic of Poland. The analyses carried out in the study indicate that although the minimum wage is much lower in Poland than in the countries of the so-called old Union, it is relatively high compared to the new EU member states. This situation is the result of a strong increase in the minimum wage in Poland in the recent period.

Traditionally the academic research concerning distribution of hazardous materials is mainly focused on risk elimination. Therefore, there can be highlighted a clear deficiency of literature that deals with financial aspects of dangerous goods logistics. Thus, the main goal of this paper is to distinguish a classification model of costs that make dangerous goods supply chain different from the traditional supply network. In order to develop the model, the case of propane distribution in Poland was applied in this project. Data was collected based on the interviews with the management of liquefied petroleum gas wholesalers. The classification is comprised of five subdivisions of costs: 1) costs concerning occupational safety and health of storage, 2) packaging costs, 3) reverse logistics costs, 4) hazmat transport costs, 5) transshipment costs. The first four groups of costs represent the unique factors that make dangerous goods logistics more expensive. Those are the additional costs. The fifth group refers to the cost which is not unique but it is significantly higher in case of hazmat supply chain. The costs distinguished in the model are mainly fixed and indirect in their structure. This is the first academic paper that implements accounting measures in dangerous goods logistics area.