The resilience of social logistics systems – introduction

Abstract

Purpose: The article aims to formulate basic assumptions defining the resilience of complex systems falling within social logistics' scope of interest. The article emphasizes the importance of general systems theory for the contemporary understanding of management sciences, with particular emphasis on logistics. The authors of the article have also characterized, based on the current state of literature, the concept of social logistics as one of the three "clean" types of logistics, positioning it alongside military and economic logistics Design/methodology/approach: The article presents an overview of approaches to the crystallizing issue of social logistics in literature. The analyzed object of research was referred to the general theory of systems and conclusions were drawn in the form of proposals to shape the social logistics system. In addition, the authors presented an original proposal for the composition of the social logistics system based on observation of the activities of social entities and in-depth analysis of Polish and foreign literature. Findings: Then it was proposed to consolidate the term 'social logistics system resilience' and to conduct empirical research along with an outline of the research procedure. The proposed research procedure will be used and the results of research conducted in accordance with it – described in subsequent articles of the authors. Social implications: In the article, it was concluded that the subject of the study is relatively broad, and the link between the topic of social logistics and supply chain resilience is a research gap that will be filled by series of articles, the starting link of which is this one. The analyzes contained in the article refer to a large extent to the problems of comfort in social life, with particular emphasis on human needs of a social nature. Originality/value The originality of the article express in compiling the issues of social logistics with issues of systems’ resilience. In the face of the constantly observed negative phenomena disrupting the functioning of social logistics systems, the topic of their resilience is of particular importance.