Increasing competitiveness with intercompany integration of logistics and marketing functions

Abstract

Researchers of different scientific disciplines, such as management strategies, organizational theories and marketing, have in the past explored relations of mutual influences and the importance of cooperation between different functions in a company. The increased focus on the logistics function has potential to increase competitiveness. This is especially true for globally aimed production companies. In any company, logistics functions cooperate with various related functions such as production, marketing, procurement, engineering or developing new products as well as with financial functions. Each of the aforementioned connections or cooperation among logistics and its complementary functions can have a decisive effect on the company's competitiveness. Using a survey, we determined which activities in the surveyed companies are performed by the logistical function together with the marketing function and which activities they suggest should be performed together but are currently not, meaning they are co-dependent. Since interfunctional integration between logistics and marketing increases the success of a company, we also examined the connection between the current joint performance of activities and the suggested joint performance of activities among the before mentioned sectors, connected to the effectiveness of the company. To examine the mentioned connections among the logistical and marketing functions, Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were performed.

Keywords

• Integration
• Logistics
• Marketing
• SEM