MEZOECONOMIC DIMENSION OF SUPPLY CHAINS

Anna Łupicka
The Poznań University of Economics, Poznań, Poland

ABSTRACT

Until recently representatives of economics specialized in examining microeconomic and macroeconomic problems. In the 20th century new areas of analysis, appointed by locating objects which they concern turned up at the economic system as a whole taken hold. At least at present a trial attempt is filling the leading part still widely comprehended systemizm let for distinguishing levels of economical analysis. Situating chains of supplies on the appropriate level of economical analysis is an important problem.

Key words: mezosystem, supply chains, economical analysis

Together with made choice of theoretical referring bases to the relation in chains of supplies determining the level of economical analysis of supply chains is essential. Different views, currents, paradigms or conceptions are focusing the attention around different research fields. Until recently representatives of economics specialized in examining microeconomic and macroeconomic problems. In the 20th century new areas of analysis, appointed by locating objects which they concern turned up at the economic system as a whole taken hold. At least at present a trial attempt is filling the leading part still widely comprehended systemizm let for distinguishing levels of economical analysis. Still three additional levels of analysis were distinguished: puny-micro, mezo and global. A focus of interest of the macroeconomics constitutes behaving economies as wholes. Such problems are subject to an examination as: the total production of goods and services, the pace of the rise in the production, the inflation, the unemployment, the excitement, the recession, the balance of payments and the currency exchange rate. Microeconomics, called also a theory of prices, is dealing with however mainly behaving of households, enterprises and markets, on which both categories of subjects are acting. He directed H.'s Leibenstein attention to the existence of the puny-micro level. One in the conventional microtheory assumes that a household and an enterprise are basic decision-makers and participants of economic living. H. Lebenstein is holding a view that such an assumption will be real when the household and the enterprise are single subjects. An enterprise and households are molecular structures and wanting to examine keeping them oneself it is necessary research the organization and structures of their atomic parts. In that case Leibenstein distinguishes additional, with respect to the conventional microeconomics, level of examinations puny-micro level and is calling it the atomic microeconomics.

Above the macroeconomic level additionally a global level is distinguished. On this level a scope of processes of the globalization is examined assuming that a world economy is a layout of communicating tubes and therefore many-sided influences are being observed in the spatial plan and among diverse influences - a size of production, with stores, the population, the natural environment, the technique, the organization and the politics. In the contemporary economy relations between individual elements of chains of supplies often surrender to the globalization. Managing the global supply chain consists in combining effects of all chain links of supplies in order to transform raw materials and half-finished products into finished articles and delivering of them together with the service to hands of the customer. It results from the fact that the market more and more often includes entire world rather than exclusively one economy. This way so supply chains are demonstrating the universal tendency of crossing national borders what is resulting in fundamental alterations of relations appearing in these systems, like

1. Expanding mutual relationships by more dense tying together systems of information forwarders of goods by,
   
2. In order to protect bring hauliers and increasing offices and accurate agencies,
   
3. To the pressure on the necessity of permanent tracking international flows of products imported,
   
4. Increasing requirements of the fitness of connections in order to provide with supplies for markets located in the distant parts of the world by.
   

Explaining individual levels of economical analysis one should refer for comprehending the competitiveness. As the notion applied in the theory the competitiveness is displaying the peculiar property: abstractness. Comprehending the competitiveness doesn't refer directly to concrete occurrences in the determined place and the time. So it isn't connected with the determined context. It is very important in the building site of the economic theory because it lets generalize individual events and situations, signs shared properties of given events and the situation. Also so-called comprehending the system competitiveness is appearing in literature. Four levels are deciding the system competitiveness: meta, macro, mezo and microeconomic.

With cannon of economics locating a main focus of interest on the level mezo there is a theory of the structure of the business. As regards lines of enquiry in mezoeconomy, it is main with task of the one subdiscipline examining all economic systems put on the indirect level between the economy of the country and the level of single enterprises and the institution. Analyses referring to the business are one of essential directions of interests.

A focus of interest of the theory of the structure of the business best determines the so-called Baina paradigm: structure-behaviour-effectiveness that is connections between the structure of the trade market, proceedings of enterprises and the effectiveness.

In the context of the development and achievements of the theory of the structure of the business some authors are saying the thesis about coming into existence and emerging just so-called mezoeconomy. With feature mezoeconomy diverging from perceiving the relation between economic subjects is exclusively in categories of the competition. He is turning for the cooperation, cooperation, as ways to the attention of regulation of behaviours in frames of mezosystems. With systems most often distinguished in mezoeconomic examinations there are a business and a region. At work the author is focusing mainly on problems concerning the business. As part of classification of models of the self-regulation of the business two methodological attitudes, the comprehensive approach and the system approach are distinguished. However it isn't accurate, more appropriate distinguishing is giving entertaining one another to the criterion referring to character of behaviours of subjects belonging to the business. A determination of behaviours of subjects means the criterion through surroundings. From this point of view it is possible to distinguish two extreme situations.

1. total determinism of behaviours of subjects through surroundings (in it business),
   
2. total authoritarianism of behaviours of subjects.
   

If we cushion the roughness of establishments meeting both situations it is possible to distinguish two prospects:

1. prospect of surrounding the adaptation of the natural business to conditions,
   
2. prospect which is putting analysis of strategic aspects in the focus of attention.
   

For action of the natural mechanism of selection strategic behaviours of economic subjects which in determined situations are able to dominate it are overlapping each other. This approach is immediate in its conception for managing supply chain which in the business to themselves companies forming the given chain seized the adaptation process in. It is possible to say supply chains are anchored in the given business and through integration of economic processes they form the web of the interrelation. In its pure figure the idea of creating and functioning of farm nets consists in competing and formal or unofficial cooperation of many companies, between which the great confidence exists and there are no subordinating distinct relations. According to A. Sulejewicz strategically the comprehended network is a configuration walking away from the classical hierarchy of managing, letting for elastic shaping the relation between certain - not necessarily determined from above - with number of elements, to more loose-fitting forms of connections, the lower commitment of the financial capital or different stores of the company. Networks or "clasters" (according to describing Porter) are often built on Japanese "keiretsu" patterns. The network seriously is modifying character of interorganizational connections and is posing a challenge for strategic managing groups of enterprises. On this base it is possible to describe logistic networks the being of being formed.

According to J. Witkowski through the logistic network it is possible to understand the group of independent competing and cooperating to the purpose of the improvement companies of efficiency of both the effectiveness of the flow of products and the information accompanying them according to expectations of customers.

The given definition of logistic networks is appropriate to the definition of the integrated supply chain according to Christopher's M.. The author states, that at present universally used " expression integrated supply chain, should be replaced by managing the demand chain in order to reflect the fact that the chain should be steered by the customer, rather than by suppliers. In the process the " chain" word should be replaced with " network" expression, because we usually deal with many suppliers, suppliers of suppliers and many customers and customers of customers which will be creating the huge system. Mezosystem which is characterized by many features it is possible to take back also to supply chains among others the existence of strategic groups, entering by barriers and leaving, the degree of the concentration, straining competitive and cooperative processes and the fact that subjects in the business influence price decisions of single enterprises.

REFERENCES

Dornbusch R., Fischer S., 1981, Macroeconomics, New York, w: M. Gorynia, Poziomy analizy w naukach ekonomicznych, Ekonomista 1993/3, 505.

Gołembska E., Szymczak M., 2000, Logistyka międzynarodowa, Wyd. Akademii Ekon. w Poznaniu, Poznań, 33.

Gorynia M., Jankowska B., Maślak E., 2000 branża jako przedmiot badań w ekonomii, Gospodarka Narodowa 3/2000, 40.

Lebenstein H., 1985, Ekonomia atomistyczna versus ekonomia molekularna, w: Ponad ekonomiš, PWN Warszawa, 287.

Miller L. R., 1993, Intermediate Microeconomics. Theory, Issues, Applicatios, New York 1982 w: Gorynia M., Poziomy analizy w naukach ekonomicznych, Ekonomista 1993/3, 505.

Sulejewicz A., 1997, Partnerstwo strategiczne: modelowanie współpracy przedsiębiorstw. SGH, Warszawa, 48.

Witkowski J., 2000, Logistyka w organizacjach sieciowych, Gosp. Materiałowa i Logistyka, 7-8, 168.

WYMIAR MEZOEKONOMICZNY ŁAŃCUCHA DOSTAW

STRESZCZENIE Do niedawna przedstawiciele ekonomii specjalizowali się w badaniu zagadnień mikroekonomicznych i makroekonomicznych. W dwudziestym wieku pojawiły się nowe obszary analizy, wyznaczone przez sytuowanie obiektów, których dotyczą, w całościowo ujmowanym systemie gospodarczym. Chociaż obecnie rolę pierwszoplanową zajmuje podejście procesowe to jednak szeroko pojęty systemizm pozwolił na wyróżnienie poziomów analizy ekonomicznej. Ważnym zagadnieniem jest usytuowanie łańcuchów dostaw na odpowiednim poziomie analizy ekonomicznej.

Słowa kluczowe: mezosystem, łańcuchy dostaw, analiza ekonomiczna.

MESOÖKONOMISCHE DIMENSION DER LIEFERKETTE

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG. Bis vor kurzem haben sich Vertreter der Oekonomie auf die Forschung der makro- und mikroökonomischen Probleme spezialisiert. In dem 20. Jahrhundert sind neue Bereiche der Analyse aufgetreten, ermittelt durch die Plazierung der betroffenen Objekte im komplexem Wirtschaftssystem. Wenn auch aktuell das prozessorientierte Denken im Vordergrund steht, so ermöglicht der Systemismus die Niveaus der ökonomischen Analyse. Eine wichtige Frage ist die Plazierung der Lieferketten auf dem entsprechenden Niveau der ökonomischen Analyse.

Codewörter: Mesosystem, Lieferketten, ökonomische Analyse.

dr Anna Łupicka
Akademia Ekonomiczna w Poznaniu
Katedra Transportu i Logistyki
al. Niepodległości 10,
60-967 Poznań, Polska
e-mail: anna.lupicka@ae.poznan.pl