engleski

Predicting Growth Potential of Small and Medium- Sized Logistics Companies

Small and medium-sized logistics companies are unfairly neglected in scientific and professional research even though they usually account for majority of companies in logistics industry. Logistics SMEs are the most flexible part of the sector, both followers and drivers of overall economy and should be regarded as prospective large logistics companies. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main predictors of growth among small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in logistics industry. The underlying notion is that business models of small and medium-sized logistics service providers with potential for high growth share some common features that will be reflected in the growth prediction model designed specifically for logistics industry. The dataset included predominantly financial indicators derived from balance sheet and income statements for 63741 SMEs who were active in the 2010-2014 period. The paper provides preliminary empirical evidence on growth similarities across SMEs in logistics industry. The results of the study are to a great extent in line with the previous research on SMEs growth. Increasing understanding of critical growth factors for logistics service providers can help bridge the gap between SMEs and large companies and may be of interest to entrepreneurs, managers, policy- makers as well as scholars.

growth prediction ; logistics service providers ; financial indicators ; SMEs

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