The specific nature of the research conducted at the Department of International Marketing and Distribution has allowed us to build a unique position in Poland in the field of studies on the development of modern distribution and marketing communication strategies, as well as territorial marketing (strategies for building brands of cities, regions, and countries).

The research interests of the Department's team include: strategies of international retail chains, development of modern forms of distribution, sales management, internationalization of Polish retail trade, brand development strategies, marketing communication, consumer behavior, consumer ethnocentrism, territorial marketing, marketing strategies of small and medium-sized enterprises, political marketing, and university marketing.

Characteristics of research specialization

The Department of International Marketing and Distribution, unlike other units at the Faculty of Management and Marketing, is an interdisciplinary unit with a functional specialization in the broadly understood field of international business.

The research topics we develop concern, in particular, the strategies of international retail chains on the global market and in Poland. Key questions concern the degree of standardization of these strategies on international markets and the processes of their adaptation to the specifics of the Polish market. Within this area of research, we have produced numerous research papers and books, positioning us as the country's leading scientific and research center specializing in this field. Prof. Tomasz Domański has made a particular contribution to this area of research. Dr. Paweł Kowalski has also dealt with these issues.

The second research area is territorial marketing and strategies for building brands for cities, regions, and countries. We are also a leading research center in Poland in this field, and our work is characterized by a high degree of innovation. It was carried out on the basis of broader research on the city of Łódź, the Łódź region, and the role of marketing events in city branding (work by Prof. Tomasz Domański, Dr. Marta Hereźniak, Dr. Justyna Anders-Morawska, and Dr. Michał Sędkowski).

A separate line of research is work on building the country's brand in connection with the process of building the Polish brand. This includes the research of Dr. Marta Hereźniak, a collaborator and expert at the Polish Chamber of Commerce in Warsaw in 2003–2013 and a participant in the international project “Brand for Poland.” She has carried out brand building projects for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Regional Development, Polish cities and regions, and the national brand of Kazakhstan. She is the author of the first book in Poland on national brand building, Marka narodowa. Jak skutecznie budować wizerunek i reputację kraju (PWE, Warsaw 2011). She is also a member of the International Place Branding Association and the Institute of Place Management, as well as a member of the expert panel The Place Brand Observer.

Among the most significant research projects carried out at the Department, it is also worth mentioning the work of Dr. Justyna Anders-Morawska on the operationalization of the concept of co-governance in city management with the use of market orientation in local government, as well as research on the relationship between local government and internal and external stakeholders of the city. The Department's urban research covers topics such as territorial marketing, city branding, city communication in social media, as well as issues related to relationship marketing, participation, and public value (Dr. Michał Sędkowski). Recently, the research interests of the Department's staff have also included issues related to a critical approach to the concept of the creative city and the design of user-friendly cities.

The third research trend is scientific work on the strategies of Polish companies entering European markets and building their competitiveness. This topic has been and continues to be analyzed in relation to selected industries and product categories. The food market and organic and traditional products are the subject of particular analysis (Prof. Paweł Bryła, PhD).