Investigation the effects of barriers and benefits in front of green logistics applications on company performance: The case study of Mersin province

With the increase in international trade, the importance of the process of raw materials reaching the final consumer from starting point increases the demand for the logistics sector. While these demands are met, it also causes an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, which have negative effects on the environment. The logistics and transportation industry adversely affects the environment by causing various damages such as global warming, air pollution, congestion, noise or other types of pollution and resource depletion. In this context, it reminds us the importance of the relationship between logistics activities and environmental damage. Green logistics practices have started to be implemented in order to keep the damage to the environment at the lowest level during logistics activities. It is important in green logistics to minimize the environmental damage and figure out how to switch to greener transportation models. In this study, it is aimed to determine the effects of the barriers and benefits in front of the green logistics application levels of the logistics companies on the company performance in the Mersin region. In the current study, a survey was made to 163 logistics companies operating in Mersin and the data obtained were analyzed with the SPSS program. Mann-Whitney U test was used in the analysis of binary groups since the scale scores used in this study were not normally distributed. However, in the analysis of more than two groups Kruskal Wallis test was employed. Post Hoc Tukey test, one of the multiple comparison tests, was used to find the reason for the difference in more than two group analyzes. In addition, Spearman correlation test was used to determine the relationships between scale scores. The Multiple regression model method was used to determine the effects on logistics companies' performances. In the light of the analysis, it was determined that the size of the barriers in front of green logistics practices had an effect of 0.788 times and the size of benefits had an effect of 0.207 times on company performance, and it was understood that the hypothesis determined within the scope of the study was accepted. It has been observed that the logistics companies operating in Mersin are affected more by the size of the barriers in front of green logistics applications, with compared to the size of the benefits. As a result, the current situation of the logistics companies in Mersin has been demonstrated; and feasible suggestions are presented for the improvement of environmental practices by analyzing the companies' future prospects of green logistics applications and determining their missing points in environmental practices. Keywords: Green logistics, Barriers, Benefits, Company Performance