IRAT in collaboration with the Rotterdam School of Management, the University of Naples Parthenope and the University of Genoa, has organized the Subtrack “Port competitiveness and value creation: different perspectives of analysis” within the Strategic Management “Management & Technological Innovation at a Crossroads: New Processes, Practices and Structures’”. The aim of the Subtrack was to exchange and share ideas on management strategy and corporate governance in the context of the Port.
The Conference was held in Istanbul at the Galatasaray University (26th-29th June 2013).
Port competitiveness is a topic of increasing relevance, given the importance of ports both as source of value creation for the firms involved and, more in general, for the impact of port activities on the social, environmental and economic development of the region and country in which the port is located. Indeed, ports are of major economic and strategic importance for countries as they enable import and export, ensure and facilitate the connection between geographical regions, foster the national economy and boost firm’s competitiveness. The last few decades experienced a profound restructuring of port and stevedoring sectors. The progressive international opening of local markets, the quick evolution of competitive paradigms and the raise of private stevedoring firms exploiting port reform opportunities dramatically transformed the port environment and business, reshaping also factors that affect inter- and intra-port competition (Heaver, 1995; Hoyle & Charlier, 1995; Notteboom, 2002; Parola et al., 2012; Slack, 1985). The “democratization” of port management is reflected in the need for ports and port authorities to directly and indirectly address demands of various stakeholders. Port clients and other stakeholders progressively require ports to become more flexible, to take more into account environmental concerns and socio-economic issues – to maintain their ‘license to operate and grow’ – and to become of increased strategic value for their region and country. In order to preserve their international competitiveness and to survive in dynamic environments, port must become more adaptive (Van Den Bosch et al., 2011).
The above environmental and competitive transformations have induced various stakeholders to exercise a growing pressure on port authorities, which are called to be involved in a larger number of matters (Van Den Bosch et al., 2011). Therefore, port authorities have to deal with: i) the increasing bargaining power of port users, i.e. ocean carriers and global stevedores; ii) a greater attention to environmental/sustainability and security issues and, more in general, to Corporate Social Responsibility; iii) the need of a larger amount of financial resources for new investments, also implying international tendering procedures; iv) the involvement of emerging stakeholders (e.g., inland terminals, logistics providers, etc.), acting within the transport chain, which requires the coordinating effort of port authorities (Parola et al., 2012; Verhoeven, 2010).
Port competitiveness and value creation have received great attention in the academic works and studies have implemented different approaches of analysis (macro- and microeconomic, financial, managerial/marketing and operational) regarding ports and port undertakings. From a public policy perspective, ports are seen as economic catalysts for the region and country they serve where the aggregation of services and activities generates benefits and socio-economic wealth. Other issues of interest to the public policy maker include urban planning and expansion, security, and environmental sustainability. At this regard, studies on the analysis of value mainly concern the impacts of ports’ activities on transport and logistics industries and, to a broader extent, on the economic system whether at local and national levels, through the concept of value added (Musso, 2009). Ports are also source of value creation for the firms involved in the process of services production (Robinson, 2002).
In recent years, there has been great interest in conceptualizing ports from the strategic management perspective (and other management subfields including marketing, human resources and supply chain management) (Bichou & Gray, 2005; Woo et al., 2011), particularly with the increasing recognition of the integrative role of ports in international logistics and distribution systems. Nevertheless, leading scientific journals in the field of Management and Strategy, e.g. the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies and Journal of Management Studies, up till now do include just very few contributions on ports and maritime domains. This gap is remarkable, especially because ports provide an interesting research field in terms of dynamic business environments where technological, regulatory and market forces interact and influence the management and strategy of firms. Moreover, maritime and other port-related firms are often interdependent on each other, and (strategic) connectivity between organizations within and between ports strongly affects ports and firms’ overall competitiveness (Arvis et al., 2010; De Martino & Morvillo, 2008; Song, 2003; Van Den Bosch et al., 2011). Additionally, as the performance of these public and private organizations is deeply affected by the interrelations and interdependencies between various stakeholders, ports provide a rich and fruitful research context for the field of strategic management. To address this research gap, this Track on port competitiveness and strategic value creation under the overall Conference theme “Democratising Management” aims to bring together scholars interested in research, writing and submitting papers on man¬agement, strategy and corporate governance in the context of ports.
