Port integration in global supply chains: measures and implications for maritime logistics

Integration of Maritime Transportation to Supply Chains: A Literature Review and Suggestions for Further Research

“…Although current literature acknowledges the importance of port integration to ports or supply chain orientation for ports, the number of empirical studies on these issues are limited (Song and Panayides, 2008;Tongzon et al 2009;Panayides and Song, 2009). Within these studies, some of them (i.e: Heaver et al, 2000;Notteboom and Winkelmans, 2001) investigate the causes and implications of port, maritime transport and logistics integration.…”

“…Accordingly, integration, which may be physical (integration of modes of transport), economic/strategic (vertical integration, governance structure) or organizational (relational, people or process integration via organizations), emerges at the centre of maritime transportation, as well as ports (Panayides, 2006). Although current literature acknowledges the importance of integration to supply chains or supply chain orientation for ports, the number of empirical studies on these issues are limited (Song and Panayides, 2008;Tongzon et al 2009;Panayides and Song, 2009). Therefore this study, by focusing on the port integration to supply chains, aims to specify and interpret the available literature about the concept, and accordingly suggest some further research ideas by utilizing the interdisciplinary nature of maritime transportation.…”

“…For instance, Bichou and Gray (2005) propose that the performance of ports could be measured according to its contribution to overall added value of the channel. While some studies (i.e: Marlow and Paixao, 2003;Paixao and Marlow, 2003) offer logistics concepts such as leanness and agility for investigating port performance, other follow an empirical approach and suggest several constructs such as value-added services (i.e: Tongzon et al 2009) and information and communication systems (i.e: Panayides and Song, 2009). For instance, Carbone and De Martino (2003) investigate the contribution of a port to value creation through a case analysis, whereas Song and Panayides (2008) use 'use of information and communication technology', 'relationship with shipping line', 'value added service', 'integration of transport modes', and 'relationship with inland transport operators' as measures of port supply chain integration through a questionnaire survey.…”

“…Therefore, one of the enablers of supply chain integration is information sharing (Song and Panayides, 2008) which allows partners to share on time and open information for reducing problems of alignment (Croom et al 2000). Besides, by information sharing, companies may benefit from cost reduction and performance improvement (Lee and Fernando, 2015) via avoiding duplication of documentation, improving dependability, reliability, and speed (Panayides and Song, 2009). Moreover, collaboration provides an opportunity to minimize the conflicts between partners in the chain, whereas coordination helps the whole chain to be more responsive to customer demands.…”

How Supply Chains affect Economies of Agglomeration. Evidence from Port of Constanta, Economics& Sociology

“…Although there is a growing number of papers recognizing the important role that ports play on international supply chains (Slack and Frémont, 2005, Carbone and De Martino, 2003, Bichou and Gray, 2004, Robinson, 2006, Panayides and Song, 2009) there have been limited empirical investigations on how supply chains affect economies of agglomeration located in ports. In fact, the association between the theory of economies of agglomeration and that of supply chains is not a common one.…”