Supply Chain Coordination for Port Sustainability

Abstract

The rapid expansion of trade and the intense pace of the economic activities of ports pose numerous social and environmental challenges, and thus put port hinterland regions at risk and challenge traditional port business models. Few studies have examined the conceptual and empirical issues involved in improving port sustainability, although port sustainability issues have recently been discussed with some urgency in the goods movement sector. This paper sets out a conceptual model of port sustainability, presents and examines multiple concepts of supply chains surrounding port activity, and identifies both institutional barriers and supply chain bottlenecks. Three different supply chain concepts for seaports are discussed: physical infrastructure chain, economic value chain, and institutional chain. Rather than a narrow focus on an individual port's operational aspects, broader, more systematic supply chain perspectives on cargo movement systems are essential to introduce port sustainability effectively to current U.S. port business practices. Actions are needed, not just from port authorities, but also from other stakeholders, including government, industries, and community groups. Coordinated activities and collaboration would significantly facilitate the implementation of sustainable models of seaport businesses and cargo movement services.

Conceptual Model Development of Sustainability Practices: The Case of Port Operations for Collaboration and Governance

“…However, it is claimed that an environmental performance index (EPI) is insufficient and/or laborious to approach sustainability issues. As pointed out by prior studies (e.g., [4,14,33]), sustainability indicators that are focused on environmental indices are not sufficient to successfully reflect a sustainability performance because sustainability practices in port operations incorporate multiple tasks that cannot simply be measured by the specific indicators [2]. Darbra et al [14] and Bell and Morse [33] claimed that there were difficulties in collecting an exact environmental figure and/or index from ports because of the scarcity and/or the lack of data, as well as the policy and confidentiality concerns of ports.…”

“…As argued by Cheon and Deakin [14], port authorities and other stakeholders including industries, governments, and commodity groups should effectively coordinate and cooperate with them in order to respond to the increased pressures of all sorts of stakeholders including competitors, customers, and regulators [4]. Visibility to achieve sustainability depends on the sustainability of its stakeholder's relationship which can be achieved through active engagement of all stakeholders of the port infrastructure, which allow responding quickly to stakeholder expectations and a changing environment, as well as continuing the operational performance of the business and distribution network over a long period of time sustainable and with higher operational efficiency and service differentiation [2].…”

“…Therefore, it appears that the concept of sustainability in port operations shapes not only the character of success in the real dynamic competition between ports, but also the role and responsibility as a central position in industries associated with international trade [5,6]. In the same vein, the concept of sustainability in international port operations should incorporate the following four main perspectives: Economic perspective including returns on investment, efficiency of the use of the port area, and provision of facilities for companies to maximize their performance [12,13]; Competition perspective ensuring capability that improve their operational performance and their businesses remain competitive in sophisticated port competition [14]; Social scope such as the direct contribution to employment in port companies and activities connecting to the port (indirect employment, the interaction and relationship between port and city, the contribution to knowledge development and education, and the liveability of the area surrounding the port) [13,15]; and Environmental performance and management including noise pollution, air quality, dredging operations, dredging disposal, dust [12,13].…”

“…Sustainable development in port operations means 'business strategies and activities' in order to accommodate the current and future needs of the port and its stakeholders, protecting and sustaining human and natural resources [1]. Therefore, to successfully achieve sustainability in port operations, ports need to a balance between valuable land, labour and technology, as well as to perform as a multifunctional business centre which can produce added-value and the growth in its host city [5,6], as sustainability issues including economic stability, low environmental impacts and social responsibility shed a new light on the port operations literature [14]. In addition, new opportunities to achieve competitive advantage and/or to sustain a competitive position will also be a critical issue for sustainable port operations in the real competitive business environment.…”

The role of port authorities in the development of LNG bunkering facilities in North European ports

“…CSR has become an integral part of port strategy definition (Dooms and Verbeke 2007;Adams et al 2010). In addition, pursuing a sustainable development incorporating economic, social, and environmental concerns has become a key theme of contemporary port strategy (Cheon and Deakin 2010;Adams et al 2010;Lam and Van de Voorde 2012). ESPO (2013) defined "port sustainability" as "business strategies and activities that meet the current and future needs of the port and its stakeholders, while protecting and sustaining human and natural resources."…”