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1 – 10 of over 4000Purpose – The shipping industry is generally recognised as having better fuel efficiency than other transport modes. In many regions of the world, therefore, policy has promoted…
Abstract
Purpose – The shipping industry is generally recognised as having better fuel efficiency than other transport modes. In many regions of the world, therefore, policy has promoted shipping as the preferred freight transport mode of choice. In recent years, however, environmental problems associated with shipping have emerged. Several influential analyses have revealed the impact of shipping on air quality, particularly in the form of emissions of sulphur, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, all of which have adverse consequences for human health.
Methodology/approach – An extensive environmental profile of shipping is provided, focusing specifically on the atmospheric pollution that is directly attributable to shipping operations.
Findings – It is important, however, to place the environmental profile of the shipping industry into the context of exactly how much transport work it does. This makes it clear that where shipping is a viable modal alternative then, in relative terms and most contexts, it still retains significant environmental advantages over other modes. The industry and its regulators have been slow, however, to improve its environmental profile and maintain its inherent advantage. Technical and operational measures which the industry may implement unilaterally are analysed, but these are deemed insufficient to stem the adverse tide of environmental concerns. Regulation is a necessity. Recently implemented regulatory measures are analysed, together with possible scenarios for the future regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The IMO approach of global regulation is supported in preference to regionally based regulatory policies. There is also a danger that regulatory intervention may distort mode choice contexts.
Originality/value – The provision of an extensive environmental profile of shipping and an examination of this profile in relation to the importance of this transport mode to the global economy.
Kent N. Gourdin and Richard L. Clarke
As American firms formulate competitive strategies for the 1990s and beyond they are realising that significant profit opportunities exist outside the United States. As managers…
Abstract
As American firms formulate competitive strategies for the 1990s and beyond they are realising that significant profit opportunities exist outside the United States. As managers deal with globalising their logistics systems to support overseas marketing efforts transportation becomes an extremely important factor. The readiness of the US transportation system to support the growing global logistics needs of American business is examined. The authors conclude that with few exceptions the US international freight transport industry cannot meet the challenges presented by the rapid globalisation of the marketplace.
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Remote monitoring technology (RMT) is widely acknowledged as an important enabler of servitisation however, there is a dearth of understanding about how RMT is used by…
Abstract
Purpose
Remote monitoring technology (RMT) is widely acknowledged as an important enabler of servitisation however, there is a dearth of understanding about how RMT is used by manufacturing firms to support servitised strategies. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this important yet somewhat ignored topic in servitisation research. It attempts to address the following questions: what has constrained, and what has enabled the exploitation of RMT in the context of servitised strategies?
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts an exploratory multiple-case study design. Four in-depth descriptive case studies of companies operating in aerospace, industrial equipment, marine, and transport sectors were conducted. The collected data were analysed and synthesised, drawing out conclusions.
Findings
The study describes how four manufacturers are using RMT and identifies ten factors that have enabled and constrained the realisation of expected outcomes. The enabling factors identified include: skills, experience, and knowledge; support from customers and other complementary data sources, processes, and structures; operations centres; historical data; and presence of in-house knowledge and capabilities. While the constraining factors include: defining benefits of RMT; limitations of RMT; limited understanding about true capabilities of RMT; knowledge management; and lack of alignment between services and manufacturing strategies.
Research limitations/implications
While considerable attention and effort have been invested in designing and conducting the research and analysing the data from the case studies, more empirical work is required to validate and enrich findings and conclusions. For this purpose several research questions to guide further theory development in this area are formulated.
Originality/value
This paper is an in-depth study examining the role of RMT in supporting servitised strategies. In particular, it explores how this technology is used in practice to support service-oriented value propositions of manufacturers and identifies the factors that are key to successfully executing this strategy. As such it qualifies as one of the first studies of this kind.
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Eirik Loetveit Pedersen and Richard Gray
Examines transport selection criteria with particular reference to Norwegian exports. Because results of studies of carrier selection determinants tend to have a degree of…
Abstract
Examines transport selection criteria with particular reference to Norwegian exports. Because results of studies of carrier selection determinants tend to have a degree of consensus, there is a risk of assuming context‐free determinants, whereas throughout the world there is a range of contexts that may influence determinants. Norway has distinctive features including export dependency with a small home market, a peripheral location, and an extreme topography and climate. Despite an awareness of logistics concepts, Norwegian exporters appear to place more emphasis on direct transport costs than many context‐free studies would suggest. The paper concludes that logistics studies should have an accepted typology of relevant context features, so that better comparisons between studies can be made.
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New services design and development are difficult to plan, execute, measure and evaluate. Particularly, new services that are capital-intensive and involve a long gestation and…
Abstract
Purpose
New services design and development are difficult to plan, execute, measure and evaluate. Particularly, new services that are capital-intensive and involve a long gestation and development time are considered extremely risky. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a list of innovative practices in various managerial aspects in designing, planning and development of a large scale infrastructure intensive public transportation service. A contemporary new public transportation service development is discussed as evidence of proven and benchmarked criteria.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a technical paper, where theoretical foundations of best practices in new service development project are discussed and supported by practice-based evidences from a real-life urban transportation project. A case study approach is adopted with secondary data.
Findings
Worldwide during and after economic recession of 2008, several projects were stalled or abandoned. The inference through this work is that through efficient management practices, a large capital-intensive new service development project can be made successful even during a turbulent economy in a region marred by more challenges than elsewhere.
Practical implications
Several issues in large scale services development, such as urban transportation are domain specific. Some of the issues faced in urban transportation are common to several Gulf countries; therefore the policy guidelines, managerial practices and development strategies reported in this paper can be replicated in many of them. The commercial impact of the service project is a significant drive towards fuel conservation and to save huge amounts of productive time.
Social implications
Public transportation with a high quality of networked service improves the quality of life to a large extent. Unless certain measurable demands are not met, an affluent society is less likely to endorse public transportation. In addition, endorsement of public transportation is been promoted in several parts of the world as a drive towards a green, energy efficient, low-carbon emission and sustainable environment.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, new services planning and development is a key operations management topic, on which very little is written about. Particularly no other paper has presented a real-world large scale infrastructure intensive project development to this detail, and along with a theoretical background to benchmark performance and development practices.
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Samuel Façanha Câmara, Francisco Roberto Pinto, Felipe Roberto da Silva, Paulo Torres Junior and Marcelo Oliveira Soares
This study aimed to identify the potential for economic activities related to the ocean economy in Brazil to become blue economy (BE) activities, in which the concept of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to identify the potential for economic activities related to the ocean economy in Brazil to become blue economy (BE) activities, in which the concept of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is central.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve the aim, the authors collected information on the SDGs and estimated data from the ocean economy sectors for the 256 Brazilian coastal cities. The authors predicted the indices for potential development of territories and sectors in the BE using two parameters: employed persons (EP) and sectoral added value (AV).
Findings
The results show that the capitals of coastal states present the highest potential indices for the BE, especially Rio de Janeiro, which accounted for 83.3% of sectoral added value in the Brazilian ocean economy with potential for sustainable development and generated 107,800 active formal jobs (26.9% of the country's total). In addition, restaurants, hotels and similar establishments are, on the Brazilian coast, the most frequent on the coastal zone and have the highest potential for BE activities.
Originality/value
Regarding its contributions, this research innovates by developing an indicator that can help stakeholders understand the similarities and differences between cities and regions, whether through a social, economic, or environmental lens. Therefore, by following this methodological path for measuring the BE, viewing the distinct patterns of sustainable development by area is possible, thereby supporting action plans for the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda and the implementation of a marine spatial planning process for the country in the context of the Ocean Decade (2021–2030).
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2023-0112
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There are many different pollution reduction strategies even within different ports in the same country. Every port can learn from these environmental protection strategies. What…
Abstract
Purpose
There are many different pollution reduction strategies even within different ports in the same country. Every port can learn from these environmental protection strategies. What remains universally key, though, is to select the optimum strategy to reduce pollution. This paper aims to use a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) to prioritize the relative weights of key criteria assessing the port environmental protection and select the best port in Taiwan.
Design/methodology/approach
Four criteria and eleven sub-criteria of the FAHP model are developed through expert interviews and relevant literature review. Three alternative ports considered are Kaohsiung, Keelung and Taichung. The expert questionnaire samples (23) include four groups: shipping operators, port operators, governmental officials and academics.
Findings
Results indicate that finance is the most important evaluation criteria, followed by port environmental policy, technology and stakeholders. Among the three ports compared, Kaohsiung Port is selected as the best port, followed by Keelung and Taichung port.
Originality/value
The result of this paper can help fill the gap in the existing literature regarding decision analysis techniques for port pollution regulation and expect to present a holistic picture of the important evaluation criteria related to port environmental protection as well as raise issues of public awareness concern and consequently improve green port sustainability.
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Kyong Han Lee and Sang-Yoon Lee
The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the impact of logistics efficiency on trade volume growth, and to examine the effects of lower tariffs resulting from free…
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the impact of logistics efficiency on trade volume growth, and to examine the effects of lower tariffs resulting from free trade agreements. In order to measure the impact of logistics efficiency on trade volume growth, the export and import trade volume among 53 countries was introduced as the dependent variable. Macroeconomic indicators including annual average tariff rate, logistics efficiency indicators for port, air, railroad, road and container vessel connectivity, as well as dummy variables such as whether a free trade agreement was signed, were introduced as the explanatory variables. Bilateral panel data between trading nations was used to estimate the gravity panel model, and analysis followed the categorization: 1) separate inputs of the five logistics efficiency variables and 2) one aggregated input of the five variables as a single indicator. The analysis found that logistics efficiency had a statistically significant impact on bilateral trade volume growth, while the impact of lowering tariff rates on increasing trade was insignificant. In addition, logistics efficiency was found to have a greater impact on increasing trade volume than free trade agreements. These results imply that trade can be promoted more effectively by establishing and efficiently operating logistics-related infrastructure rather than traditional methods of reducing trade barriers such as lowering tariffs and signing free trade agreements.
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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the reasons, especially the assertions about the future, given by the US administration under President Reagan, to justify the decision to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the reasons, especially the assertions about the future, given by the US administration under President Reagan, to justify the decision to attack and invade the Caribbean island of Grenada.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is analysis of existing records and reports on the assertions, events, and decisions leading to the invasion.
Findings
The Reagan administration gave three main reasons for the invasion. They claimed that Americans on Grenada, particularly the students attending the St George's University Medical School, would be harmed from continuing social disruption on Grenada; that the militarization of Grenada was intended as a means for the future export of terrorism or revolution to its Caribbean neighbors; and that the planned international airport at Point Salines was intended to be a future Soviet‐Cuban military base. Each was false.
Research limitations/implications
Decision making includes assumptions about the future and invites the use of foresight. Such foresight, of course, can be presumptively true and, thus, useful. But also it can be wrong, sometimes deliberately manipulated, leading to wrongheaded actions and devastating consequences.
Practical implications
An analysis of the 1983 American invasion of Grenada illustrates the power of authority to distort the truth and corrupt morality, processes that re‐occurred 20 years later with much greater consequences in the case of the 2003 American‐led invasion of Iraq.
Originality/value
The case study of the American invasion of Grenada can be used by decision makers and others to improve future decision‐making situations. Before doing violence to other people, we need to ask what violence we are doing to truth.
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Because of the diverse nature of the shipbuilding industry, it can offer a wide variety of challenging career opportunities in a stimulating and creative environment. Entry to the…
Abstract
Because of the diverse nature of the shipbuilding industry, it can offer a wide variety of challenging career opportunities in a stimulating and creative environment. Entry to the industry is at a variety of levels and leads to job and career opportunities in many fields. Trainee entrants can be broadly classified into three groups: