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The chapter assesses the state of research and gender-specific data in maritime shipping and ports. This is crucial for implementing and promoting Sustainable Development Goal 5 ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’ in the sector under study. Moreover, the present chapter examines whether progress has been made regarding the availability of gender-related data and research in the port sector.

An extensive review of the literature covering gender-related research in the shipping and port sectors going back to the pre-1990 period has been carried out. Next, data from the Port Performance Scorecard established under the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) TrainForTrade (TfT) Port Management Programme (PMP) is analysed, covering the 2015–2020 period. Last, this research is complemented by the results of a survey conducted in 2021 across UNCTAD’s TfT port network.

The literature review identified the main gender dimensions affecting maritime shipping and ports, namely health, empowerment, economic, and education. These results were completed by insights generated by the analysis of gender-related data obtained through selected member ports of the UNCTAD TfT PMP. Overall, the data provided information about the state of play and the existing data gaps and limitations relating to mainstreaming the gender dimension in maritime shipping and ports. It confirmed that traditional stereotypes about the type of job functions that can be fulfilled by women remain prevalent in these two sectors. In this context, the chapter concludes that improving data availability and accessibility in maritime shipping and ports is imperative to advance research and evidence-based policymaking that promote gender equality in maritime transport. Closing the data gap and refining data on gender across the maritime supply chain sector is therefore key. As available data are insufficiently accessible and highly aggregated and which in turn limits the analytical scope, the present chapter recommends that a framework for a Maritime Shipping and Port Gender Equality and Diversity Index be established while leveraging existing data and efforts, including by UNCTAD.

The purpose of this paper is to examine performance change in the Irish state-owned port sector over the 2000-2016 period using a case study approach.

For analysis, qualitative sources are used to construct an explanatory account for the quantitative measures of productivity, profitability and traffic shift-share change across the major ports within the system.

The results show that overall change in performance largely follows that of the macro-economic performance of the region, characterised by pre-recession growth, decline during the recession and post-recession recovery. Across the ports, however, there was a notable divergence in performance post-recession. Identified factors affecting performance change across the period include demand-side structural change, labour rationalisation and degree of private sector participation.

This study addresses a gap in the formal evaluation of port performance in Ireland. The study further demonstrates the potential of in-depth case study analysis for uncovering insights into the drivers of performance across a number of dimensions, thus allowing for the contextualisation of results. The study of a small number of cases enables the use of rich qualitative sources to create strong narratives, which combined with quantitative measures of performance, can lead to new insights.

This paper aims to review the application of business process management (BPM) in the port sector. Its objective is to understand whether BPM principles are applied in the port sector, the role of the procedural factor in port performance evaluation and whether electronic data interchange systems have been used for process management purposes.

The objective of this research is to conduct a critical review of existing academic literature in the domain of BPM and its application in the ports sector. This paper assessed more than a hundred recent publications, from key journals in the domains of port economics, BPM and information technology. The two principle platforms used are the online databases of the World Bank Group and the University of Antwerp.

Academic literature reviewed reveals a partial application of BPM in the port and maritime sector. BPM related research is conducted via the utilization of modeling algorithms or optimization and simulation tools. There exists evidence that electronic data interchange (EDI) data extracted from EDI platforms can be used to model inter-organizational business processes in several industries. Yet, to the best of the author’s knowledge, no research investigates Port Community System (PCS) or single window (SW) data utilization for BPM purposes, although PCS and SW benefits are well documented. Port performance is largely assessed based on the production theory, and limited number of studies use elements of procedural efficiency as variables for their analysis.

The holistic application of BPM has been researched in numerous industries but in the port sector. This paper constitutes the first section of an original research study to define key components, assumptions and constraints for developing a comprehensive BPM framework in the port sector.

This paper aims to develop a framework of executive capability for innovation in the Irish seaport context.

The paper uses an approach based on a critical review of literature. The paper takes the form of a critical review of academic literature, focussed by dynamic managerial capabilities theory. Specifically, the work of Lawson and Samson (2001) is drawn on to frame executive capability for innovation.

The framework proposes that the executive capability for innovation in the Irish seaport sector emerges as a dynamic managerial capability. The framework is dynamic in nature with environmental feedback loops inhibiting and enabling executive capability development. Supply chain innovation emerges from the framework based on an interpretation of executive capability emerging from Lawson and Samson (2001).

The paper is entirely conceptual in nature. Future empirical research taking a qualitative approach is necessary. Further, an alternative theoretical perspective to that of dynamic managerial capabilities would offer new conceptual insight.

The paper contributes to executive practice through providing a framework of executive capability for innovation facilitating dialogue between executive practitioners and academic theory. Policymakers are challenged to contemplate the framework as a means of transforming competitiveness in an industry identified as foundational to Irish economic development.

The paper contributes to an emerging area of interest in the academic literature in the area of executive capability for innovation. Specifically, the paper argues the unique contextual nature of executive capability for innovation in the context of the seaport industry.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on answering the following research question: “How efficient are deep-sea ports in the Hamburg-Le Havre (HLH) range compared with each other?”

Input-oriented (and output-oriented) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) results demonstrate that the deep-sea port of Vlissingen is perfectly efficient and also that the port of Amsterdam is quite efficient. These DEA results are underligned by the single-point benchmarking results.

The Dutch deep-sea ports are the most efficient ports in the HLH range. Finally, relatively smaller deep-sea ports (with a market share of about 5 percent, such as Amsterdam, Vlissingen, and Zeebrugge) are relatively more efficient than larger deep-sea container ports (such as Antwerp, Hamburg, and Rotterdam). It can be observed that especially in these larger ports, the container sector is (very) important as compared with the smaller ports. Furthermore, Dutch ports are relatively more efficient and receive the lowest subsidies, suggesting efficiency improvement opportunities for the Belgium, German, and French ports.

The originality of the paper is in its focus on all deep-sea ports in the HLH range (and not on container ports only) and in the combination of methods (DEA and single-point benchmarking).

The purpose of this paper is to examine traditional, current and emerging roles played by ports in the context of logistics and supply chain management practice and strategy. The paper also seeks to elaborate the emerging concept of port‐centric logistics.

The paper draws its insights and conclusions from a review of the literature, and an analysis of current trends and data concerning the ports and maritime transport sector.

The paper shows that ports can play a variety of different roles within supply chains and that they are not restricted to their traditional role of simple transhipment point for freight.

While the paper reviews the roles played by ports in logistics and supply chain management generally, a useful next step would be to analyse specific flows and activities at/through ports within selected supply chains, thus allowing validation of a framework of roles for ports in the context of various supply chain strategies.

The paper highlights the potential, which in many cases is still latent, for ports to engage in port‐centric logistics activities.

The paper both highlights (given the fact that the vast majority of freight at some point transits ports) and extends the understanding of the role(s) of ports within supply chains.

The Government of India announced its liberalization policy in the year 1991. Since then, the major ports in India introduced privatization in various forms into their operations. However, the share of total traffic (cargo) handled by major ports fell from 90 per cent in 1991 to around 70 per cent in 2015, losing share to minor ports. These major ports, except for the port of Kamarajar, are governed by the Major Port Trust Act, 1961. None of the Indian ports feature amongst the top 20 ports of the world. Interestingly, several ports in Asia, namely, seven ports from China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia are on that list. Several studies and reports have shown that privatization in India did not yield the desired results. Ports in India have adopted a hybrid mode of governance, aligned between a landlord port model and a service port model. This paper aims to address the question – What is the optimal way to mix privatisation and government control in the operations of major ports of India.

In this paper, the authors attempt to develop an optimization model for port planners to decide on the optimum mix of privatized and self-managed operations so as to maintain efficiency and maximize revenue.

The model tested on a major port in the country shows that the present privatization policy followed by the port needs revision. A similar plan to revise their policies can be carried out for other major ports in the country.

The model is generic and can be used by any port in the world operating under conditions similar to those in India.

This paper aims to assess the disclosure of the materiality process in the preparation of sustainability reports of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This paper also explores the effects of regulation mandating that SOEs prepare sustainability reports. In the specific case of port authorities, the study analyses the influence of a sector guideline that determines what should be included and the structure of the report. Another aim of this paper is to delve into SOE's motivations for disclosing information on materiality assessments, using the assumptions of the different theories to explain their reporting practices.

Using a sample of SOEs sustainability reports, a content analysis is undertaken. The methodology involves the analysis of the information disclosed by SOEs in Spain and the development of a materiality disclosure index. This index enables sampled entities to be classified on a scale of 0–5, based on the extent of their disclosures of the materiality determination process. This study also identifies several variables that explain differences in these disclosures.

A low rate of information disclosed about the materiality process can be attributed to the desire of SOEs to create symbolic legitimacy. In a context where the disclosure of sustainability information is mandatory, only few organisations apply the principle of materiality to define the content of their sustainability reports. These results highlight that institutional isomorphism has only had a limited effect on the materiality process.

Limitations associated with the sample size and composition of the sample by sector apply.

This research shows that generally accepted reporting guidelines constitute a reference framework for sustainability reporting but that the principles underpinning these frameworks are not always implemented.

This study extends the literature on the implementation of the principle of materiality and uses disclosure theories to explain the actual reporting by SOEs of their materiality process.

The purpose of this study is to identify crucial sustainability assessment criteria in the context of international port sector.

Data collection was based on a questionnaire survey from 135 managers and supervisors at major international ports in Taiwan, including Keelung, Taichung and Kaohsiung. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to identify crucial sustainability assessment criteria at ports.

A total of 31 important sustainable assessment criteria were adapted from previous studies in terms of environmental, economic and social issues. Results revealed that social issues with respect to staff job security and safety were ranked as the most important sustainability assessment criteria, followed by environmental protection when handling cargo, facilitation of economic activities, port traffic accidents prevention and cargo handled safely and effectively. In contrary, respondents revealed their less importance in the criteria, namely, mitigating light influence on neighboring residents, considering the arrangement of vehicles when constructing port transportation system, avoiding using unpolluted land in port area and hiring minority groups and consulting interests groups when making port projects. Four sustainability assessment dimensions were identified, namely, environmental material, economic issue, environmental practices and social concerns.

The research findings indicated that economic issue was deemed as the most important dimension of sustainability assessment criteria from a port operator’s perspective, followed by environmental practices, social concerns and environmental material. Practical implications for port sustainability assessment were discussed in this research.

Although a majority of previous studies on sustainability assessment have been discussed, there is still a lack of investigation of sustainability assessment in the context of port sector. This study not only develops sustainability assessment attributes but also highlights the important criteria of sustainability assessment. Further, this study identified four crucial sustainability assessment factors, which provide helpful information for port corporations to identify important criteria and policy of sustainability assessment.

With the diverse, heterogeneous nature of relationships being a key characteristic of service supply chains, their management is an important area for consideration. This is particularly true in the maritime logistics industry, yet the factors that lead to this heterogeneity are less well understood. This paper aims to explore the structure of relationships within the maritime logistics network and determine why they vary.

Interviews were carried out with 41 practitioners involved in the Taiwanese maritime logistics network. The data from these interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis and quasi-quantification.

The interviews identify that structural holes exist within this maritime logistics network, and that these particularly influence the relationships within this sector with ports being significantly affected. However, five factors are particularly identified that can further impact the strength of these relationships. Often, weak links between ports and both cargo owners and freight forwarders emerge as value-added services are provided by the network.

The findings are framed in a Taiwanese context, where cultural and political norms may give different results to other geographical regions. The research also limits consideration to containerized flows.

By providing detailed insights into relationship structures within the maritime logistics network, managers can take steps to develop appropriate links with other members of the network, reflecting upon the factors that lead to heterogeneity.

This paper expands knowledge on logistics service supply chains, identifying the importance of relationships in a derived demand environment. For maritime researchers, specific factors leading to relationship heterogeneity in the network are detailed, to inform future research.