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This study aims to investigate the interrelationships among organizational culture and service quality by applying the SERVQUAL instrument under different levels of competitive intensity in the shipping industry context.

This study used the questionnaire investigation method to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. The authors utilized widely accepted and validated instruments as identified in the literature to measure the constructs under examination. The sample consisted of 684 shipping organizations located in Greece. The factorial structures of the constructs were identified through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, while the examined relationships were established through regression analyses.

The findings argue in favor of a parsimonious three-dimensional structure of the SERVQUAL instrument in the shipping industry context, illustrate the associations among the different types of organizational culture and the dimensions of service quality and explicate how the former impacts the latter. Moreover, the findings showed that the above-mentioned interrelationships are conditioned by the varying levels of competitive intensity.

Although much research and writing has occurred on the topics of service quality and organizational culture, relatively less is known about their interrelationships, that is how a company’s culture relates to the service quality offered especially under different levels of competitive intensity. Thus, the current study aims to fill in this gap in the literature and empirically address the need to look at the interrelationships among the theoretical constructs under examination.

The purpose of this paper is to present the ways in which underlying social and organisational factors and employment relations underpin the practice of incident reporting in the international shipping industry.

The paper uses a qualitative case study method involving field trips to two shipping organisations and sailing on research voyages on two ships of each of the organisations. It draws on empirical data using semi‐structured interviews, notes from fieldwork observations and documentary analysis of company policies, procedures and practices.

In the two companies studied there were significant gaps between the policy and practice of incident reporting, which were present primarily due to the employees' fear of losing jobs. It is shown that these findings were manifestations of deeper sociological issues and organisational weaknesses in the shipping industry. In particular ineffective regulatory infrastructure, weak employment practices, the absence of trade union support and lack of organisational trust were the key underlying concerns which made incident reporting notably ineffective in the shipping context.

While the weaknesses in the practice of incident reporting in the shipping industry were reported in the past, previous studies did not offer further explanations. This paper addresses the gap and provides another illustration of the need for looking into deeper sociological underpinnings for practices in the workplace. The author also hopes that the study will have a positive impact on policy makers in the shipping industry.

The rapid change in technology has begun to influence the maritime sector with the effect of globalization. The impact of technologies is increasing in shipping management; on the other hand, the importance of the human element has also increased. International Maritime Organization has introduced regulations governing the training and social rights of seafarers. MLC 2006 has been an important improvement for the social rights of seafarers. Preventive measures for workplace bullying were started on ships. The safety regulations of STWC Manila 2010 have brought some improvements in the industry. The maritime industry will face some absolute changes brought by Industry 4.0 such as IoT, artificial intelligence, cloud technology and blockchain, although it is unclear yet what sort of changes will occur in manpower labor markets. There are some countries that carry on projects regarding unmanned ships presently. For example, Norway has realized several trial voyages, as well as some other projects, which were carried on by Finland and the EU. In spite of all these changes, seafarers obviously will be needed in the maritime industry. The main purpose of the study is to determine how, from where and how many seafarers will be demanded onboard in the future. Prospects, futurists’ approaches, opinions of sector representatives and research reports are evaluated, and the future of seafarers is discussed in this study.

In a systemic approach, a ship is a system in which people and organizations interact directly and indirectly in all processes from construction, during the route and at the destination, throughout its useful life, until eventual scrapping or disposal process. The purpose of this paper is to take on the UN 2030 Agenda ‒ Goal 14 to propose a management model that meets environmental guidelines for assessing impacts caused by the cruise ships.

To verify the proposed model, a quantitative survey using non-probability purposive sampling was conducted among ports, environmental sustainability experts and ocean cruise companies. The empirical data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling.

Findings have confirmed five environmental requirements that shipping companies must manage on their cruise ships to meet Goal 14: input management, waste management, air quality, energy management and water management. Adopting and disseminating sustainable development models provides transparent information about actions taken and results of environmental management, and it may change the perception of the organization’s image, which is relevant to win and maintain environment-friendly customers, adding intangible value to the tourism product.

One of the limitations of the study is the research sample, especially ocean cruise companies, which can have biased results, as they are potential sources of environmental impacts. However, this was not the case, since the answers were similar to those of the other two groups surveyed.

The originality of the study is justified by researchers who argue that information provided by shipping companies on sustainability is very limited, as according to previous research, the convergence between strategy formulation model and environmental sustainability as a principle to be incorporated into the management of oceangoing vessels has not been studied.

Globalization has created conditions in which business has become increasingly global. The combined effect of global business, intense competition, weakening of labor unions, and the inability of national governments to control the negative effects of globalization has created immense difficulties in the formulation and implementation of global labor standards. This research takes an ancient industry with a long tradition of international features and regulations, that is, the maritime industry, as a case study to understand the dynamics associated with the regulation of a global industry. The study argues that J. R. Commons' works at the turn of the century not only give us excellent insights into the creation of global markets and the need for global labor rights protection but also provide us with a solution, that is, the creation of an “authoritative commission.” Finally, the study suggests that there is a need to enhance the role of ILO as a global “commission” to regulate the industry. Presently, the ILO does not have the essential features for becoming such a commission. Therefore, ILO should develop three important characteristics: ability to include new emerging actors, decision-making based on consensus and dialogue, and sanction power to implement its standards. Based on the above principles, ILO can work as the center of a global regulatory regime in the maritime industry. Through its power of sanction, it will implement its standards mainly through states. But, at the same time, it will network with unions and NGOs and all other important actors in the industry at local, national, and global levels to detect and eradicate substandard shipping.

Business environments and global transportation system have become more complex than ever due to complexity drivers of industries which create uncertainty and unpredictability to organizations. Like other industries, the maritime business faces different and difficult problems which threaten organizational survival. The ability to cope with those uncertainties, threats and problems shows the resilience ability of organizations that help to survive and prosper. The organizational resilience concept arises as a requirement to deal with problems and uncertainties of business environments which are swiftly changing. This study aims to suggest an organizational framework to show how maritime business organizations as the sea leg of global transportation system can develop resilient organizations via complex adaptive systems (CAS) approach if adequate design features of CAS could be defined and included in organizational properties.

A total of 15 CAS features were identified as the enablers of organizational resilience throughout the literature. An interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach has been conducted to determine the mutual relation between the CAS features which constitute an organizational framework. These CAS features have been categorized by conducting MICMAC analysis.

This study proposes a framework that identifies CAS features as the enabler of resilient maritime business organizations. The CAS approach offers new managerial toolkit to realize current organizational situations and allows managers to understand that it is difficult to control their system in this dynamic environment where special management practices are required especially in volatile times rather than ordinary times. Also, organizations could not compete as a sole organization but as a web/system of organizations. CAS is more resilient than other systems because resilience is the emergent occurrence of the system formed from nonlinear, dynamic interactions with self-organized agents.

The research has some limitations, like organizational resilience studies are in the infant stage and further research into this area should be extended. This study uses the CAS approach to develop organizational resilience. Further studies could use different lenses and contemporary subjects in management field which should also be useful while developing resilience in organizations. This study uses ISM and MICMAC analysis where further studies could use quantitative design and methods like formal concept analysis or the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory to determine the relational weighs of CAS features while developing resilient organizations. Future studies may also focus on different maritime stakeholders like IMO or ILO, maritime agencies, freight forwarders or insurance underwriters regarding developing and enhancing resilience of the maritime system.

World trade and transportation systems are getting more uncertain and lean on complex relations where maritime transportation is a “vital backbone” of such operations. But becoming more complex structures leads to vulnerable systems and organizations. Most risk management applications are based on predicting the known risks where many of them are not enough to fight with unknowns. Coping with today's problems are difficult for organizations in any industry. But for maritime business stakeholders who work in such a global web of relations, it is much more challenging. So, stakeholders of the system like forwarders, ports or ship chandlers may easily apply those features to develop resilient organizations too. Legal authorities of the system and rule-makers like local Chambers of Shipping, IMO or Classification societies can benefit from this framework and provide supportive settings to develop system-wide resilient organizations.

By understanding environmental uncertainty and complexity better than others, organizations become resilient and cope with significant difficulties which make them more competitive as a substantial strategic advantage. Resilient management offers to break down points at the system and shows them ways to restore quickly while transporting goods while traditional risk assessments are not enough.

The originality of the study lies in two folds; first of all the key and most used features of CAS is linked to developing resilient maritime organizations and by maritime expert opinions, this study tries to determine which of these CAS features are the most effective to trigger other features to develop organizational resilience in the maritime business. And secondly, the concept of organizational resilience and the CAS approach are not analyzed in depth in the context of maritime business.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between market orientation and service quality in the context of shipping companies. Moreover, this study aims to explore the moderating role of risk propensity in the above-mentioned relationship.

A research study was carried out on a sample of 255 shipping companies located in Greece. Data were obtained through a structured questionnaire from the managing directors or other senior executives. Data were analyzed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, while the hypothesized relationships were determined through regression analyzes.

The analysis of the empirical data shows that intelligence generation and responsiveness have a positive and significant impact on the service quality of shipping companies. Also, the findings showed that this relationship is influenced by the degree of risk propensity, revealing, thus its moderating role on the market orientation – service quality link.

The current study contributes to the literature by examining for the first time the moderating role of risk propensity in the relationship between market orientation and service quality. Additionally, this is the first study that attempts to investigate the way the dimensions of market orientation predict service quality in the context of shipping companies.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influences of total quality management (TQM) and supply chain integration (SCI) practices on firm performance (FP) of container shipping industry in Singapore.

A survey was conducted with 159 container shipping companies in Singapore to examine the interrelationships between SCI and TQM practices and FP. A stepwise multiple regression analysis using SPSS version 14.0 was performed on the data.

Statistical results suggest that both TQM and SCI practices have positive effects on service quality and FP but at different extents, while TQM also contributes positively to SCI.

The small sample is the main limitation. The findings bear important implications for further research as understanding these dimensions can help to position key changes and industry improvement that will increase revenue and reduce cost to the container shipping companies in Singapore.

This research provides guidelines for shipping managers on how to implement the SCI and TQM practices appropriately to boost their FP to the fullest extent.

This study has unique implications for social sustainability especially the container shipping industry, which is hard pressed to combat the challenges within the logistics/transportation sector.

This is perhaps the first study that examines the influence of SCI and TQM practices on the performance of container shipping firms that helps them see beyond the silo mentality and focus on greater value addition in FP.