A contingency view of the effects of sustainable shipping exploitation and exploration on business performance

Abstract

Anchored to the resource-based view, this study identifies the types of sustainable shipping capabilities that can be pursued and developed by shipping companies to enhance their business performance. The paper also examines internal and external contextual factors that moderate the relationship between the identified shipping capabilities and business performance. Survey data were collected from 225 shipping companies with business offices in Singapore and analysed using structural equation modelling and a multiple-sample approach. The results show that both sustainable shipping exploitation and exploration capabilities have positive effects on business performance. Organisational slack and environmental uncertainty negatively moderate the relationship between sustainable exploitation capability and business performance but positively moderate the relationship between sustainable exploration capability and business performance. The results imply that sustainable shipping should be viewed as a dynamic capability rather than a set of practices, which connote stasis. In addition, management policies to develop sustainable exploitation or exploration capabilities should depend on the internal and external environment of shipping companies. This paper introduces an alternative theoretical lens through which to manage and improve the allocation of organisational resources to enhance corporate sustainability and business performance of shipping companies.