A theory-driven identification and ranking of the critical success factors of sustainable shipping management

It is critical to identify ways to successfully implement blockchain which can transform the operations of shipping companies in the coming years. In this light, this study aims to explore the critical success factors (CSFs) of blockchain implementation using a comprehensive theory-driven approach, which is largely ignored by previous studies. The theoretical model is grounded on the synthesis of diffusion of innovation, resource-based view, institutional theory, stakeholder theory and technology-organization-environment framework. Correspondingly, five main-criteria and seventeen sub-criteria are identified. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is applied to rank the CSFs based on the feedback from experienced managers and directors working in maritime shipping companies. The findings show that in descending order of importance, the top five sub-criteria of blockchain implementation are relative advantage, internal leadership, human resources capability, scalability and ease of use. This study has provided a novel theoretical framework for blockchain CSFs research, offered strategy formulation in relation to marketing, technological skills upgrade, investments and subsidization, and knowledge cluster sharing to support blockchain implementation in the maritime industry.

PurposeTo gain competitive advantage, shipping companies need the abilities to manage environmental requirements, which this study refers to as sustainable shipping capabilities, including internal resources and external factors such as inter-firm collaboration. However, previous studies mainly focused on the effectiveness of internal resources, leading decision-makers in shipping companies to undervalue the significance of external relationships in managing sustainability issues and their impact on performance. Therefore, this paper aims to identify and examine the impacts of sustainable inter-firm collaboration on shipping companies' business performance (i.e. shippers' loyalty and financial performance).Design/methodology/approachA proposed model that explains the relationships between relation bonding strategies, sustainable inter-firm collaboration and business performance was developed. Accordingly, a survey questionnaire was constructed and sent to 294 shipping companies in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling was deployed to examine the validity of the measurement items and investigate relationships among the latent constructs.FindingsThe findings show that financial bonding strategies have the most significant impact on sustainable inter-firm collaboration, followed by social bonding strategies and structural bonding strategies. Furthermore, sustainable inter-firm collaboration has direct and indirect (via perceived shippers' loyalty) effects on business performance.Research limitations/implicationsRelational bonding strategies provide a unique perspective to sustainable inter-firm collaboration. This study also contributes to allocate external resources and capabilities to improve inter-firm collaboration, thereby maximizing financial performance.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature by applying relational bonding strategies that determine the key factors enabling sustainable inter-firm collaboration.

With growing trade volumes and more stringent regulations, digital transformation (DT) is crucial for container lines to keep abreast with the new trends in the container shipping industry. The objective of this research is to theoretically identify the crucial success elements for DT in container lines by evaluating four main theories: (1) innovation diffusion theory, (2) resource-based view theory, (3) stakeholder theory, and (4) competence motivation theory. Accordingly, the CSFs identified were ‘stakeholder expectations’, ‘organisational competency’, ‘technology acceptance’, and ‘individual motivation’. A survey was then crafted and handed out to major container lines. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) was then conducted to analyse the collected data. The results show that organisational competency is the most important CSF, followed by technology acceptance, stakeholders’ expectations, and individual motivation. The top three sub-CSFs are financial stability, regulatory bodies’ expectations, and digital readiness. This research paper contributes to theory and management practices by providing a holistic theoretical framework to identify and rank the CSFs of DT in container lines. Overall, this research paper enriches current literature on the DT of container lines and offers new insights into container lines in the CSFs in the implementation of DT.

The design, development, and maintenance of hospital information systems face major challenges, which ultimately cause failures of these information systems. This study aimed to identify and rank critical success factors for hospital information systems by applying a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process. Potential critical success factors that could contribute to the success of hospital information systems were identified and extracted through a systematic review of the relevant studies. A questionnaire containing the critical success factors was designed and distributed to 250 hospital information system professionals. The hierarchical structure of the critical success factors was defined by using an exploratory factor analysis, and pairwise comparison matrices of the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process model were designed based on the identified factor structure. As a result, 50 potential critical success factors were extracted from 21 articles, and their content validity and face validity were assessed by the experts. Based on the exploratory factor analysis results, 36 critical success factors were classified into seven dimensions: organizational fitness, user-friendliness, maintainability, portability, productivity, reliability, and organizational and external support. The fuzzy analytical hierarchy process results indicated that reliability, user-friendliness, and organizational fitness (with 20.3, 19.9, and 18 points, respectively) had the greatest impact on the success of hospital information systems. The findings revealed that managers and policymakers should consider these critical success factors in designing and developing hospital information systems.

PurposeTo study the implementation of a learning content management system (LCMS) at one department of a university in light of Rogers' diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory and in comparison to known critical success factors (CSFs) in implementation of information systems.Design/methodology/approachA case study approach was used to examine the implementation process.FindingsUnder authority decision to adopt the system throughout the department, the diffusion was quick and without resistance, not in line with authority adoption decision in Rogers' DOI theory. Some of the CSFs found are consistent with implementation CSFs mentioned in the literature.Research limitations/implicationsTo complement the qualitative research, quantitative research is needed regarding administrative measures taken in implementation processes at other academic departments and the success in terms of system adoption.Originality/valueSuccessful LCMS implementation in an academic environment is rather rare and studying the successful authority decision in this case is of value to researchers and to practitioners. To adopt the system might imply that administrative measures could expedite implementation in other academic institutions.

A review of the literature identifying the critical success factors (CSFs) of project execution revealed two research gaps: a too subjective selection of CSFs rather than an objective selection and too many critical factors, resulting in doubts about their criticality. To overcome these two research gaps, this study proposed a hybrid method that uses the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) to obtain weightings of factors and ranks their importance. The meaning of criticality, in combination with the concept of acceptable advantage of VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR), was then used to objectively identify the CSFs of project execution, using the environmental consultancy service industry in Taiwan as an example. Finally, six CSFs were found and five management implications were identified, and these findings can serve as a valuable reference for project execution in the environmental consultancy service industry. This combined method can also be used to identify the CSFs of project execution in other fields.

With increased global competition, businesses now face a more complex and dynamic competitive environment and need to develop more innovative products with higher quality and shorter product life cycles. New product development (NPD) is the keys to the success of a business, where both critical success factors (CSF) and key performance indicators (KPI) will affect the outcome of a NPD project. This study utilizes both CSF and KPI to examine the critical factors of NPD with the methodology of multiple criteria decision making and investigates the correlations of critical factors with fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory and establishes the weights affecting NPD in the criteria with the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach. The results assist managers in selecting suitable competitive strategies, making the optimal allocation of limited resources, achieving the greatest increase in benefits, and promoting the overall success of NPD. The findings show that there are various correlations between the critical factors, where ‘products and customers’ have the most influence on other dimensions. Moreover, the top five critical factor criteria weights, constructed by FAHP, are ‘quality standard of new products’, ‘complete quality management system’, ‘consumer satisfaction’, ‘excellent planning and control’, and ‘support of top managers’.

Autonomous ships are promising technologies to enhance ocean sustainability (i.e., reduced air and water pollution, and illegal waste discharge), safety, maritime shipping automatization, and efficiency. Hence, examining the critical success factors (CSFs) of autonomous ship adoption is important. Nonetheless, no studies have holistically investigated the enablers of autonomous ship adoption, anchoring on strategic management principles. Hence, our paper addresses this research gap by proposing a theory-driven model which identifies and ranks the CSFs. Four theories, namely, diffusion of innovation, resource-based view, stakeholder theory, and contingency theory are synthesized to identify the four main CSFs and 17 sub-factors. Interviews were conducted and a survey questionnaire was administered to 126 managers working in shipping companies. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process was applied to evaluate the relative importance of CSFs. It is found that the main CSFs are: (1) technological readiness, (2) environmental fit, (3) organizational resources, and (4) stakeholder readiness. Policy recommendations on promoting technological advancement in autonomous ships; formulating supportive legal frameworks and insurance regimes; creating an innovation-supportive environment; enabling cost subsidization; and providing workforce planning, training and allocation are provided to support autonomous ship adoption.

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS (CSFs) OF THE ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE IN THE DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY CONVERGENCE OF THE GOVERNMENTAL REGULATORY ORGANISATION

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is three pronged. First, to review the existing critical success factors (CSF) literature in the context of supply chain management (SCM). Second, to analyze the occurrence frequency of every possible CSF in SCM literature. Third, to identify the “vital few” and the “useful many” CSF that are harmonized across the SCM field. Design/methodology/approach – A time-specific and term-sensitive literature review technique is undertaken to generate a list of possible CSF in SCM. The review yielded 55 papers, but only 26 empirical CSF papers were selected for analysis as the reliability and validity of the factors had been rigorously tested. Consequently, a Pareto analysis approach was applied to trace the CSF frequency of occurrence in SCM literature. By performing a Pareto analysis, this present study is able to identify and categorize the “vital few” and “useful many” CSF that are consistent throughout various fields of SCM. The review and results are tabulated and a Pareto diagram has been constructed to provide a summary of findings. Findings – Out of the 26 selected empirical papers, 25 potent CSF in SCM literature have been extracted. From the Pareto analysis, nine CSF represent 80.68 percentage of occurrence which is regarded as the “vital few” CSF in SCM. The remaining 16 CSF represent 19.32 percentage of occurrence and is regarded as the “useful many” CSF in SCM. The nine “vital CSF” are immensely important, because in order to achieve supply chain and operation success, one must recognize the few vital factors that are responsible for the larger impact onto the industry compared to the other 16 “useful many” CSF. Practical implications – The study offers some sense of assistance to SCM managers in highlighting the vital few CSF that matter most, regardless of their nature of SCM fields. Thus, saving their energy, time, and resources in determining the critical pieces of information. For academicians, this study provides a platform for future SCM CSF research and the results could aid researchers in developing the research instrument. Originality/value – This study is the first attempt to apply Pareto analysis for SCM CSF studies and critically analyzing a wide range of SCM CSF literature. The result could allow supply chain managers to focus on the internal factors, as it could implicate the external factors, and is vital for sustainable supply chain operation, plus, it could stimulate potential researcher opportunities in linking SCM CSF and firm performance.

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to explore and determine a set of factors that are critical to the success of business-to-business (B2B) e-markets in the aerospace and defence, healthcare, higher education and local government industry sectors, in order to advance our current understanding of what factors facilitate e-market adoption and success. The paper examines critical success factors (CSFs) for e-markets from a strategic fit perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted a semi-inductive qualitative approach based on a review of the literature, followed by a pilot study and 58 indepth semi-structured interviews with senior level executives in buyer, supplier, e-market and third-party organisations. Qualitative data analysis software, QSR N6, was used to code and analyse the interview data for citations that corresponded with the candidate e-market CSFs that had been identified either in the literature, pilot study or during the course of the interviews with respondents. The CSFs for e-markets were ranked by the frequency of respondents citing a particular CSF. Findings – The study found eight factors that are critical to e-market success and four factors (critical mass, integration issues, value proposition, and leadership participation) were found to be conducive to e-market success in all four industry sectors. Likewise, four factors (industry knowledge, revenue model, branding and reputation, and rich content) were found to be only conducive to e-market success in three of the four industry sectors. Practical implications – The paper can help academic researchers, managers, consultants, practitioners and other professionals better understand what factors are critical to the success of e-markets and other online enterprises operating in the B2B marketspace. Originality/value – There have been numerous calls for more empirical research on the dynamics of e-market adoption for more than a decade. To date, research on the CSFs for e-markets has been largely anecdotal and sporadic with a paucity of studies noting factors that are likely to be favourable to e-market success. This study addresses the call for more research on e-markets and imparts empirical evidence on factors that are perceived to be conducive to the success of e-markets. It contributes to the base of knowledge on e-markets by relating the concept of CSFs with the theory of strategic fit as, to date, no known study has examined CSFs for e-markets from a strategic fit perspective. The study also presents the benefits capabilities-industry participants’ needs fit conceptual model as a precursor for theory building in future studies on B2B e-markets and informs stakeholders involved in developing e-markets or other online B2B ventures to better comprehend the conditions and determinants of success.

PurposeThe purpose of this literature review is to identify and propose a list of few vital critical success factors (CSFs) of total quality management (TQM) for the benefit of researchers and industries.Design/methodology/approachEven though there has been a large number of articles published related to TQM in the last few decades, only a very few articles focused on documenting the CSFs of TQM using statistical methods. The main objective of this literature review is to investigate and list the CSFs of TQM according to the descending order of frequencies of occurrences. The domain of review is the scale development studies and the TQM effect versus performance measurement studies. The review period is between 1989 and 2003. Rigorous statistical reliability tests and validity tests were conducted during these studies to factorize the CSFs and hence these studies were chosen for the literature review. Finally, the quality tool “Pareto analysis” was used to sort and arrange the CSFs according to the order of criticality.FindingsAn examination of 37 such TQM empirical studies resulted in compilation of 56 CSFs. Implementation difficulties exist to operationalize such a large number of CSFs in organizations. This study analyzed and sorted the CSFs in descending order according to the frequency of occurrences using Pareto analysis. A few vital CSFs were identified and reported. The results of this study will help in a smoother penetration of TQM programs in organizations.Practical implicationsIn future, the researchers in quality management may develop models to measure and sustain the level of implementation of TQM in industries. CSFs are the essential constructs based on which further statistical analysis can be carried out. The present study will guide the researchers in selecting the reliable set of CSFs for empirical studies. Industries can benefit by adopting the results of this study for effective implementation of TQM.Originality/valueThis paper presents a solution to the difficulties hitherto faced by the organizations in operationalizing the very large number of CSFs proposed by the various empirical studies published in TQM during the last two decades.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and evaluate the critical success factors (CSFs) responsible for supplier development (SD) in a manufacturing supply chain environment.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 13 CSFs for SD are identified (i.e. long‐term strategic goal; top management commitment; incentives; supplier's supplier condition; proximity to manufacturing base; supplier certification; innovation capability; information sharing; environmental readiness; external environment; project completion experience; supplier status and direct involvement) through extensive literature review and discussion held with managers/engineers in different Indian manufacturing companies. A fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) is proposed and developed to evaluate the degree of impact of each CSF on SD.FindingsThe degree of impact for each CSF on SD is established for an Indian company. The results are discussed in detail with managerial implications. The long‐term strategic goal is found to be the most significant CSF for successful SD implementation.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has not been statistically validated in a manufacturing supply chain environment for complete acceptability.Practical implicationsThe simplicity and clarity of the proposed approach enhances its acceptability for evaluating CSFs in manufacturing supply chain environment. It also provides the direction for optimally allocating the efforts and resources for successful implementation of SD in short duration.Originality/valueAlthough both CSFs and SD have been widely researched, but no study has been reported in the literature to prioritize and rank the CSFs of SD in an Indian manufacturing environment. The paper contributes to research in the supply chain management area in general and SD in particular for manufacturing environment. The proposed approach has the ability to capture the judgment of multiple experts to prioritize and rank CSFs for SD.

Aim/Purpose: This study examined the relationship between critical success factors (CSFs), perceived benefits, and usage intention of Mobile Knowledge Management Systems (MKMS) via an integrated Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Information Systems Success Model (ISSM). Background: This study investigates the CSFs (i.e., Strategic Leadership, Employee Training, System Quality, and Information Quality) that impact the usage intention of KMS in mobile contexts which have been neglected. Since users normally consider the usefulness belief in a system before usage, this study examines the role of perceived benefits as a mediator between the CSFs and usage intention. Methodology: A survey-based research approach in the Malaysian semiconductor industry was employed via an integrated model of TAM and ISSM. At a response rate of 59.52%, the findings of this study were based on 375 usable responses. The data collected was analyzed using the Partial Least Squares with SmartPLS 3.0. Contribution: This study contributes to the body of knowledge in the areas of mobile technology acceptance and knowledge management. Specifically, it helps to validate the integrated model of TAM and ISSM with the CSFs from knowledge management and information system. In addition, it provides the would-be adopters of MKMS with valuable guidelines and insights to consider before embarking on the adoption stage. Findings: The findings suggest that Employee Training and Information Quality have a positive significant relationship with Perceived MKMS Benefits. On the contrary, Strategic Leadership, System Quality, and Perceived User-friendliness showed an insignificant relationship with Perceived MKMS Benefits. Additionally, Employee Training and Information Quality have an indirect relationship with MKMS Usage Intention which is mediated by Perceived MKMS Benefits. Recommendations for Practitioners: The findings are valuable for managers, engineers, KM practitioners, KM consultants, MKMS developers, and mobile device producers to enhance MKMS usage intention. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers would be able to conduct more inter-disciplinary studies to better understand the relevant issues concerning both fields – knowledge management and mobile computing disciplines. Additionally, the mediation effect of TAM via Perceived Usefulness (i.e., perceived MKMS benefits) on usage intention of MKMS should be further investigated with other CSFs. Future Research: Future studies could perhaps include other critical factors from both KM and IS as part of the external variables. Furthermore, Perceived Ease of Use (i.e., Perceived User-friendly) should be tested as a mediator in the future, together with Perceived Usefulness (i.e., perceived MKMS Benefits) to compare which would be a more powerful predictor of usage intention. Moreover, it may prove interesting to find out how the research framework would fit into other industries to verify the findings of this study for better accuracy and generalizability.

The present research mainly focuses on the review of existing literature on the topic of critical success factors (CSF) in supply chain structures. The main aim of this study is to identify the major critical success factors (CSF) that have been identified previously by academics and researchers during their research on the topics related to the discipline of supply chain management. The literature survey technique has been applied for the present research. This research is based on a critical review of seventy-three published studies on supply chain structures obtained from most important research databases by using the keywords related to supply chain structures such as barriers in the supply chain, critical success factors in supply chain structures. This study will not only contribute towards the existing literature on supply chain structures but will also help researchers to acknowledge the importance of critical success factors in supply chain structures. One of the major aspects of research regarding the supply chain is to reduce cost and that can only be done via effectiveness and efficiency in the processes, which depend on different variables at every level. The researchers have identified many critical success (CSF) factors in designing effective and efficient supply chain structures are a mutual partnership, executing communication and information expertise, support from senior management, human resource management, environmental uncertainty, value-addition process, business management, generating business culture, developing relationships between customer and supplier, logistics. The present research will also highlight the importance of different factors in achieving the effective and efficient in supply chain structures which enable organizations to not only reduce cost but also help them to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction. This study will also be beneficial for managers as it will enable them to identify the critical success factors for their supply chain structures, keeping in view the nature and business environment of their organization.