Maritime Firms Research Articles

The effect of environmental management on environmental performance and firm performance in Taiwanese maritime firms

This paper aims to empirically examine the impact of environmental management on environmental performance and firm performance in Taiwanese maritime firms. Three critical environmental management dimensions were identified based on factor analysis: environmental management practices, environmental management auditing, and environmental management investment. A structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed to examine the effects of environmental management on environmental performance and firm performance. The results indicated that environmental management had significantly positive effects on environmental performance and firm performance. However, environmental performance was not found to be related to firm performance in this study.

The relative efficiency of shipping companies

This paper contributes to the maritime transport literature by examining the relative efficiency of firms in the three key sectors of the shipping industry, i.e. dry, wet and container shipping. Two relative efficiency models are developed to assess relative market and relative operating performance efficiency. The theoretical framework of fundamental analysis is adopted to derive the inputs and outputs in the efficiency models which are assessed using data envelopment and stochastic frontier analysis. Shipping companies were found to exhibit average market efficiency. Market and operating performance efficiency of maritime firms is not consistent. Tanker companies are more market efficient whereas container shipping firms are found to have high operating performance efficiency but were market inefficient. Dry bulk firms were found to have the lowest ratings of market efficiency.

Partner selection for strategic alliances: case study insights from the maritime industry

PurposeThe purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the partner selection criteria reported by maritime firms in Norway. The study aims to analyze how a maritime firm's competitive advantage can be enhanced by the selection of the right partner with reference to a strategic alliance.Design/methodology/approachA multiple‐case study methodology was used. Archival, survey and interview data were explored relating to the partner selection process reported by Norwegian maritime firms. Primary data were gathered from semi‐structured personal interviews with managers of Norwegian maritime firms.FindingsCase study evidence suggests that the strategic alliances were successful when partners had been carefully selected. As detected elsewhere, successful alliances were associated with partners that had managed to build trustful and honest relationships, had common strategic goals, and partners that supplied resources and competencies. Notably, it was detected that cyclicality in the maritime industry shaped the partner selection process. Trust between partners was used as mechanism to reduce uncertainty relating to the strategic alliance process. Firms seeking long‐term alliances selected partners with substantial capital and financial stability to survive a market's downturn, as well as the resources required for expansion during a recession.Practical implicationsPresented findings have implications for practitioners, especially for managers of shipping firms, banks, shipyards, producers of ship equipment, ship design firms, and ship brokers. Practitioners need to be aware that the rationale for inter‐firm collaboration change over time, and motives are linked to the phase of the maritime cycle. Inter‐firm collaboration provides competitive advantage benefits to firms and collaboration can protect as well as create jobs and can create wealth in maritime communities.Originality/valueA novel conceptual contribution is the exploration of links between maritime industrial cyclicality and the partner selection process relating to strategic alliances. The study also adds to debates relating to the profiles of internationalizing smaller firms.

Ownership structure and operating performance: evidence from the European maritime industry

In this paper we examine the relation between ownership structure and operating performance for European maritime firms. Using a sample of 266 firm-year observations, during the period 2002–2004, we provide evidence that operating performance is positively related with foreign held shares and investment corporation held shares, indicating better investor protection from managerial opportunism. We also find no relation between operating performance and employee held shares, suggesting no relation between employee commitment and firms’ economic performance. Furthermore, we find no relation between operating performance and government held shares, indicating that government may not adequately protect shareholders’ interests from managerial opportunism. Finally, we do find a positive relation between operating performance and portfolio held shares for code law maritime firms but not for common law maritime firms. Results are robust after adjusting for various firm and country risk characteristics. Overall, our results on the importance of the ownership structure are new to this setting and add to a large body of evidence linking ownership characteristics to corporate performance.

Quebec's Coastal Maritime Industrial Cluster:(Not) Innovative and (Locally) Embedded?

This study explores two questions related to Quebec's coastal maritime industrial cluster: which activities constitute the maritime cluster in Quebec's coastal region? and What is the nature of innovation activities and external linkages of firms in the maritime cluster, and to what extent are these linkages locally embedded?The results reveal that maritime firms comprising the cluster are small with a low export base and a low propensity to innovate. In addition, these firms are not intensively engaged in innovation-related collaboration with external partners. The research doubts the viability of a cluster-oriented approach to the development of the maritime industry in Quebec's coastal region.

UNDERSTANDING REGIONAL INNOVATION IN THE MARITIME INDUSTRY: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

This paper discusses the findings of a study of innovation activities by maritime firms located in Quebec's coastal region. The aims of the study are to describe the characteristics of the maritime industry in the region, compare groups of firms in terms of their innovation activities and co-operation behavior, and examine the influence of business environment on innovation. The findings reveal that no single characteristic of Quebec's coastal maritime firms defines the way that the firms design their competitive strategies, conduct innovation activities, engage in collaborations, or perceive the importance of location factors in determining the success of their business activities.

Corporate Governance and Board Effectiveness in Maritime Firms

This paper examines the financial performance effect of three corporate governance mechanisms: (i) founding family CEO, (ii) board ownership, and (iii) board independence. The developed hypotheses are tested using multivariate ordinary least-squares regression on a 3-year sample of 32 publicly traded maritime firms from Norway and Sweden, and compared to the results of the same hypotheses tested on a sample of 96 manufacturing firms. This study concludes that maritime firms with a founding family CEO have better financial performance than maritime firms with a non-founding family CEO. Support was also found for the hypothesis that a high level of board independence enhances profitability in maritime firms. Contrary to agency theory predictions, no significant relation was found between the level of board ownership and firm profitability in maritime firms, although board ownership control was significant in the sample of manufacturing firms.

The Business Trip: Maritime Networks in the Twentieth Century

Global maritime business networks channeled the flows of people and goods for modern production and consumption societies. The principal instrument for constructing and sustaining these networks was the business trip. In the course of their travels, shipping-company and trading-company executives founded new commercial networks, established new routes and services, inspected agents, gathered business intelligence, and promoted new contacts and connections. These trips relied on a business culture that combined cosmopolitanism with national preferences and competitiveness with gentlemanly codes. Personal relationships remained fundamental to the networking process, despite a bureaucratization of business structures. An examination of the business trips of Belgian, British, Dutch, French, and German maritime firms reveals the centrality of global networks in modern economies, shows how such networks were constructed and maintained, and argues that face-to-face relationships continued to characterize business life deep into the twentieth century.

Logistics services in Taiwanese maritime firms

This paper examines logistics services and strategic dimensions in Taiwanese (Republic of China, ROC) maritime firms. This is done by means of a review of previous studies and personal interviews; data collection has also included a questionnaire survey. A factor analysis and a principal components analysis were conducted in order to assess the degree of importance of a large number of service attributes and a small number of underlying dimensions called strategic dimensions (factors). The results revealed that the most important strategic dimension was value-added service, followed by promotion, equipment and facilities as well as speed and reliability. This research attempted to link the relationship between performance and logistics services. While the average profit rate, sales growth rate and return on assets of implemented logistics firms were higher in degree of importance than for non-implemented logistics firms, the diAerence was not statistically significant. The approach utilized in this research could be useful for shipping practitioners to improve their performance and to enhance their competitive advantage. ” 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.