Framework of key success criteria for high performance and sustainable ports - port management perspective

• Main Author: Lee, Nicole Jia Ying
• Other Authors: Kang Kok Hin
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Civil engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/64460
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Purpose: To identify broad Key Success Criteria (KSC) of high performance and sustainability specific to PSA, considering the multi-dimensional nature of port management and the complex external environment in which it operates. These will be examined from PSA’s perspective. Methodology: Triangulation approach is employed, beginning with a broad-to-narrow literature review to derive preliminary KSC that make up the Conceptual Framework. Following which, interviews were conducted with three interviewees who are well versed in port management in order to make revisions to the framework, yielding the Revised Framework. Finally, surveys were conducted on 50 participants, consisting former and current PSA staff and port management academics. The 19 received survey responses were subjected to Z-tests to obtain descriptive data for analysis and discussion. Research Findings: Sluggish market conditions have compelled PSA to focus on highly productive & efficient operations, coupled with the other criteria aggregated under the Internal Processes dimension. More notably, as the other dimensions and perspectives triumphed the Social & Environment dimension and Sustainability perspective, the “Planet” aspect of the triple bottom line is the least of PSA’s concerns. Therefore, being able survive the competitive pressures takes precedence over socio-environmental sustainability concerns. Research Implications: This paper augments extant literature as few adopt a broad “effectiveness” approach on port performance and sustainability from the perspective of port management. Secondly, a preliminary framework is proposed to propel further research in the port sector. Additionally, PSA’s management can use the rankings to make appropriate revisions to their strategies in order to ensure continual success and sustainability. Lastly, the framework can be used to develop a benchmarking tool for comparison amongst competing ports to identify areas of weakness. Research Limitations & Future Directions: Firstly, the scope is restricted to the perspective of PSA alone, and the presence of a strict corporate communications policy was exacerbated by an evident variance in demographics amongst the respondents, leading to responses/opinions that could possibly be incomplete. Thus, research can be mirrored amongst other crucial stakeholders to acknowledge the diversity in perspectives. Next, larger survey groups should be targeted and comparisons discerning the different demographic groups should be carried out.