The effect of ports' logistics attributes and services on the business and supply chain performance of shipping firms

There has been widespread discussion about the transformation of ports from cargo loading and unloading facilities into integrated parts of supply chains. The contemporary view is that ports are logistics players in supply chains and their activities and performance affect the other supply chain members. Previous studies mainly focused on how a port's performance is affected by that port's characteristics or services. There are no studies that investigate how the performance of a firm which operates through a specific port is affected by that port's characteristics. Hence, this is the first paper that addresses whether logistics-related attributes and services provided by a port enhance the business and supply chain performance of shipping firms. The paper begins with an introduction and it examines the literature on port selection factors, the transformation of ports into logistics hubs and business and supply chain performance measures. We later present the conceptual model, which relates ports' logistics attributes or services to the shipping firms' performance, and to conclude, we discuss the preliminary results of the study and some implications and opportunities for further research.