Special Issue on: "Managerial Complexity in Shipping and Port Markets"

Guest Editors:
Dr. F. Parola, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Italy
Prof. Pierre Cariou, Euromed Management Marseille, France

Academics and practitioners largely recognise the increasing managerial complexity that exists in port and shipping businesses. The proliferation of new environmental “variables”, the “pace” of market transformations and innovations and the complexity derived from the emerging interactions between public and private players are driving shipping companies and port actors to reshape their strategies and rethink their own business models.

Indeed, the traditional paradigms of competition co-exist with multi-layer forms of cooperation, leading to numerous forms of co-opetition among players. Also, port authorities are redefining their vision and missions to focus on and stimulate value creation. In this regard, scholars are called to broaden the current knowledge by providing in-depth analyses and contributions.

This special issue aims to collect recent original contributions related to managerial complexity in shipping and port markets. It will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 2013 International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) Conference on “Managing complexity in shipping and port markets: firms' business models, co-opetitive games and innovative public-private interactions” (IAME 2013; see http://www.iame2013.org), but we also strongly encourage researchers who are unable to participate in the conference to submit papers for this call.

Subject Coverage

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Growth strategies of ocean carriers and terminal operators
Port authority strategies
Port governance models and mechanisms
"Blue ocean" strategies in shipping and ports
Emerging market opportunities and trends
Competition and co-operation in shipping and ports
Economies of scale and cost leadership strategies
Vertical integration in shipping and transport logistics
Sustainable development and corporate social responsibility in shipping and ports

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper has been completely re-written and if appropriate written permissions have been obtained from any copyright holders of the original paper).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process.