Environmental governance mechanisms in shipping firms and their environmental performance

A growing number of shipping firms seek to improve their environmental performance in the hope of developing environmentally sustainable shipping operations. Although environmental governance plays an essential role in leading shipping firms to improve their environmental performance, there is scant knowledge on the relationship between environmental governance and environmental performance in the shipping literature. We propose and empirically validate an integrated model to study how various environmental governance mechanisms (i.e., contractual, relational, and organizational) are enacted by shipping firms and their influence on shipping firms’ environmental performance. Our study also examines the mediating roles of the relational and organizational mechanisms on shipping firms’ environmental performance.     

Shipping design for compliance and the performance contingencies for shipping firms

Increasing number of shipping firms adopt green shipping practices that emphasize environmental management throughout their operations. To balance productivity with the environment, the design of shipping activities in compliance with energy saving and resources conversation is an important part of greening efforts by many shipping firms. This study investigates how the green practices on shipping design for compliance (SDC) adopted by shipping firms is related to their financial and service performance with the role of company policy and procedures and shipper cooperation examined. We find that SDC is beneficial for the financial and service performance of shipping firms. Based on the contingency theory, we argue further that company policy and procedure as well as shipper cooperation differentiates the performance outcomes of shipping firms in their SDC for environmental management. Our empirical findings show a positive relationship of SDC with service performance particularly when their company policy and procedure and shipper cooperation are characterized at high than low levels in the process. However, such strengthening effects are not found for the relationship between SDC and the financial performance of shipping firms.     

Corporate governance,financial management decisions and firm performance: Evidence from the maritime industry

This study investigates the relation between corporate governance with (i) financial management decisions such as earnings management and sub-optimal investment, and (ii) firm performance in maritime firms. The study reveals that important corporate governance measures, such as insider ownership, board size, presence of corporate governance committees, the percentage of directors serving on the boards of other firms and CEO duality, are associated with financial management decisions and firm performance. The associations revealed can potentially assist in mitigating agency problems and improving financial management decisions and performance in maritime firms.     

Knowledge management enablers in liner shipping

This study empirically identifies crucial knowledge management enablers and examines their impacts on organizational performance using survey data collected from liner shipping firms include shipping companies and agencies. Results indicated that knowledge management enablers such as organizational structure and knowledge management culture are found to have significantly positive effects on the organizational performance aspects of innovativeness, financial performance, and customer service, whereas information technology support is a positive effect on organizational performance aspect of innovativeness. Theoretical and managerial implications of the research findings on knowledge management for liner shipping companies are discussed.     

Concentrated ownership and corporate performance revisited: The case of shipping

This paper addresses the issue of ownership structure and corporate performance. It employs a sample of 107 internationally listed shipping firms (about 60% of the total) and examines their financial data and ownership concentration for the year 2009. Ownership is treated as an endogenous variable and GMM estimation is used incorporating the significant advance provided by Lewbel (1997). Empirical results suggest that concentrated ownership is positively and strongly associated with better firm performance in the shipping industry. Furthermore, this paper offers evidence on ownership concentration and shows that despite the different corporate governance settings, ownership structures are quite similar in shipping.     

Marketing performance measurement in hotels,travel agencies and tour operators: a study of current practices

As successful tourism firms invest heavily in marketing to defend or improve their competitive position, they increasingly need to measure their marketing performance. Previous studies related to tourism have largely focused on financial and operational performance, but the marketing perspective has been largely overlooked. Drawing on an in-depth investigation involving 12 hotel chains, 8 travel agencies and 8 tour operators, this study provides an overview of the state-of-the-art marketing performance measurements among some of the leading tourism firms in Italy. Several issues and unanswered questions are also identified.     

Corporate social responsibility disclosure: The case of international shipping

Based on practices and legislation in the shipping industry, we construct a corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure index for listed shipping companies. We use Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques for Bayesian inference, and we estimate the marginal effects of firm characteristics on CSR disclosure for each firm. Our results show a positive relationship between CSR disclosure and financial performance for each firm in our international sample. Firm size, financial leverage, and ownership structure are also associated with CSR disclosure. Our findings suggest that a majority of listed shipping companies have integrated CSR practices into their strategic planning and operations.     

Quality management,environmental management maturity,green supply chain practices and green performance of Brazilian companies with ISO 14001 certification: Direct and indirect effects

This study aims to test a new conceptual model based on the relationship between quality management (QM), environmental management maturity (EMM), adoption of external practices of green supply chain management (GSCM) (green purchasing and collaboration with customers) and green performance (GP) with data from 95 Brazilian firms with ISO 14001. To our knowledge, such links and relationships are not simultaneously identified and tested in the literature. The results indicate the validation of all of the research hypotheses. This paper highlights that an improvement in green performance will require attention to quality management, environmental management maturity, and green supply chain.     

Reprint of “Quality management,environmental management maturity,green supply chain practices and green performance of Brazilian companies with ISO 14001 certification: Direct and indirect effects”

This study aims to test a new conceptual model based on the relationship between quality management (QM), environmental management maturity (EMM), adoption of external practices of green supply chain management (GSCM) (green purchasing and collaboration with customers) and green performance (GP) with data from 95 Brazilian firms with ISO 14001. To our knowledge, such links and relationships are not simultaneously identified and tested in the literature. The results indicate the validation of all of the research hypotheses. This paper highlights that an improvement in green performance will require attention to quality management, environmental management maturity, and green supply chain.     

Determinants of performance for agritourism farms: an alternative approach

Previous studies on determinants of agritourism farm performance are inconclusive. Moreover, the key success factors of high and low performance may differ. Differing from previous studies, this study applies quantile regression to identify the determinants of agritourism farm performance in different categories based on Taiwanese agritourism farms census data. The results indicate that large farms perform well for those in the high-performance categories. The quantity and quality of human resources are key success factors for mid- and high-performance farms. Additionally, agritourism business model generally plays a critical role in determining performance.     

Market orientation and business performance: An empirical investigation in the airline industry

As the airline industry has become more competitive, carriers have looked to improve performance and competitiveness. During the last decade, market-oriented corporate strategy has emerged as a significant antecedent of organizational performance and is presumed to contribute to long-term success. This study investigates potential influences of market orientation on airline performance. Data were collected by mail survey, and MARKOR was used to specify the dimensions of a market-orientated organization. The results support the positive influence of market orientation on business performance.     

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 difference 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.     

Systematic risk behavior in cyclical industries: The case of shipping

This study explores macroeconomic and industry-level effects on corporate systematic risk (or beta) for the international shipping industry. We document the extent to which stock market betas fluctuate over time in this asset-intensive and cyclical industry. Moreover, we analyze the fundamental determinants of systematic risk. We find evidence for high levels of systematic risk in shipping stocks, which match the fundamental risk characteristics of the industry (such as high financial and operating leverage). Shipping firms exhibit distinct industry-specific beta dynamics compared to firms from benchmark sectors or the average firm in the S&P 500 index. Changes in both economic conditions and industry-specific risk factors explain large proportions of beta variation in the cross-section of firms and over time.     

Entrepreneurial orientation in family firms: the case of the hospitality industry

Research increasingly shows interest in the motives and characteristics of entrepreneurs in the tourism and hospitality industry. Small and medium-sized family firms dominate this industry. Learning from the concept of entrepreneurial orientation and family business research, this explorative study aims at analysing entrepreneurial behaviours and their effect on performance as perceived by owner-managers of hospitality family businesses. The authors conduct narrative in-depth interviews to understand the managers' meaning of entrepreneurship and performance, and discuss the results in the light of existing entrepreneurship literature. Results indicate that family firms in hospitality and tourism are peculiar, and their embeddedness in the destinations and regions outlines their entrepreneurial behaviour against Schumpeter's definition of growth-oriented entrepreneurship.     

Multilevel modelling of commercial vehicle inter-arrival duration using GPS data

This study uses truck GPS data to study inter-arrival duration, defined as the time between arrivals at a destination of two successive vehicles operated by the same carrier. Destinations were separated into market segments: (1) frequently-visited destinations, (2) regularly-scheduled destinations, and (3) unscheduled destinations, based on visit frequency and regularity. Inter-arrival duration was modelled using multilevel ordered probit and multilevel multinomial logit models. Market segmentation improved modelling results, and multilevel models performed better than single level models. Results showed a wide variation in shipping behavior of commercial establishments and that many firms do not follow consistent shipping schedules.     

The influence of entrepreneurial talent and website type on business performance by rural tourism establishments in Spain

Entrepreneurs provide the engine of development, especially in economically unstable times. In Spain, rural tourism is undergoing a boom, and the Internet plays a vital role for tourism. This study therefore considers: (i) the importance of entrepreneurial talent for implementing a website; (ii) the relations among entrepreneurial talent, website characteristics and business performance; and (iii) the moderating effect of entrepreneurial experience. Using a sample of 150 rural tourism establishments in Spain, this study reveals how website content affects performance and how experience moderates the relationships between entrepreneurial talent and performance, and between entrepreneurial talent and website design. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A strategic analysis of incorporating CSR into managerial incentive design

A strategic analysis is conducted to incorporate corporate social responsibility (CSR) considerations into managerial incentive design in a duopoly where each firm comprises an owner and a manager. Consumer surplus is adopted to represent the firms’ CSR concerns and a CSR-related incentive is introduced to accommodate both profit and consumer surplus. Bertrand and Cournot competition modes are discussed with the firms’ products being complementary, independent, or substitutable. We first examine the equilibrium of CSR-related incentive design and, then, analyze how CSR-related incentives affect the firms’ profitability and CSR performance, measured by consumer surplus and social welfare.     

Analysis of the operational performance of brazilian airport terminals: A multicriteria approach with De Borda-AHP integration

ObjectiveThis study proposes a multicriteria approach for the comparative analysis of the operational performance of Brazilian airport terminals.MethodologyTwo multicriteria decision aid (MCDA) methods – De Borda and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) - were applied in an integrated manner to the database of the performance report from the Brazilian Department of Civil Aviation (Secretaria de Aviação Civil – SAC/PR), composed of evaluations issued by 18,062 respondents regarding 15 airport terminals, 12 of which are analyzed in this study considering 8 evaluation criteria. On the first level, the AHP method was used to assign weights to the criteria. On the second level, the De Borda method was applied to rank the alternatives.ResultsThe proposed method resulted in a final ranking of alternatives that was significantly different from the one presented in the SAC/PR report.Contribution to knowledgeThe employment of the integrated De Borda-AHP method is not common and ensured a greater approximation with the overall user satisfaction indicator, showing that it is the more appropriate methodological option when compared with the arithmetic mean commonly used in public reports.Contribution to societyBased on the obtained ranking, air transport users will be able to have a more realistic comparative picture of the main airport terminals analyzed.Contribution to the management of the airport systemThis work contributes to the strategic planning and allocation of investments seeking to adapt and expand the sector, and also to the continuous improvement of the service levels provided at airports.     

Management style and airport performance in Brazil

The intention to privatize Brazilian public enterprises dates from 1990. As with other enterprises, a board was appointed at the Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Enterprise to prepare it for privatization. Although the enterprise remains public, there are clear signs of substantial changes in the airports it manages. This study uses data envelopment analysis techniques to investigate the impacts of changes in managerial style on airport performance between 1998 and 2001. Despite a decline in operational performance, financial performance improved.     

Evaluating corporate social responsibility of airlines using entropy weight and grey relation analysis

This paper applies entropy weight and grey relation analysis to evaluate corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of eight Chinese major airlines. This paper intends to achieve two main aims. First, this study uses entropy to find the relative weights of performance measures of CSR. In so doing, we find that on-time performance, accident rate, flight frequency, growth of employees revenue, and employees revenue are relatively most important measures. Second, based on the results of entropy analysis, this study ranks the airlines in terms of CSR performance by grey relation analysis. This result shows that most of the larger state-controlled airlines perform better in performance of CSR. Furthermore, the private airline has made relatively large improvement in its CSR performance. In addition, the listed airlines are better than non-listed airlines in CSR performance.