Konkurransekraft i havner

Havnene har endret funksjon de siste 20-30 årene, og er blitt sentre i de globale handelsveiene, viser Ziaul Haque Munim i sin doktorgradsavhandling. Samtidig står sjøgående fartøyer nå for mer enn 80 prosent av transporten i internasjonal handel. En konsekvens av dette er at kravene til og konkurransen mellom havnene er betydelig skjerpet.

I avhandlingen “Essays on port competitiveness: Port efficiency, governance and intermodal transhipment” har Ziaul Haque Munim gjort tre funn som kan bedre havners konkurransekraft:

• Havner bør fokusere mer på service-kvalitet enn teknisk utstyr
• Konkurranse gjennom privatisering av containerterminaler gir økt utbytte for brukerne
• Regionalt havnesamarbeid for betjening av langdistansekunder kan være fordelaktig både for havnemyndighetene og brukerne

Ziaul Haque Munim har hatt sin stipendiatperiode ved UiAs Institutt for strategi og ledelse. Han har fulgt doktorgradsprogrammet ved Handelshøyskolen ved UiA, med spesialisering i International Business, og disputerer for ph.d.-graden med avhandlingen “Essays on port competitiveness: Port efficiency, governance and intermodal transhipment».

Prøveforelesning og disputas finner sted i Auditorium B3-008, Campus Kristiansand onsdag 29. august 2018. Disputasen blir ledet av professor Roy Mersland, leder av doktorgradsprogrammet ved Handelshøyskolen ved UiA.

Slik beskriver kandidaten selv essensen i avhandlingen:

Developing competitive ports

Today, more than 80% of international trade volume occurs through maritime transport — the cheapest and most efficient mode of transport. It is handled by ports worldwide.

Before the 1990s, ports were seen as a social infrastructure that would facilitate import and export of their host country and often subsidized by the local government.

New challenges through globalization

Nevertheless, with the globalization of production processes, ports became the centres of global supply chains, and new port management (and governance) models emerged.

Thus, following increasing global trade demand, ship size increased dramatically to achieve economies of scale. It was no longer possible for all ports of the world to accommodate ships that required a high draft of water at berths. Therefore, ports with a deeper draft and superstructures (e.g. ship-to-shore gantry cranes) had to be built.

Furthermore, with the large-scale adaptation of container ships in the 1990s, it became easier to switch the mode of transport of goods without changing the unit (i.e. container).

Stronger competition

Along with these developments, the expectations of port users also changed. For instance, only handing of cargos/containers was not enough to sustain in the port business. Nowadays shippers demand timely and reliable delivery of their goods at the lowest cost while maximizing value and minimizing carbon footprint.

Competition among ports soared, forcing them to be better at serving users’ demands and attracting new port users.

In this vein, I believe ports should be financially self-sufficient and at the same time maximize their impact on the local or host region (or country). 

Three findings for improving port competitiveness

During the last three years, I have been investigating ways to evaluate and improve port competitiveness.

In my research, I found that (1) ports should focus more on service quality than on technical efficiency, (2) increasing competition through privatization of container terminals maximizes ports users’ benefit, and (3) regional port alliance to serve distant markets can be beneficial for both port authorities and their users.

These findings, if implemented, can improve the competitiveness of ports greatly and maximize their impact on their respective regional economies.

Disputasfakta:

Kandidaten: Ziaul Haque Munim (1990), fra Chittagong, Bangladesh. Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance) i 2011 fra Eastern University (Bangladesh), Master of Science i Supply Chain Management (Logistics, and Transport Geography Modelling) i 2015 fra Vienna University of Economics and Business (Østerrike).

Prøveforelesning og disputas finner sted i Auditorium B3-008, Campus Kristiansand onsdag 29. august 2018

Disputasen blir ledet av professor Roy Mersland, leder av doktorgradsprogrammet ved Handelshøyskolen ved UiA.

Prøveforelesning kl 11:15

Disputas kl 13:15

Oppgitt emne for prøveforelesning: «The Role of Ports in Economic Development»

Tittel på avhandling: “Essays on port competitiveness: Port efficiency, governance and intermodal transhipment”

Søk etter avhandlingen i AURA - Agder University Research Archive, som er et digitalt arkiv for vitenskapelige artikler, avhandlinger og masteroppgaver fra ansatte og studenter ved Universitetet i Agder. AURA blir jevnlig oppdatert. Avhandlingen vil være tilgjengelig til utlån ved Universitetsbiblioteket. Det vil bli også lagt ut noen eksemplarer av avhandlingen til utlån i lokalet hvor disputasen finner sted.

Opponenter:

Førsteopponent: Professor Kevin Cullinane, University of Gothenburg

Annenopponent: Førsteamanuensis Meifeng Luo, Hong Kong Polytechnic University  (scroll ned til nummer 17)

Bedømmelseskomitéen er ledet av professor Sangeeta Singh, UiA

Veileder i doktorgradsarbeidet var førsteamanuensis Naima Saeed, Institutt for Strategi og ledelse, UiA