Developing an instrument to assess seaport effectiveness in service delivery

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to develop a standard instrument that can accurately and reliably measure port service effectiveness performance for port authorities. The study population was customers and users of container ports in the USA and Canada. We have named the instrument SEAPORT (Seaport Effectiveness Assessment for PORT managers) and it is designed to be used as a standalone measurement tool as well as input into the strategic management decisions of port managers. The paper details the methodology used in surveying three port user groups and explains the development of the construct for performance measurement by each, using variance inflation factors to finalise the formative construct components. The paper also discusses the potential future deployment of the instrument.

Keywords:

• port performance
• effectiveness measurement
• service quality
• maritime logistics

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the American Association of Port Authorities for providing partial funding through the Port Customer Service Initiative of the data collection costs. We would also like to thank the participating ports and respondents, without whom the research would not have been successful. All errors and omissions remain the responsibility of the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.