A STRATEGIC CHOICE MODEL FOR ASIA-PACIFIC SHIPPING

The importance of strategy to an organisation's competitiveness is widely acknowledged in the strategic management literature. However, although strategy research has become substantial in other areas, the same cannot be said with the shipping industry. Very littie is known about how shipowners choose competitive strategies or what strategies they pursue under certain environmental conditions. Of what is available, most focus on Northern Europe and Northem America, with scant regard for the Asia-Pacific, which has become a major shipping power in recent decades. This study was, therefore, conducted to address these gaps in the literature. It analysed the strategic choices made by Asia-Pacific shipowners at the corporate level, compared actual shipowners' behaviour with strategic management theory on strategy selection, and developed a strategy selection model that was applicable to Asia-Pacific shipowners and consistent with strategic management theory. An extensive review of the literature was initially undertaken to develop a generic strategic choice model, which then served as the basis upon which information from Asia-Pacific shipowners was collected. A multi-method approach, called triangulation, was used to guide data collection and analysis. Data was obtained from two sources (shipowners' representatives and shipping experts) and through several methods (mail survey, interviews, simulation, expert and document review), and the extent to which these various sets of data were congruent had to be established. Because of the exploratory nature of the study, data was analysed using a qualitative approach. There was a high degree of congruence in the data collected. Out of the analysis, two primary findings emerged: (1) there was strong support for the strategic choice model, which implied greater inter-industry applicability than originally expected; (2) however, modifications to the model were needed to reflect a general tendency among Asia-Pacific shipowners to use other strategies in combination with or as a substitute to those offered by the model

A multi-criteria performance analysis of Initial Public Offering (IPO) firms using CRITIC and VIKOR methods

As Initial Public Offering (IPO) is a significant milestone in the financial strategy of a firm, this study aims to evaluate performance of IPOs using multiple measures including account­ing-based performance (ABP), value-based performance (VBP) and overall performance (OP) in the pre-and post-IPO periods. Therefore, we present two combined approaches based on a compromise MCDM method-VIKOR and objective weighting methods-CRITIC and MW (Mean Weight) to evaluate and rank IPOs to help shareholders with understanding on how their performance changes under the different measures. Since the compromise solution (one or a set) proposed by VIKOR depends substantially on criteria weights, VIKOR-CRITIC can show more realistic results because of the differential weights assigned to criteria by CRITIC. In this study, a case study is con­ducted in order to evaluate the performance of Turkish IPOs based on ABP, VBP and OP measures using the combined methods. The results show that the compromise solution results obtained by VIKOR-CRITIC may be a guideline for investors in making more profitable investment decisions before leaping into any investment decision. First published online: 27 Mar 201

Using a decision-making process to evaluate efficiency and operating performance for listed semiconductor companies

Today’s high-tech industries face increasing competition and challenges. Thus, for hightech companies, making effective use of resources to enhance business performance and maintain the competitive advantage in the market has become increasingly important. Therefore, this study aimed to design a decision-making model for evaluating the efficiency and operating performance of Taiwan’s listed semiconductor companies in 2010 to provide a basis for improving business performance. In view of this, this study combines data envelopment analysis (DEA) and improved grey relational analysis (IGRA) as efficiency tools to measure relative efficiencies; the semiconductor companies are divided into two groups, efficient and inefficient. We then integrate the multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) method (e.g. VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje, VIKOR), IGRA and the entropy weight method to evaluate the operating performance of the efficient and inefficient groups, respectively. Establishing a reasonable, objective and valid evaluation model to measure semiconductor companies’ operating efficiency can provide company managers, investors and policy makers with a reference for performance evaluation. First published online: 20 Jun 201

DETERMINATION OF PROFITABILITY PERFORMANCES OF INDUSTRIAL SECTORS BY MEANS OF TOPSIS METHOD: APPLICATION OF TURKEY

Stock exchanges are accepted the most important instruments for the regional economies. The main reason for this is that stock exchanges provide capital to spread to the base and, also, enable the resource need of the investment platforms, whose functionality is registered, to be able to be satisfied. Stock exchanges are formed due to forming supplydemand balance on a certain asset and to managing the commercial activities. In this study the profitability performance exhibited by 39 industrial sectors that are being processed in Stock Exchange Istanbul (BİST), i n Turkey, in r espect w ith t he first h alf of the year 2 014, was examined on the sectorial basis in the framework of the criteria determined, compared to the same period of the last year. Handling the Variation of Net Sale Incomes, compared to the same period of the previous year; FAVÖK (profit, before the interest, tax, depreciation) Variation; Variation of the Essential Activity Profit; Variation of Net Profit, compared to the same period of the previous year; 2004/06 Equity Profitability, Variation Value of Equity Profitability in the periods of 2013/06-and 2014//06 as the criteria used in the study, they were analyzed by the method of TOPSIS, among the methods of multi criteria decision making. As a result, it was seen that the main metal industry showed the best performance in terms of profitabilit

DETERMINATION OF PROFITABILITY PERFORMANCES OF INDUSTRIAL SECTORS BY MEANS OF TOPSIS METHOD: APPLICATION OF TURKEY

Stock exchanges are accepted the most important instruments for the regional economies. The main reason for this is that stock exchanges provide capital to spread to the base and, also, enable the resource need of the investment platforms, whose functionality is registered, to be able to be satisfied. Stock exchanges are formed due to forming supplydemand balance on a certain asset and to managing the commercial activities. In this study the profitability performance exhibited by 39 industrial sectors that are being processed in Stock Exchange Istanbul (BİST), i n Turkey, in r espect w ith t he first h alf of the year 2 014, was examined on the sectorial basis in the framework of the criteria determined, compared to the same period of the last year. Handling the Variation of Net Sale Incomes, compared to the same period of the previous year; FAVÖK (profit, before the interest, tax, depreciation) Variation; Variation of the Essential Activity Profit; Variation of Net Profit, compared to the same period of the previous year; 2004/06 Equity Profitability, Variation Value of Equity Profitability in the periods of 2013/06-and 2014//06 as the criteria used in the study, they were analyzed by the method of TOPSIS, among the methods of multi criteria decision making. As a result, it was seen that the main metal industry showed the best performance in terms of profitabilit

MEGAPORT COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICE IN CONTAINER SHIPPING LOGISTICS IN NORTHEAST ASIA

Amidst intense port competition in Northeast Asia, competitiveness in port operations is a critical issue in adopting and implementing sustainability practice that incorporate economic, environmental, social and operational perspectives. Notwithstanding the importance of sustainability practice for sustainable port operations, very few studies have investigated its links with operational sustainability and competitiveness. For this reason, in order to encourage the proactive adoption and implementation of sustainability practice in port operations, this study aims to analyse the role of sustainability practice in managing competitiveness and continuous improvements in operational performance, based on mega container ports operations. To address this issue, this study adopted a two-phase research design which incorporates a preliminary field study and empirical research. At first, to understand the specific and general features of sustainability practice in commercial port operations, preliminary field work through semi-structured face-to-face interviews were undertaken. Interviews validated the attributes of sustainability practice in the container port operational context, investigating the relevant issues. Thereafter, based on data collected from 203 organisations engaged in container port operations in Northeast Asia, the feasible relationships among sustainability practice, competitiveness and performance were analysed using hierarchical moderator regression analysis in SPSS 21. Finally, the results revealed that sustainability practice has a significant contribution as a moderator to the relationship between competitiveness, particularly in operational efficiency and service quality, and operational performance. The two-phase research design made it possible to define and validate the role of sustainability practice in managing the relationship between competitiveness and performance. With regard to theory, this study has placed the case of Northeast Asia in a global context. Secondly, the direct relationships between determinants of megaport competitiveness and performance in the context of container port operations were verified. Thirdly, the specific routes, what is achievable and how sustainability practice contributes to enhancing the relationships between determinants of megaport competitiveness and operational performance, were revealed in a container port operational context. For the ports industries, this study has provided useful insights to establish strategies for sustainable port operations and a strategic agenda to assist ports to incorporate sustainability practice, providing evidence that this will contribute to enhancing their overall competitiveness. The findings are expected to be utilised further in future studies on sustainable port development and operations, as well as to provide guidance for port operators in its future improvement strategy