Effect of Logistics Performance Index on Human Development Index: An Application to Logistics Sector

Human Development Index (HDI) has been subject to a lot of criticism over time, with the idea that it does not fully reflect human development, and has been complemented with different indicators in various studies. Despite its importance, especially considering the requirements of the era, logistics has not been considered with HDI and, although there are many synthetic indices that combine different methods (i.e. DEA, MCDM etc.) with HDI, these indices are far from reaching logical results. Logistics is a fundamental activity in meeting all human needs, and therefore should be considered as a measure of countries\u27 human development. Therefore, this study offers a revision of the HDI with special consideration to the logistics performances of countries. It is observed that infrastructure and timeliness indicators from these sub-indicators of Logistics Performance Index (LPI) have a significant effect on the HDI. Using the United Nations\u27 HDI calculation method with the statistically significant indicators, Logistics-HDI (L-HDI) is developed and proposed as a new index. This study argues that L-HDI reflects the human development of countries more appropriately. The L-HDI will also offer better benchmarking than other synthetic indices in its scientifical field

Influence of scientific management principles on ISM Code

Taylor's principles of scientific management has not only changed the way people worked in the 20th century but also affect many contemporary management practices. As a response to the very serious maritime accidents encountered in the late 1980s, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (the ISM Code). The ISM Code is a systematic management approach towards safety through the elimination of both human error and poor management standards. The aim of this study is to explore reflect on the impact of scientific management on the ISM Code using a content analysis technique. The paper concentrates on some studies which were originally proposed by Taylorist principles and the ISM Code. The through review and analysis has revealed that functional supervising, selection and training of personel, management coordination, and scientific job analysis using principles of scientific management are found to be valid and influential within the content of ISM Code. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Information sources used by charterers to select shipowners

This study aims to identify the information search behaviour of charterers in selecting shipowners within a business-to-business framework. It focuses on charterers' information sources and how different factors (individual, organisational, and purchase-related) affect the information search since this construct is a major component of comprehensive theories of organisational buying behaviour. Understanding the buying behaviour of charterers also helps marketers to increase customer satisfaction. The analysis is based on questionnaire responses from 141 firms that have recently chartered vessels. From a principal components analysis, the study identified eight sets of information sources, of which impersonal, e-mails and reference-based information were the most important. The results show that the business-to-business information sources used by ship charterers vary significantly according to organisation size, centralisation, type of purchase, purchase complexity and experience. Further analyses revealed a significant relationship between these factors and business-to-business information sources, specifically between the importance of the purchase, perceived risk, formalisation, standardisation, personal stake, specialisation, and use of information resources. Finally, the study revealed a significant relationship between business-to-business information sources and customer satisfaction

Beyond the ISM code: a conceptual proposal for an integrated system within the Seven C's approach

The International Safety Management (ISM) Code aims to provide an international standard for the safe management and operation of ships and pollution prevention. Initially, it improved both onboard and onshore safety standards. In recent years, however, shipping safety statistics and research have revealed that ISM Code compliance has increasingly worsened due to accidents, deaths, and excessive sea pollution. The support of another management system is thus needed to overcome difficulties in implementing the ISM Code. Hence, this paper combines both management systems (ISM and Idea Management System, IMS) within the Seven C's approach. This is a holistic approach to maritime safety management that integrates seven critical success factors for effective implementation of the ISM Code. This approach may play an important role in creating organizational knowledge to raise an organization's awareness of managing and linking know-how to position itself for the future. This will help to make ISM code management more efficient and may reduce accidents, deaths, and marine pollution by fostering the seven C components

AN OVERVIEW OF MARITIME LOGISTICS: TRENDS AND RESEARCH AGENDA

The increasing importance of maritime transportation in entire logistics flows have increased the interest in maritime logistics. Despite the growing body of the literature on this emerging discipline, there is lack of a detailed investigation regarding the categorization and emerging topics. The primary aim of this study is to analyse the advances in the literature and to suggest a research agenda for this concept by exploring the main research domains in this phenomenon. To achieve these aims, this study adopts content analysis-based review method to examine the concept and citation analysis to explore the latent structure of maritime logistics. The research streams have been obtained through two databases; the main themes, highlighted topics, and related analytical categories have been investigated through content analysis. Citation and co-citation analysis were conducted to understand the intellectual structure of the studies and the relationship of the analytical categories. The study presents a comprehensive synthesis of existing research suggesting a systematic source of information for both scholars and practitioners, shaping the future research agenda. The findings indicate that there is an increasing emphasis on design, optimization, and planning of port and ship operations while sustainability and marketing perspectives are somehow neglected in the researches

An application of brand personality dimensions to container ports: A place branding perspective

In the light of developments in port competition and the need for differentiation in port services, branding has become a vital issue for seaport organizations. As of the critical nodes in global supply chain systems, seaports need to attract and retain customers through their marketing activities. This can be achieved by building a strong brand, communicating the brand's message properly, and enriching the message with brand personality components for successful positioning. This study analyzes how ports' brand personalities differ across geographical regions and how the brand personality of each port reveals the branding strategies of seaports. The study's multistage methodology consists of a longitudinal content analysis of Twitter messages of certain selected container ports and multiple correspondence analyse to determine the relationships between ports and different regions. The Twitter messages of the selected ports have been content analyzed and brand personality has been measured through Aaker's (1997) brand personality model and Opuku's (2005) dictionary of synonyms. The findings show that seaports develop clear and distinctive brand personalities alongside brand images,they also reveal a high level of isomorphism on the specific brand personality dimension

Talent management functions: a qualitative research on container shipping industry

The extremely competitive and goal-driven structure of container shipping has led firms to acknowledge the need for qualified and competent employees to accomplish business objectives. Accordingly, talent management (TM) is a critical factor to achieve these objectives and effectively execute corporate strategy. Therefore, this study primarily aims to contribute to the development of the TM field by examining TM-oriented subjects concerning the primary actors of Turkey’s container shipping industry (container shipping lines and ocean freight forwarders). First, a systematic literature review was conducted to identify existing TM practices and obtain data for the identification and conceptualisation of talent management functions. Second, a combined method of in-depth interviews and qualitative content analysis was used to investigate the most common talent management practices under TM functions in Turkey’s container shipping industry and highlight the differences with the current literature

A value chain analysis of a seaport from the perspective of Industry 4.0

The main aim of this study is to reveal the role and contribution of Industry 4.0 in the value chain of seaports. It first reviews the literature to identify value chain activities in the port industry. It then explores the Industry 4.0 applications utilised by ports through content analysis of the websites of ten major innovative seaports. Seven main technological characteristics of Industry 4.0, namely digitalisation, autonomisation, transparency, mobility, modularisation, network-collaboration and socialising, are used as the main research main categories. The findings show that ports engage with Industry 4.0 in four different modules namely port community systems, cyber-physical systems, internet of things and big data. These four modules enable ports to achieve cost leadership advantages in their quest for competitiveness. To achieve differentiation, on the other hand, they need to increase connectivity with customers and stakeholders through communication channels such as social media

Protective Effect of Vitamin D Against Hyperoxia-Induced Lung Injury in Newborn Rats

Introduction: Preterm infants have risks of developing vitamin D deficiency. Thus we aimed to investigate the effect of vitamin D on hyperoxia-induced lung injury in newborn rats. Methods: Full term rat pups were included in the study 12-24 hr after delivery. The pups were randomly divided into eight groups as follows: normoxia control group (NC), normoxia plus vitamin Dgroup (ND1, 1 ng/gr/day vitamin D), normoxia plus vitaminDgroup (ND2, 3 ng/gr/day vitamin D), normoxia plus vitamin D group (ND3, 5 ng/gr/day vitamin D), hyperoxia control group (HC), hyperoxia plus vitamin D group (HD1, 1 ng/gr/day vitamin D), hyperoxia plus Vitamin D group (HD2, 3 ng/gr/day vitamin D), hyperoxia plus vitamin D group (HD3, 5 ng/gr/day vitamin D). The histopathological effects of vitamin D were assessed by alveolar surface area (with mean linear intercept (MLI) method), apoptosis index and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) index. Results: MLI values were significantly lower among three groups (HD1: 83.93 +/- 1.95 mu m, HD2: 81.76 +/- 1.68 mu m, and HD3: 82.33 +/- 1.87 mu m) when compared with HC group (92.98 +/- 2.09 mu m) (P = 0.001, P = 0.0004, P = 0.002, respectively). Apoptotic cell index were significantly lower among three treatment groups (HD1: 1.455 +/- 0.153, HD2: 0.575 +/- 0.079, and HD3: 0.700 +/- 0.105) when compared with HC group (2.500 +/- 0.263) (P = 0.001, P = 0.001, P = 0.001, respectively). Although PCNA positive cell index did not change in HD1 group (0.132 +/- 0.008) (P> 0.05), there were significant increases in HD2 (0.277 +/- 0.026) and HD3 (0.266 +/- 0.018) group when compared with HC group (0.142 +/- 0.010) (HD2 P = 0.001, HD3 P = 0.001). Conclusion: Vitamin D seems to protect hyperoxia-induced lung injury in newborn rats. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc