Information Sharing Needs : Introduction of a web-hosted portal in the ship broking business

This thesis investigates how a web-hosted portal could be developed and designed in order to assist customer information updates in micro-enterprises in the ship broking business. Based on well-established system development theories and collected material, the web-hosted portal concept was developed. The development process included a case study at a ship broking company in Karlshamn, southern Sweden. Ship broking companies handle information as a mediator between other actors, thus the information becomes sensitive. In the ship broking business there is a constant need and flow of information. As the shipbrokers’ customers demand constant information 24 hours a day it is important to meet this demand in a service minded fashion. Today all customer updates are handled manually and are considered very time consuming and generate duplication of work. To solve these issues a possible solution could be to introduce information technology in the organisation. The introduction of information technology in the ship broking organisations has been slow. A contributing factor might be the widespread conservatism and resistance to changes in the ship broking business. The conclusions show the needs and demands for a web-hosted portal among shipbrokers and interested parties in the logistic chain. The result of the thesis should be considered as a foundation for further development and implementation of the concept

Information Sharing Needs : Introduction of a web-hosted portal in the ship broking business

This thesis investigates how a web-hosted portal could be developed and designed in order to assist customer information updates in micro-enterprises in the ship broking business. Based on well-established system development theories and collected material, the web-hosted portal concept was developed. The development process included a case study at a ship broking company in Karlshamn, southern Sweden. Ship broking companies handle information as a mediator between other actors, thus the information becomes sensitive. In the ship broking business there is a constant need and flow of information. As the shipbrokers’ customers demand constant information 24 hours a day it is important to meet this demand in a service minded fashion. Today all customer updates are handled manually and are considered very time consuming and generate duplication of work. To solve these issues a possible solution could be to introduce information technology in the organisation. The introduction of information technology in the ship broking organisations has been slow. A contributing factor might be the widespread conservatism and resistance to changes in the ship broking business. The conclusions show the needs and demands for a web-hosted portal among shipbrokers and interested parties in the logistic chain. The result of the thesis should be considered as a foundation for further development and implementation of the concept