Competitiveness of the liner operators: methodological issues and implications

In the 21st century, ocean container carriers are facing high competition in cargo volume attraction and retention from their business to business customers. The main focus of this study is on the methodological issues in the analysis of shipping lines’ competitiveness. A system review of the literature is conducted in three stages to identify the key factors influential to the competitiveness of liner shipping companies. An initial search has found 897 studies, which were then reduced to 39 after further scanning and review. The systematic review has elicited 15 key selection criteria which were further reduced through analytic hierarchy process to five critical factors influential to the liner shipping companies’ competitiveness. For example, among the most frequently cited factors are the freight rate, service quality, scheduling, handling equipment and information technology. Based on the findings from the systematic literature review, a conceptual framework to identify the main determinants of the liner operators is developed, and implications for future research are also discussed.