Being the arteries of the global economy, transport, logistics and supply chains continue to evolve and adapt to the new phenomena, and have together become an integrated service professional. Being the nodal points, ports will play pivotal roles. PortEconomics associate member Adolf K.Y. Ng joins Prof. John J. Liu authoring a timing book entitled “Port-Focal Logistics and Global Supply Chains” that investigates the trends and challenges that ports, logistics and supply chains have tackled in recent decades, and the appropriate way forward.
A new concept, namely, port focal-logistics is introduced which appreciates the efforts by previous research in ports, logistics and supply chains, but simultaneously recognize the limitations, and the need for further improvements. Drawing experiences from both the developed and developing world, it provides first-hand insight on the strategies undertaken by ports, logistics and supply chain stakeholders under diversified, often uncertain, circumstances. The book provides scholars, policymakers, and industrial practitioners a comprehensive view on this rapidly changing sector.
Introduction (extracts from Chapter 1)
Significant economic and policy changes have occurred within the global arena. The scale of downturn resulted from the global economic crisis in 2008 is unprecedented, with its destructive force arguably even stronger, and more widespread and far-reaching, than the Asian financial crisis encountered towards the end of the last century. It does not only affect the financial sector, but also international trade, transport and logistics industries, with the world trade volume in early 2009 falling more than 11% below the fall of 2008. Closely knitted with the well being of the global economy – the artery of global economy by carrying more than 80% of the world’s cargoes (Ng and Liu, 2010) – it is the right time to seize this opportune moment to investigate the way forward for the maritime, transport and logistics sectors, and to thrash out appropriate strategies…
Being the nodal points, ports will play pivotal roles in deciding the success and well being of global supply chains, and thus the establishment of effective port-integrated logistical systems become strategically important… Understanding such, this book addresses the trends and challenges that the maritime, transport and logistics industries have tackled in recently decades, and the way forward for the development of efficient logistics and supply chains, now and the future. It provides scholars, policymakers, think tanks, industrial practitioners and students a comprehensive view and understanding on a growing, but also rapidly changing, sector, especially in developing economies. When writing this book, the authors recognize the limitations of both the development of dry ports/inland terminals and port centric logistics, and thus a new concept – port focal logistics – and its implications on ports, logistics and supply chains, will be proposed. Port focal logistics appreciates the valuable efforts provided by previous researchers in the study of the development of port, logistics and supply chains, but simultaneously recognize their limitations – not helped by the research trends of logistics and supply chain pre-dominated by the emphasis on optimizations rooted from the operations management and management science disciplines – which imply the need for further improvements and fine-tuning of these concepts in a world of globalization.
To achieve this, it requires efficient linkages between knowledge in different time periods (past, present and future) and sectors (academic, governmental and industrial). This book reviews the fundamental elements of port and logistics management, as well as the impacts of contemporary shipping development on ports, logistics and supply chains around the world. In this regard, the authors strongly believe that ports are excellent sites to interrogate the wider applicability of institutional analysis in explaining change and evolution of logistics and supply chains, especially given their fundamental transformation in the past few decades. Such transformation has created substantial pressure to re-invent the nature and philosophy of port governance through diversified means. Specifically, it focuses on how the governance of ports in different corners around the globe are embedded within the higher levels of political and institutional structures. In turn, it investigates how the existing institutional legacies contribute to diversified outcomes under diversified economic, social and political contexts…
By analyzing the issue from many different geographical, sectoral and disciplinary angles, readers will be given not only an alternative view (apart from, say, optimization) but, more importantly, the rare opportunity of an epistemological reflection on the true evolution and development of ports, logistics and supply chains in this ever-changing world. This will equip them with the necessary wisdom to develop effective solutions in tackling the stated challenges. It will certainly be the authors’ greatest satisfaction if readers found this book informative, interesting and, most importantly, a highly valuable companion to their progression in further research, studies and works.
How to order the book
The book is published by Palgrave Macmillan (New York, NY, 2014) and might be ordered via the publisher @ “Port-Focal Logistics and Global Supply Chains”.
Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Contemporary Development of Shipping and Impacts on Ports 3. Global Supply Chains and Trade Logistics: From Firm Focal to Port Focal 4. Logistics, Supply Chain and Port Evolution 5. Port and Trade Industrial Organization 6. Government Policies and the Role of Institutions 7. Case Study – India 8. Case Study – Brazil 9. Port Focal Logistics: The Idealism for Future Global Supply Chains?
