The determinants of the port logistics performance: Case of the port of Casablanca

Abstract

In the current context, with the opening of international markets and international trade, all companies must face the challenges of improving their tools, methods, processes, in particular improving the quality of their services and ensuring the proper operation of the supply chain in order to achieve a high level of organizational and inter-organizational performance. In this sense, ports play an important role in international trade and are a key factor in the competitiveness of the port logistics chain. In this context, productivity and performance are the main concerns of all port actors. However, the port sector is characterized by the complexity of operations and the diversity of port functions, especially because of the multiplicity and dispersion of stakeholders and the divergence of their priorities and interests. This research develops an exploratory qualitative study on the performance of port logistics in the specific Moroccan context. To do this, and in order to identify the determinants of port logistics performance, a review of previous work on port logistics performance was carried out. Following this, a comparative analysis was undertaken to identify the differences and similarities between the factors considered determinants of port performance as they exist in the literature and the statements made by the respondents.  The results support the major role of the quality of service, the delay, the assurance of the goods, the good coordination and the cost. However, infrastructure and new technologies remain an essential criterion for the smooth running of the activity.

Keywords: Port supply chain, determinants of port logistics performance.

JEL Classification: R41.

Paper type: Empirical research.