This study aims to investigate how seaport research has been conducted from the methodological perspective. To this end, this study reviews published port literature for the last three decades (1980–2000s). The investigation primarily categorises the literature according to various methodological issues such as research paradigm, research strategy, basedisciplines,research methods and analysi…
The purpose of this paper is to provide a paradigmatic reflection on theoretical approaches recently identified in logistics and supply chain management (SCM); namely complex adaptive systems and complexity thinking, and to compare it to the dominant approach in logistics and SCM research, namely the systems approach. By analyzing the basic assumptions of the three approaches, SCM and logistics…
There are needs for ship registers to become business oriented but maintain the quality of fleet. To meet these two objectives, Hong Kong Shipping Register (HKSR) was re-engineered in 1999. An autonomous HKSR was established before the handover of the sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997. When the newly established HKSR began operation, it fell to merely 5.5 million tons in late 1997. In M…
The purpose of this paper is to show how a critical realist paradigmatic stance and its associated research methodology can contribute to supply-chain research by providing explanations for specific supply-chain- and logistics-related dynamic phenomena.