Management Features in Offshore Port Clusters

The article emphasizes that seaports are regarded as a concentration of economic activity associated with the arrival and service of ships and cargo at the ports. As a consequence, some seaports may become a concentration of logistic activities, commercial centers, "information hubs" and "transport hubs", while others do not involve such activities. Ports are also industrial areas. Due to the need to store in seaports such commodities as oil, coal and iron ore, some production activities, including chemical and steel, are often located in seaports. Ports are also trading centers. For some goods, such as steel, grain and oil, trade occurs where they are stored because buyers and sellers want to check the goods or because shipping pricing information is elementary for trading companies. Thus, handling, transportation, logistics, specific production activities and specific trading activities are highly interconnected. The cluster perspective allows analysis of such agglomeration processes. The cluster perspective enriches existing management theories in seaports. It is noted that the analysis of management in seaports has largely been reduced to the role of port authorities. Despite the central role of port authorities (port clusters), it can be argued that the port authority is a kind of "arrangement" to improve cluster management but not the only "organization". Other arrangements include the formation of associations, the development of public-private partnerships and the use of networks. It is established that the quality of cluster management depends on the level of transaction costs in the cluster and the "sphere of coordination over price". Four variables are identified that affect port cluster performance. Cluster management can be evaluated by analyzing these four variables. It is emphasized that port authorities are no longer a central element and play an important role in managing the cluster, but their role is interconnected with the activities of private firms, associations and public-private organizations. The analysis of the management in the port clusters allows to complement the understanding of the port and competitiveness. The cluster management options apply to the port cluster of Rotterdam. Experts received answers on a wide range of cluster management issues. The empirical results confirm the relevance of the cluster management approach. An analytical framework for the analysis of port cluster management is proposed. The results of the conducted studies are the basis for further empirical studies. Among the interesting areas of research are comparative analysis of port clusters, comparative analysis of the roles of port cluster management bodies, and analysis of the role of leadership firms in port clusters, with particular attention to the possible roles of leadership firms. in the ports of developing countries.