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Dealing with uncertainty and volatility in the port industry network: social and instrumental antecedents of "clique" survival

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  • Giovanni Satta
  • Francesco Parola
  • Simone Caschili

Abstract

The recent proliferation of inter-firm collaborative linkages within the container port industry is progressively shaping a complex architecture of voluntary ties among terminal operators, i.e. an inter-organizational network. Within the overall industry network, some stable groups of densely interconnected firms emerge suggesting the existence of "cliques" where firms repeatedly cooperate with each other and develop strong and durable ties. The growing pressure exerted by economic uncertainty and market volatility on clique stability stimulates a fruitful academic debate on clique survival and its determinants. The present contribution investigates social and instrumental antecedents of clique survival, focusing on equity joint ventures engaged by terminal operators in a 10-year time frame (2002-2011). For this purpose, this study introduces a longitudinal network analysis of inter-firm relationships. Research hypotheses are tested performing binomial logistic regression analysis. In line with network theory assumptions, the outcomes corroborate the explanatory role of a number of social (i.e., cultural similarity and organizational mismatch) and instrumental (i.e., the presence of core firms within the clique and clique equality) antecedents in the survival of cliques. The results, indeed, bring valuable implications for both academics and practitioners.

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  • Giovanni Satta & Francesco Parola & Simone Caschili, 2014. "Dealing with uncertainty and volatility in the port industry network: social and instrumental antecedents of "clique" survival," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(7), pages 615-633, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:marpmg:v:41:y:2014:i:7:p:615-633
    DOI: 10.1080/03088839.2014.960022
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    2. Athanasios A. Pallis & Francesco Parola & Giovanni Satta & Theo E. Notteboom, 2018. "Private entry in cruise terminal operations in the Mediterranean Sea," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 20(1), pages 1-28, March.
    3. Notteboom, Theo E. & Parola, Francesco & Satta, Giovanni & Pallis, Athanasios A., 2017. "The relationship between port choice and terminal involvement of alliance members in container shipping," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 158-173.
    4. Nguyen, Son & Shu-Ling Chen, Peggy & Du, Yuquan, 2022. "Risk assessment of maritime container shipping blockchain-integrated systems: An analysis of multi-event scenarios," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).

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