Management Control Systems for the Water Concessionaires Governance: A Multiple Cases Study in the Italian Seaports

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the information and knowledge management regarding the carried out processes into the seaport relationships system in the Italian market. We focus on the relationships established between the water concessionaires and Port Authorities (PAs), in order to examine the main tools developed and adopted for facilitating their information and knowledge sharing, recognizing their role in the performing of tasks assigned to the PAs by the Law 84/1994. In the last decades, some reforms have significantly changed the port facilities management because of the need to reduce costs and guarantee high quality services. According to the main frameworks on the topic, we investigate how management control, information systems and reporting tools can facilitate the coordination and integration between water concessionaires and PAs in order to support the long-term decision in the seaport, following a systemic viewpoint. This qualitative work, adopting a multiple cases study methodology, compare four different ports in the Italian seaport system (Civitavecchia, Naples, Trieste, and Venice). Despite the crucial role played by the tools investigated in the information sharing and coordination process, we observe still the lack of an integrative information system—in terms of a shared digital platform—and, also, the presence of strong resistances by both the players to deeply communicate and effectively and efficiently interact to provide the water facility.