Title: Information management and control systems in the port community: insights and challenges from regulations

Authors: Assunta Di Vaio; Luisa Varriale

Addresses: University of Naples 'Parthenope', Italy ' University of Naples 'Parthenope', Italy

Abstract: This paper aims at investigating the role of information management and control systems in the inter-organisational relationships between the Port Authority (PA) and port users, adopting an information technology platform, as the Port Community Systems (PCSs). We focus on the effects of the PCSs implementation on the information management, and control systems used to support the decision making of the Port Authorities (PAs). We conduct a literature review on regulations and digitalisation of operating processes in the seaports, and the related information management. Through the case study methodology, we used semi-structured interviews to port users and PA in an Italian seaport. Drawing from perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), we identify some key performance indicators (KPIs) addressed to measure and control the information and data flows concerning the processes within the inter-organisational relationships in the port community. The study provides interesting theoretical and managerial implications, especially highlighting the positive effects of PCSs.

Keywords: information management; management control systems; MCS; port communities; ports; digital platforms; balanced scorecard; BSC; key performance indicators; KPIs; port authorities; Italy; seaports; information flow; data flow.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAUDIT.2016.081987

International Journal of Auditing Technology, 2016 Vol.3 No.2, pp.113 - 127

Received: 21 May 2016
Accepted: 30 Aug 2016
Published online: 31 Jan 2017 *

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