Managing port e-services in a socio-technical context

The paper presents a theoretical framework and an empirical examination of the provision of port e-services through exploratory research. The presented survey examines the socio-technical environment in which port e-services are developed and provided, as well as the related investment decision making and evaluation procedures, in the Greek port sector. A number of hindering and enabling management and organisational factors are identified towards fully exploiting ICT capabilities and port e-services; our framework is deemed to be applicable to ports with similar geopolitical, economic, industrial and management characteristics to those of the examined organisations. The research outcome is a first step towards the provision of a systematic, unified framework for analysing and planning port e-services initiatives, in a socio-technical context.