Environmental sustainability in the shipping industry: a source of
competitive advantage?
Candidate name: Vanessa Casadiego Fonseca
University of South-Eastern Norway
Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime Sciences
M ASTER T HESIS
May 2019
2 Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to study if implementing green shipping practices (GSPs) and environmental sustainability projects could help ship-owning companies to provide or strengthen competitive advantage, in addition to reducing their negative impact on the environment. With this purpose, a multiple case study methodology was conducted. Semi- structured interviews with informants from ship-owning companies were carried out to collect primary data.
The findings suggest that environmental sustainability can impact positively on competitive advantage by reducing costs, increasing revenues or strengthening the firm’s core competencies, but it is subject to the company’s sustainability approach, actions, sustainability drivers, and challenges. Activities related to green design, green operations and technical adaptations are perceived as sources of competitive advantage. The evidence also shows that some of the factors that influence the ability of a company to gain a competitive advantage from green initiatives are the company’s approach to sustainability, the ability to effectively manage its stakeholders, the implementation of innovative solutions, and the control systems and metrics to evaluate the environmental performance and the effects of GSPs.
This thesis contributes with an overall model for achieving competitive advantage from environmental sustainability, adds to the discussion around environmental sustainability in the shipping industry, and validates the existing theory. It has theoretical and practical implications and suggests areas for further study.
Keywords: Environmental sustainability, Green Shipping Practices (GSPs), competitive advantage
3 Acknowledgements
I express my sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Marina Z. Solesvik for her guidance, support and advice during the process of researching and writing this thesis. I would also like to thank Dr Anne Gausdal for her guidance and interest in my thesis.
I want to give special thanks to everyone who supported me in this learning process. To the companies that allowed me to do the interviews, thanks for giving me the information and time necessary to enrich my thesis.
Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my family and friends for motivating me and believing in me, especially to my husband for his unconditional support and continuous encouragement.
4 Table of Contents
Abstract ... 2
Acknowledgements ... 3
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ... 10
1.1. Background ... 10
1.2. Research problem /questions ... 11
1.3. Structure of the thesis ... 11
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ... 13
2.1. Sustainability ... 13
2.1.1. Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) ... 16
2.1.2. Green shipping practices (GSP): ... 19
2.2. Stakeholder Theory ... 24
2.1. Competitive Advantage Theory ... 26
2.2. Innovation ... 30
CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 31
3.1. Research strategy ... 32
3.2. Research design ... 33
3.2.1. Case description ... 34
3.2.2. Data collection ... 38
3.2.3. Data analysis ... 43
5
3.3. Ethical considerations ... 44
3.4. Validity and reliability ... 45
3.5. Research limitations ... 46
CHAPTER 4. RESULTS ... 46
4.1. Single case analysis ... 46
4.1.1. Company A ... 46
4.1.2. Company B ... 53
4.1.3. Company D ... 57
4.1.4. Company C ... 62
4.1.5. Company E ... 65
4.1.6. Company F ... 70
4.1.7. Company G ... 75
4.2. Cross-case analysis ... 79
4.2.1. Approach to sustainability ... 79
4.2.2. Actions and Results ... 83
4.2.3. Sustainability Drivers ... 86
4.2.4. Challenges implementing GSPs ... 88
4.2.5. Measurements ... 89
4.2.6. Impact on competitive advantage ... 90
4.2.7. Summary of the findings ... 92
CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION ... 94
5.1. Impact on competitive advantage ... 94
6
5.2. Company characteristics ... 97
5.3. Approach to sustainability and Actions ... 98
5.4. Sustainability drivers ... 100
5.5. Challenges implementing GSPs ... 102
5.6. Measurements ... 103
5.7. Summary of the discussion ... 104
CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS ... 106
REFERENCES ... 108
APPENDICES ... 113
Appendix A: Interview guide ... 113
Appendix B: Consent form ... 114
Appendix C: Interview extracts Company A ... 115
Appendix D: Interview extracts Company B ... 119
Appendix E: Interview extracts Company C... 123
Appendix F: Interview extracts Company D ... 125
Appendix G: Interview extracts Company E ... 128
Appendix H: Interview extracts Company F ... 132
Appendix I: Interview extracts Company G ... 136
Appendix J ... 139
7 List of Tables and Figures
List of Tables
Table 1. Profile of the companies ... 37
Table 2. Informants' profiles ... 41
Table 3. Findings Company A ... 51
Table 4. Findings Company B... 56
Table 5. Findings Company D ... 61
Table 6. Findings Company C... 64
Table 7. Findings Company E ... 69
Table 8. Findings Company F ... 74
Table 9. Findings Company G ... 78
Table 10. Sustainability approach ... 80
Table 11. Companies' approach to sustainability ... 83
Table 12. Environmental actions ... 83
Table 13. Results ... 86
Table 14. Sustainability drivers ... 87
Table 15. Challenges implementing GSPs ... 89
List of Figures Figure 1. Thesis Structure ... 12
Figure 2 Actors and their roles in sustainable development. ... 15
Figure 3 Classification of GSCM. ... 17
Figure 4 Drivers influencing the adoption of GSP. ... 25
8 Figure 5. Porter's typology and generic strategies... 27 Figure 6. Phases of the research design. ... 34 Figure 7. Tentative model for achieving competitive advantage from environmental sustainability ... 93 Figure 8. Links between sustainability actions and results ... 95 Figure 9. Overall model for achieving competitive advantage from environmental sustainability ... 105
9 List of Terms and Abbreviations
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility ECD Environmentally Conscious Design EMS Environmental Management Systems GHG Greenhouse gas
GPR Greening and Performance Relativity GSCM Green Supply Chain Management GSPs Green Shipping Practices
IMO International Maritime Organization LNG Liquefied Natural Gas
LCA Life-cycle assessment/analysis
MARPOL The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships NOx Nitrogen oxides
PM Particulate matter RL Reverse Logistics
SEEMP Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan SOx Sulphur oxides
10 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1.Background
Climate change and global warming, and their visible negative effects on the environment are challenging the shipping industry to change and find a way to be both financial and environmentally sustainable (Lun, Lai, Wong, & Cheng, 2015). Customers are increasing their preference for eco-friendly products and services, and international institutions such as IMO that are tightening the rules regarding greenhouse gas emissions and implementing pollution control regimes- i.e. 2020 sulphur cap (Lee & Nam, 2017).
This matter is increasingly relevant; it represents a great challenge for the shipping industry and requires that companies invest in research, innovation, and in some cases in technical modifications on the vessels or acquisition of new assets. For instance, requirements for reduced emissions are pushing the industry to intensify the research and discussions about alternative fuels and technologies – such as LNG, hydrogen, battery systems, fuel cell systems, among others- that can help the industry to meet the challenges of the future (DNV-GL, 2018b).
Understanding the importance of adopting sustainable practices in the industry is essential for firms to be more resilient and remain competitive over time (Narula, 2014). Hence, it is of utmost importance that companies adopt proactive management approaches, such as green shipping practices (GSP), that incorporate environmental practices in the firm’s activities (Lam & Lai, 2015; Lun, Lai, Wong, & Cheng, 2016a).
By adopting green practices and proactive environmental strategy, companies might also benefit from an increase in revenues and gain competitive advantage (Caniëls, Cleophas,
& Semeijn, 2016). In addition, there are signs that productivity improvements could be achieved by implementing GSPs (Chang & Danao, 2017). For instance, according to DNV-GL (2018a),
11 investing in electric vessels and battery technology can help firms to cut fuel consumption, costs, and emissions.
Both the relevance of the topic of green shipping and the fact that some companies consider it a burden as they perceive that having an eco-friendly business requires a large investment (Chang & Danao, 2017), have inspire the researcher to study the ways in which companies are adopting CSR and green shipping practices and the effects of the implementation of these practices in the firm’s competitive advantage.
1.2.Research problem /questions
The purpose of this research is to study if implementing green shipping practices and environmental sustainability projects might help the shipping companies to reduce their negative impact on the environment while at the same time provide or strengthen competitive advantage.
This thesis will address the following research question:
How does environmental sustainability impact on a company’s competitive advance in the shipping industry?
Sub-questions:
- What green shipping or CSR practices are perceived by the managers in the industry as sources of competitive advantage?
- What factors influence the impact of GSPs a company’s competitive advantage?
1.3. Structure of the thesis
The thesis will be divided into five sections: Background, methodology, application and results, analysis and concluding remarks (see Figure 1. Thesis StructureFigure 1).
12 Figure 1. Thesis Structure
The first section establishes the background and foundations of the research project. It includes Chapters 1, that gives a general introduction of what will be investigated in the thesis, and chapter 2, that contains all the related concepts and theory developed around the main topics of study.
The second section describes the methodology that will guide the thesis, the collection method that will be used to collect data, how the data will be analysed, and the ethical considerations that had to be considered in the thesis.
In the third section, the results from the interviews performed to the shipping companies in Norway will be presented. And in the fourth section, these results will be analysed and compared to the findings from the literature review.
Finally, in the last section, the conclusions and the major discoveries will be summarized. The suggestions for further investigation and current limitations to the thesis will also be pointed out in this section.
Concluding remarks Chapter 6. Conclusions
Analysis Chapter 5. Discussion Application and results
Chapter 4. Results Methodology
Chapter 3. Research methodology Background
Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Litterature review
13 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Sustainability
The concept of sustainability started to be mentioned in academic literature in the 1960s and 1970s (Piecyk, Browne, Whiteing, & McKinnon, 2015), but it was not until the mid-1980s that the concept started to evolved and be recognized with the publication of the Brundtland report (Portney, 2015). In the report sustainable development is defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"((WCED), 1987).
The essence of sustainability is the ability to remain over time (Narula, 2014). It stands on the idea that there has to be a balance in “protecting the environment, preserving economic growth, and promoting equity” (Portney, 2015, p. 6). The reconciliation of these three elements is also known as “triple bottom line”, which refers to the inclusion of economic, environmental and social dimensions in the performance measurement criteria (Piecyk et al., 2015).
The way in which businesses engage and contribute to sustainable development is with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (Piecyk et al., 2015). CSR is defined as the voluntary decision of companies to “integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and their interaction with their stakeholders” (European Commission, 2001, p. 6).
It focuses on corporations and the role they play in sustainable development (Shrivastava, 1995).
Socially responsible companies go beyond complying with legal expectations (European Commission, 2001), pay attention to the interests of both financial and non-financial stakeholders (Parviainen, Lehikoinen, Kuikka, & Haapasaari, 2018), and incorporate economic, social and environmental dimensions in their decision making (Piecyk et al., 2015).
14 As in sustainable development, the triple bottom line is also the pillar of CSR. In fact, the concepts of sustainability and CSR are closely related (Piecyk et al., 2015), and henceforth will be used as exchangeable terms in the present document.
The economic dimension of sustainability is related to economic growth, the division of the earnings between the parties involved in the business, the creation of jobs and prosperity in local communities, the policies against corruption, fair pricing, among others (Piecyk et al., 2015). The social dimension implies treating employees and people outside the organization fairly and with respect, respecting human rights, having health and safety policies, providing good working conditions, etc. (Piecyk et al., 2015). Finally, the environmental dimension addresses the actions that can be done to protect the planet and hinder the negative impact to the environment, such as limiting airborne emissions, developing eco-friendly technologies, having solid waste management policies, safeguarding biodiversity, etc. (Narula, 2014; Piecyk et al., 2015)
Companies have gradually started to adopt frameworks like the triple bottom line to achieve sustainable development (Dubey, Gunasekaran, & Papadopoulos, 2017). For instance, the shipping industry is progressively gaining interest to adopt and implement CSR practices.
However, compared to land-based industries that have been leading the development of CSR practices, the role and implementation of sustainable practices in the shipping industry are still limited (Parviainen et al., 2018).
Companies’ motivations or drivers to embrace CSR practices are categorized in: I.
Value-driven CSR which is when CSR is an extension of the corporate culture and values.
Employee’s loyalty and motivation is said to be higher in companies with strong sustainability programs (Whelan & Fink, 2016). II. Performance-driven CSR, which is when CSR is implemented as a means to improve economic performance and the competitive position of the
15 firm; and III. Stakeholder-driven CSR, in which the implementation of CSR is a result of the pressure of one or more stakeholders(Piecyk et al., 2015).
The motivations to adopt sustainable practices in the shipping industry are perceived to be on one hand, stakeholder-driven, in the sense that companies are looking to comply with the new regulations and pressures to move towards sustainability (DNV-GL, 2018a; Parviainen et al., 2018), and in the other hand, performance-driven, since shipping firms hope to gain competitive advantage and efficiency as a result of the environmental practices’ implementation (Parviainen et al., 2018).
Although companies play an important role in the pursuit of sustainability (Piecyk et al., 2015), they are “one of the many wheels of sustainability” (Shrivastava, 1995, p. 937).
Consumers, authorities, academia and NGO’s are also responsible for sustainable development (see Figure 2).
Figure 2 Actors and their roles in sustainable development. Adapted from (Petrică & Gabriel, 2018; Piecyk et al., 2015, p. 109)
The roles and contributions of each one of the actors to sustainability are different. The authorities or governments are responsible for establishing and enforcing laws, regulations, and policies, and allocating funds and resources for sustainable development (Petrică & Gabriel, 2018). Consumers create or change the demand for products are services based on their choices and consumption level (Piecyk et al., 2015; Shrivastava, 1995). The academia contributes by performing scientific research in the domain and by spreading and making accessible the
Actors in sustainable development
Authorities:
Set rules and regulations.
Consumers:
Create the demand
Academia:
Create and spreads knowledge
NGO's: exposes corruption and environmental
issues
Businesses:
Impact environment and
society
16 knowledge related to sustainability (Petrică & Gabriel, 2018). NGO’s play a surveillance role, they put pressure on corporations and governments to pursue sustainable development (Petrică
& Gabriel, 2018). And companies or businesses impact the environment and society with their daily operations (Piecyk et al., 2015).
The scope of this thesis is limited to the role of businesses, particularly shipping companies, in sustainability, including how they implement CSR practices in their businesses and how they cooperate and are influenced by other stakeholders to pursue sustainability.
The transition to sustainability requires that firms adopt a long-term vision (Narula, 2014), and adapt traditional management practices and philosophies to incorporate the concept of sustainability. The evolution of Supply Chain Management (SCM) into Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) and Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) is a good example of how firms are adding the guiding philosophies of sustainability to their management practices (Dubey et al., 2017).
2.1.1. Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM)
The concept of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) emerged from the external pressures that companies have experienced over the years, forcing them to design supply chains that combine the traditional management objectives of cutting costs and offering better service with the environmental dimensions of sustainability (Dubey et al., 2017).
GSCM is defined as the integration of “environmental thinking into supply-chain management” (Srivastava, 2007, pp. 54-55). It is an organization philosophy (Dubey et al., 2017), a “form of environmental management” where companies develop initiatives to tackle environmental concerns in their businesses while involving their supply chain partners in the process (Caniëls et al., 2016, p. 1005). It is a result of on the companies’ acknowledgement
17 that the impact of their environmental print goes beyond their corporate limits” (Piecyk et al., 2015).
The scope of GSCM goes from monitoring the environment management programmes to proactively execute green practices such us “Reduce, Re-use, Rework, Refurbish, Reclaim, Recycle, Remanufacture, Reverse logistics, etc.” (Srivastava, 2007, p. 54).
Figure 3 Classification of GSCM. Source: (Srivastava, 2007, p. 57)
Srivastava, S. K. (2007) subcategorized the literature on GSCM into the importance of GSCM, green design and green operations. For the purpose of having a visual and simplistic picture of the scope of GSCM, the researcher has decided to focus only on green design and green operations, which are the two aspects that show best the activities and practices within GSCM (see Figure 3).
Green design, on one hand, aims to design and produce products and services that are compatible with its environment and have a low environmental impact (Glantschnig, 1994;
Srivastava, 2007). It includes both the term of environmentally conscious design (ECD), which is a design approach that intends to produce “a product whose aggregate environmental impact across the life cycle is as small as possible without compromising quality, cost, performance, and production feasibility” (Huang, Zhang, Liu, & Sutherland, 2011, p. 422), and Life-Cycle
GSCM
Green design
Environmental conscious design (ECD)
Life-cycle assessment
(LCA)
Green operations
Green manufacturing
and re- manufacturing
Reverse logistic s &
network design
Waste management
18 Assessment (LCA), which is the process of assessing all environmental burdens of a product at each stage of its life cycle (Srivastava, 2007). These two concepts are interrelated and complement each other.
In relation to green design, the shipping industry has been developing technical improvements, such us: the design and production of more efficient hulls, engines, and propulsion systems (Chang & Danao, 2017), that contribute to reducing both the fuel consumption and emissions (Narula, 2014). The shipbuilding industry has been playing an important role in the development of green design projects in shipping, and they, together with shipping firms, have been working hand in hand in designing and building eco-friendly vessels that reduce fuel consumption and comply with the environmental standards (Lee & Nam, 2017) On the other hand, green operations focus on having a cost-efficient and productive daily operation that has a low impact on the environment and that helps to achieve and maintain sustainability (Fernando & Wah, 2016). They encompass “all operational aspects related to reverse logistics (RL), network design, green manufacturing, re-manufacturing, and waste management” (Srivastava, 2007, p. 56). First, reverse logistics and network design refer to the process of redesigning logistics networks to integrate RL activities, such as product recovery, re-use, and re-manufacturing, to the organization (Srivastava, 2007). An example of network design to integrate RL in shipping is the return of empty containers, which is an operation that involves several actors in the processes of recovering, storing and distributing of containers that are later repaired or refurbish in order to be repositioned for future use (De Brito & Konings, 2006).
The second area of green operation is green manufacturing and re-manufacturing. These are techniques that aim to reduce the consumption of energy and raw materials in the production
19 process by recovering products and materials, doing inventory management and production planning, recycling, reusing, and remanufacturing (Srivastava, 2007).
The third area of green operations is waste management which focuses on minimizing waste disposal and preventing pollution from the source by reducing the creation of waste (Srivastava, 2007). Examples of waste management in shipping are mainly related to recycling of containers, ship scrapping and marine debris (World Shipping Council, 2019). Maersk, for example, has a vessel recycling policy and to minimize the harm to the environment the vessels need to be meticulously checked to verify that ships are free of oil and other hazardous substances before delivering it to the recycling yard (Lai, Lun, Wong, & Cheng, 2011).
In order to have an environmentally sustainable industry in the near future, the shipping industry needs innovations related to green design, green operations and the development of new technologies that allow the industry to optimize shipping operations and comply with the international regulations while reducing their environmental footprint (Narula, 2014). This leads us to another relevant topic for this thesis, namely GSP.
2.1.2. Green shipping practices (GSP):
The adoption of sustainable practices is essential for the endurance of the shipping industry over time (Narula, 2014). Shipping firms are expected to adopt green practices and have environmentally-friendly systems and processes, so, embracing GSPs is the transition to it (Lun et al., 2016a).
The concept of Green Shipping Practices (GSP) is described as environmental management practices adopted by shipping firms, that focuses primary, but not exclusively, on the reduction of waste and pollutants generated during operations (Lai et al., 2011), and the efficient use of the resources and energy needed to handle and transport goods and people by
20 sea in a sustainable way (Lee & Nam, 2017; Lun, Lai, Wong, & Cheng, 2016b). Some examples of these practices are using alternative fuels, optimizing shipping routes considering its carbon footprint, digitalizing the document handling, using environmentally-friendly paint, etc. (Lai et al., 2011; Lam & Lai, 2015).
It is important to highlight that the scope of GSP is for the entire business, not only for the operational side of the business (Chang & Danao, 2017). Lai et al. (2011) classified the implementation of GSPs in shipping firms into six dimensions:
- Company policies and procedures: is related to the firm’s vision and goals of sustainability and the support system around it. It includes, for example, having ISO 14001 certification, environmental protection policies, management systems that support GSPs, etc. (Lun et al., 2016b).
- Shipping documentation: is related to all the documentation that is generated or needed in the shipping operation and the possibilities of handling it electronically.
- Shipping equipment: is about using eco-friendly equipment and facilities, such as eco- friendly containers, using battery technology to power the ships, designing more efficient ship hulls, etc.
- Shipper’s cooperation on environmental objectives. For example, the fertilizer company Yara is working together with Kongsberg Maritime and Wilhelmsen Group to develop the first zero-emission autonomous ship (Pierce, 2018).
- Shipping materials: refers to recover used shipping resources and improving its design to ease recovering or disassembling procedures.
- Shipping design and compliance: is related to minimizing the life-cycle environmental damage of the activities and complying with the environmental regulations. It includes, for example, ship route optimization, waste recycling, (Lai et al., 2011).
21 These dimensions of GSPs allows to conceptualize the notion of GSPs and evidence the integrative nature of GSPs as they require cross-functional cooperation in the organization (Lai et al., 2011). The dimensions can be used by shipping firms to recognize areas of improvement in their business to achieve greener operations and gain productivity benefits (Lun et al., 2016b).
As a response to the current environmental challenges in the shipping industry and in an attempt to do business in a more environmentally-friendly manner, many companies have started to embrace GSPs (Lai et al., 2011; Lam & Lai, 2015). Showing that the shipping industry is gradually recognizing GSPs as a relevant management approach to decrease the environmental footprint of its operations (Lun et al., 2016b).
However, companies are still facing challenges to adopt GSP and having green operations, such as: figuring how to be profitable while minimizing the environmental impact from their operations,lacking knowledge and resources, and the absence of incentives to justify the investments (Lam & Lai, 2015; Lun et al., 2016a).
Meeting environmental requirements related, for example, to SOx, NOx, CO2 and PM emissions can be costly for a company (Schroders, 2015). Most of the solutions include modifications, conversions or investing in new vessels, scenarios that request a considerable amount of investment (Wikborg Rein, 2018) and companies need to be sure that these investments pay off.
There are, for instance, several Norwegian cruise companies that have invested in new builds powered with LNG to cut emissions (Darr, 2019; Strang, 2019; Svensen, 2019), but recently, the government of Norway has adopted a resolution to have zero emissions from cruises and ferries in the World Heritage Fjords by 2026 (NCE Maritime CleanTech, 2018).
Meaning that these LNG vessels fuelled will be ban from these areas where they operate
22 (Strang, 2019) and that most likely the return on the investment will not be what they were expecting.
Some additional limitations to the use of sustainable practices are that some activities can be perceived as greenwashing1, that there is not an extended understanding of the benefits that might arise from CSR practices in the companies, and that shipping companies tend to implement or projects that have short payback periods, although these projects tend to create value in the long term (Parviainen et al., 2018).
How to measure GSPs:
Part of greening the business is being able to prove that the company is improving its environmental performance. Indicators like CO2 emissions rate, energy usage, recycling rate, among others, are used to measure the environmental performance a firm (Lun et al., 2015).
There are several studies on environmental performance measurement that analyse or develop key performance measures in green supply chains (Ahi & Searcy, 2015; Dragomir, 2018; Kafa, Hani, & El Mhamedi, 2013). In relation to the shipping industry, there have been some studies evaluating environmental performance and firm performance (Cheon, Maltz, &
Dooley, 2017; Ching-Chiao, 2012; Lun et al., 2015).
One tool used to measure and control environmental policies in organizations is the Environmental Management System (EMS). EMS is defined as a systematic approach that incorporates environmental management practices in a company’s “procedures and processes for the training of personnel, monitoring, summarizing, and reporting of specialized
1 Green-washing: “Disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image”(Oxford Dictionary, 2019).
23 environmental performance information to internal and external stakeholders of the firm”
(Sroufe, 2003, p. 426). It helps companies to meet their environmental goals by reviewing, measuring, evaluating and improving their environmental performance, and controlling environmental matters in a holistic way (EPA, 2017; ISO, 2015).
The standards for an efficient EMS are set in the ISO 14001. It requires that all significant environmental aspects linked with the firm’s operations are taken into consideration (ISO, 2015). The firm must monitor, measure and document its performance in relation to its environmental aspects (Kausek, 2006). ISO 14001 provides the guidelines to control and monitor the firm’s environmental performance but the organization itself is the one that sets the targets and defines the measurements that will be used for controlling purposes. According to Kausek (2006), defining meaningful and comparable metrics is one of the most difficult steps of developing an effective EMS.
An efficient EMS can lead to better performance and to more efficient compliance of environmental regulations (Sroufe, 2003). According to ISO (2015), having an EMS can benefit the firm by improving the firm’s reputation, gaining the trust of its stakeholders, validating the firm compliance with rules and regulations, reducing costs and improving efficiency, accomplishing strategic business goals, among others. Many companies consider EMS to be a relevant factor to gain competitive advantage. However, it is also perceived as a solution that requires high amounts of capital invested to be an environment-friendly business (Chang & Danao, 2017).
Another tool that can be used to measure GSPs is the Greening and Performance Relativity (GPR) score that was developed by Lun et al. (2015). It is a tool that “establishes the relationships between GSPs and firm performance” and asses a firm’s greening capability by scoring its efficiency to transform inputs (GSPs) into outputs (performance) (Lun et al., 2015,
24 pp. 296-297). Although it a tool that can be useful, it needs to be further developed and consider long-term variables.
One of the many challenges in measuring GSPs is to have consistent performance measures along the supply chain. Implementing GSPs require in many cases to collaborate with other firms and as stakeholders tend to focus on the performance areas of their greatest interest, the cooperation with other stakeholders to define a common way to measure performance is key to implement GSPs effectively (Lun et al., 2016b).
2.2. Stakeholder Theory
The stakeholder theory emerged in the 1980s. It is an “approach to understanding a firm as embedded in a network of internal and external stakeholders that each make contributions and expect considerations in return” (Rothaermel, 2017, p. 160). It provides a framework to study the stakeholders’ influence on a firm practices, its behaviours, and attitudes (Donaldson & Preston, 1995).
Stakeholders are people, organizations or groups that have a stake or interest in “the performance and continued survival” of a company (Rothaermel, 2017, p. 14). They can be classified in primary stakeholders that have a formal relationship with the company, such as employees, shareholders, suppliers, governmental institutions and customers; and secondary or non-financial stakeholders, who have indirect relationship with the firm, such as NGOs, local communities, associations and media, and are becoming more prominent in terms of evaluating the companies’ social and ecological impacts (Parviainen et al., 2018).
The stakeholder theory is related to the triple-bottom-line framework of sustainability.
In the triple-bottom-line approach, a measure of the company’s performance is the “company’s fulfilment of its social and ecological obligations to stakeholders” (Rothaermel, 2017, p. 160).
25 According to Piecyk et al. (2015), stakeholderscan improve a firm’s CSR performance but can also affect it. Therefore, it is important to understand the stakeholders’ needs and have a stakeholder strategy in place to “manage the stakeholders effectively in order to gain and sustain competitive advantage” (Rothaermel, 2017, p. 14). Regular dialogue and interaction with stakeholders allow sustainable businesses to create shared value and to be in a better position to anticipate and react to changes (Whelan & Fink, 2016).
In relation to shipping, the literature describes four internal and external forces that influence a firm to adopt GSP (see Figure 4), these are: i. Compliance of regulations imposed by the governments and international entities; ii. Industrial norms or standards set by organizations like shipowner associations; iii. Customer requests for green products and services; iv. The environmental strategy of the company; and v. Business partners (Chang &
Danao, 2017; Lun et al., 2016a).
Figure 4 Drivers influencing the adoption of GSP. Source: Adaption from (Chang & Danao, 2017, p. 4; Lun et al., 2016a, p. 7)
An example of how customers and business partners can influence the adoption of GSP is the Clean Cargo initiative, which is a business-to-business initiative that brings together shippers (e.g. BMW, H&M and Ikea), carriers (e.g. APL, MSC and Maersk) and freight forwarders (e.g. Damco, DHL and DB Schenker). It aims to have “a shipping industry that is a
GSP drivers Industrial norms
Customer request
Regulations compliance
Firm's own environmental
strategy
Business partners
26 responsible part of sustainable supply chains and that supports clean oceans, healthy port communities, and global climate goals” (Clean Cargo, 2018; Lun et al., 2016a).
According to Lun et al. (2016a), the pressure from customers, business partners and regulatory bodies have a positive impact on the firms’ adoption of GSPs, and companies that implement GSPs to a greater extent than its competitors will outperform them. Similarly, Chang and Danao (2017) also recognized customers and institutionalized associations (e.g.
shipowners’ association) as stakeholders that motivate companies to implement GSP, but in addition, said that companies do it as a strategy to improve their image (Chang & Danao, 2017).
2.1.Competitive Advantage Theory
The concept of competitive advantage has military origins (Wang, 2014) and is a central topic in strategic management (Wang, 2014). Competitive advantage is a firm’s superior performance in relation to its competitors in the industry (Porter, 1985). Because a competitive advantage is assessed using a benchmark, it is “always relative” (Rothaermel, 2017).
A firm is considered to have a competitive advantage “when it is able to create more economic value than its rivals” by either reducing cost or increasing revenues (Rothaermel, 2017, p. 167). Companies develop or acquire attributes that allow them to outperform their competitors and obtain a competitive advantage (Wang, 2014).
When a firm is able to maintain a superior performance than its competitors for the long term, it has a sustainable competitive advantage. When a firm performs on par with two or more of its competitors, they have competitive parity. Lastly, when a firm regularly underperforms its competitors, it has a competitive disadvantage (Rothaermel, 2017).
Porter (1985) identified three generic strategies that a company can use to gain a sustainable competitive advantage: cost leadership, differentiation and focus (Eldring, 2009).
27
Competitive scope Broad target
Cost Leadership Differentiation
Narrow target
Cost Focus Focus Differentiation
Cost Differentiation
Competitive advantage Figure 5. Porter's typology and generic strategies. Source (Porter, 1985)
The cost leadership strategy is about becoming a low-cost producer - of normally standardized products - by, for example, pursuing economies of scale or having the lowest overhead costs.The differentiation strategy is about being unique and creating superior value for the clients in a way that they are eager to pay extra – a price premium. And, the focus strategy is about aiming for a narrow target, a niche, with a focus on either cost or differentiation (Eldring, 2009).
According to Wang (2014), some of the main theories that ground the study of competitive advantage are:
1. The market-based view (MBV) of strategy: argues that the primary determining factors of firm performance are the industry structure, and the firm’s position and bargain power in the market (Wang, 2014). Two renowned theories related to MBV are the Structure- Conduct-Performance (SCP) framework, which describes how the industry structure affects the firm’s behaviour and performance, and Porter’s five forces model that reveals the industry conditions and relevant aspects of the competitive environment (Porter, 2008; Wang, 2014).
2. The resource-based view – RBV: suggests that the company’s set of unique resources (tangible and intangible) and capabilities create core competencies that lead to
28 competitive advantage (Rothaermel, 2017; Wang, 2014). According to Rothaermel (2017), it is more likely that competitive advantage arises from intangible resources (e.g. culture, knowledge, reputation, etc.) than from tangible (e.g. equipment, buildings, land, capital, etc.).
3. The knowledge-based view - KBV: suggests that knowledge (information and know- how) is the most important and valuable resource in a firm, and a key driver of superior performance (Wang, 2014).
Knowledge is also an essential element in the process of innovation, and innovation helps companies to gain an advantage over their rivals (Urbancova, 2013).
4. The capability-based view: suggests that resources as the source of capabilities, and capabilities are the determinants of competitive advantage (Wang, 2014).
5. The relational view of strategy: suggest that networks and relationship with other companies may be a source competitive advantage, and advantages can be “created through investments in special assets among firms, sharing knowledge, complementary resources, and building effective governance mechanisms” (Kobayashi, 2014, p. 78).
There is a diversity of views of the factors that affect a firm’s superior performance and that are likely to be a source of competitive advantage.
Some potential areas that individually or combined can generate a competitive advantage in a company are: “reputation for quality, good management, strong financial resources, customer orientation, technical superiority, segmentation focus, market share, knowledge of the business, pioneer in the industry, strong market image, and research and development capability” (Reider, 2015, p. 66).
Innovation also contributes to gaining a competitive advantage (Tidd & Bessant, 2013;
Urbancova, 2013). Innovation is one important source of sustainable competitive advantage
29 (Martín-de Castro, Delgado-Verde, Navas-López, & Cruz-González, 2013). Inimitable skills and abilities that emerge from innovation influence competitiveness (Urbancova, 2013).
Innovation leads to value creation, continuous improvement, growth and perdurability (Martín- de Castro et al., 2013). According to (Urbancova, 2013), for companies to persist over time it is important that they adopt an innovative approach.
In fact, in the maritime industry innovation plays an important role as it is one of the few sources of competitive advantage (Santiago, 2017). According to (Tidd & Bessant, 2013), typically the companies that gain market share and are more successful are those that are innovative. However, the advantages of innovations fade away once competitors imitate them.
So, it is important that companies are “able to move into further innovation” (Tidd & Bessant, 2013, p. 62). One of the ways of creating and sustaining a firm's competitive advantage is developing continuous technological innovations (Martín-de Castro et al., 2013).
In addition to the already mentioned possible sources of competitive advantage, green and sustainable practices can also contribute to gain a competitive advantage. According to Dubey et al. (2017), considering the theoretical link between a firm’s performance and competitive advantage, GSCM and SSCM practices can be a source of competitive advantage.
By adopting green practices and having proactive environmental strategies, companies might benefit from an increase in revenues and gain competitive advantage (Caniëls et al., 2016). For many shipping companies, having greener operations has become a competitive priority (Lun et al., 2015).
Economic opportunities can emerge from green practices by selling waste products and materials, using the environmental expertise and know-how to counsel other firms, reducing the cost of raw materials, etc. (Caniëls et al., 2016). Piecyk et al. (2015) mention that there are many “green-gold” measures that help companies to reduce their environmental impact while
30 saving money. An example is eco-friendly vessels, which have been recognized as a competitive advantage for many shipping companies as they help to be energy efficient and avoid fines and taxes (Lee & Nam, 2017).
2.2. Innovation
Innovation is ideas, products, processes or practices that, according to Schumpeter, may be originated by scientific discoveries or existing technologies that are applied to a brand-new context (Urbancova, 2013). What defines innovation is the perception of “newness” that an individual or a unit of adoption gets from it, which then determines their reaction to it (Rogers, 2003).
There are five perceived attributes or characteristics of innovations that “help to explain their different rates of adoption” (Rogers, 2003, p. 12):
a. Relative advantage: the degree to which an innovation is perceived by the individual as advantageous, better than the idea it replaces. The biggest the advantage, the more rapid is the adoption rate.
b. Compatibility: the degree to which an innovation is perceived as compatible with the values, norms, experiences and needs of potential adopters. The more compatible the idea, the more rapid the adoption rate.
c. Complexity: is whether the innovation is perceived as easy or difficult to understand and use by the adopters. The innovations that require to develop new skills and understanding are adopted more slowly than those that are simpler to understand.
d. Trialability: the degree to which an innovation can be tried on a limited basis. A triable innovation signifies less uncertainty for the adopter, so they are likely to have a faster adoption rate.
31 e. Observability: is related to how easy it is to individuals to see the results of an innovation. The more visible they are, the more likely that they are adopted (Rogers, 2003, p. 16).
The elaboration and adoption of innovation is a process that happens over time (Tidd &
Bessant, 2013). Innovations that are perceived to as advantageous, compatible, less complex, triable and visible will have a more rapid the adoption rate (Rogers, 2003).
CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The previous sections approach the “what” of the thesis, describing the focus of the thesis and the topics that will be studied. This section will now focus on the “how”, addressing how the research will be conducted.
When selecting a research method for this thesis the researcher encountered several approaches to research design and research strategies. On one hand, Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2016) approach the formulation of the research design based on the model of the
“research onion”, where the researcher starts by doing the methodological choice, then selects the research strategies and the time horizon, and finalizes by selecting the methods for data collection and analysis. On the other hand, Bryman (2012) approach this process by selecting the research strategy, then the research design and finalizes with selecting the methods for collecting and analyzing data. Both approaches are based on the same building blocks but have small variations. For this thesis the author base the structure on the approach of Bryman (2012).
This chapter establishes the research methodology that guided the development of this thesis. It is divided into four sections that explain the steps that the researcher followed to address the research questions. The first section presents the research design and strategy used to guide the thesis, together with the description of how the researcher will collect and analyze
32 the data. The second section discusses the ethical considerations of the project. The thirds section covers the topic of validity and reliability of the data.
3.1. Research strategy
The research strategies to conduct social studies are the qualitative and quantitative research method (Bryman, 2012). In qualitative research the goal is to “understand behavior and institutions by getting to know the persons involved and their values, rituals, symbols, beliefs, and emotions”, while in quantitative research the aim to “falsify, modify, or provide support for existing theory” by analysing the data collected and statistically testing the research hypotheses (Frankfort-Nachmias, Nachmias, & DeWard, 2015, pp. 243, 244).
As can be perceived from the goals of each research strategy, qualitative and quantitative research differ in many ways. On one hand, quantitative research focuses on quantities, measurable factors (Bryman, 2012). It uses mostly tests, scales and surveys - online or in paper- to collect data (Frey, 2018), and presents it in a numeric form (Given, 2008). It uses the process of deduction to approach the relationship between theory and data (Bryman, 2012).
Its ontological and epistemological foundations are the objectivism and positivism, respectively. It embodies the position that social realities are not influenced by the interpretations or experiences of social actors (Saunders et al., 2016).
On the other hand, qualitative research attempts to understand and interpret phenomena based on the perceptions or meanings that people have given to it (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). It uses soft data (textual data) as empirical material (Flick, 2007), and collects its data mainly from interviews, focus groups, observations, and text analysis (Kuper, Reeves, & Levinson, 2008).
33 Contrary to the quantitative research, where based on a theory, a hypothesis is deducted and tested, to later confirm or reject the hypothesis and review the existing theory (Bryman, 2012). The qualitative research uses an inductive approach where the researcher studies a particular topic and from the resultant data draws inferences and generates theoretical propositions (May, 2011).The ontological foundation of qualitative research is constructivism, which understands reality as a social product of social interactions (Flick, 2007).
Considering that the goals of qualitative research are to explore and understand the main concept and come to the meaning (Frankfort-Nachmias et al., 2015), and that this thesis has the purpose to study in depth the concepts of environmental sustainability and green practices in the shipping industry and understand how they might create or strengthen a firm’s competitive advantage, the strategy that fits best this thesis is qualitative research method.
3.2.Research design
A research design is a general plan or overall strategy that guides the researcher to investigate the topic of interest and address the research question(s) (Saunders et al., 2016). It is the “blueprint” that will guide the researcher in the different stages of the research (Frankfort- Nachmias et al., 2015).
When conducting research, there are several types of designs available: experimental design, longitudinal design, case study design, comparative design, and cross-sectional or survey design (Bryman, 2012). However, the research designs that are associated with qualitative research are cross-sectional, longitudinal, case study and comparative.
The cross-sectional design is widely used in survey research and when studies are seeking to describe relationships between variables (Frankfort-Nachmias et al., 2015). In this design, there is more than one case being examined and the study is performed at one point in
34 time (Bryman, 2012). The longitudinal design is used when a sample is surveyed in more than one occasion to study an event over a time lapse that could allow insight related to the changes of variables in time and may derive causal inferences (Bryman, 2012). The case study explores a program, an event, and an activity, a process, or one or more individuals in depth. And finally, the comparative design studies a social phenomenon by comparing to two or more contrasting cases or situations (Bryman, 2012).
The research design that will be used in this thesis is an exploratory multiple case study.
The researcher will attempt to understand and clarify the relationship between the context, the Norwegian shipping industry; and the phenomenon, effect of environmental sustainability initiatives on the firm’s competitive advantage.
An overview of the research design is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6. Phases of the research design. Adapted from Case Study Method (Yin, 2014)
3.2.1. Case description
Norway is one of the leading shipping nations in the world. According to DNV-GL and Menon Economics (2018), Norway shares 4th place with Germany and South Korea as one of the leading countries influencing future international maritime activities. As per the report, Norway’s strengths are mainly related to maritime finance and law (ranking 2nd), and maritime technology (ranking 6th) (DNV-GL & Menon Economics, 2018).
Phase 1 Problem definition
Literature review
Phase 2 Planning &
Methodology
•Select cases
•Designing the questionaire
Phase 3 Conducting the
interviews Collecting secondary information
Phase 4 Data analysis
•Transcription
•Coding
•Write single case report
•Cross-case analysis
35 Norway is a wealthy country with a stable economy and a GDP per capita of $64.179 (EPI, 2018). In relation to Norway’s financial system, the Oslo Stock Exchange is the major European securities marketplace for the shipping industry (DNV-GL & Menon Economics, 2018). The Norwegian maritime cluster consists of major maritime related organizations with strong maritime knowledge and expertise, including shipowners, yards, ports, brokers, universities, financial and insurance institutions, law firms, etc. For instance, the headquarters of the world’s leading classification society -DNV GL- and one of the leading banks financing the shipping industry -DNB Bank- are located in Norway (DNV-GL & Menon Economics, 2018). This shows that the country is home of key players in the global maritime industry.
As a nation, Norway has ambitious environmental goals (NFD, 2015). The country ranks 14th in the Environmental Performance Index, showing that the country is investing to protect its ecosystems and its inhabitants’ health (EPI, 2018). As per the EPI report, there is a correlation between the countries’ wealth and their performance, meaning that countries like Norway can achieve their sustainability goals largely thanks to their financial prosperity.
The Norwegian Government has several programs to support environmental projects in the shipping industry, such as: ENOVA, a program that supports individual businesses to develop green solutions – such as on-shore charging stations- with financial contributions and consultancy (NFD, 2015); and the Maritime Activities and Offshore Operations program (MAROFF), which supports “research and development activities that help to increase value creation in the maritime industry within a sustainable framework”. (MAROFF, 2017, p. 7). In addition, there are other alternatives through Innovation Norge and the Research Council of Norway that offer support and funding for green innovations and projects in the maritime industry.
36 Some examples of the efforts from the industry and the government to develop projects for a greener future are: the world’s first fully electrical ferry - MF “Ampere” - was designed and built in Norway; the world’s first ferry fuelled with LNG -MF “Glutra”- was also Norwegian; and 95% of the first 50 LNG powered vessels that were ever built were Norwegian (Innovation Norway, n.d.; Mauren, 2017). These cases also show how the Norwegian maritime industry has been a first mover in green innovation projects.
The financial conditions, technological developments, governmental programs, and the competences of the Norwegian maritime industry makes it an interesting environment for companies to develop sustainable initiatives, which is why the maritime industry in Norway has been selected as the context for the case study.
The units of analysis of this case are ship-owning companies located in Norway. The case study includes multiple cases from which the researcher will examine the aspects related to environmental sustainability processes practices. There were seven cases of selected for the study, each one is described lines below and summarized in Table 1.
Company A, located in Oslo, is part of a large family-owned investment company involved in investments in different industries. The company owns and manages a diverse fleet of 12 vessels that includes oil tankers, LNG carriers, container vessels and offshore service vessels.
Company B is an offshore company located in the Hordaland county and listed on the Oslo stock exchange. The company owns a fleet of 32 vessels that include seismic vessels, platform supply vessels, and subsea vessels.
Company C is a privately-owned company located in Lysaker that owns and operates vessels for harbour duties, offshore support, salvage and emergency response.
37 Company D is a private company, listed on the Oslo stock exchange, with headquarters in the Oslo area. Its main activities are related to the transport of vehicles and break-bulk. The company owns a fleet of Ro/Ro vessels.
Company E, with headquarters in Oslo, is a short-sea shipping line that owns and operates cruises and passenger ferries. The company is owned by a limited company, which is indirectly owned by a Norwegian family.
Company F is a family-owned maritime company located in Bergen. The firm owns and operates chemical tankers and dry bulk carriers (open hatch).
Company G is located in Oslo and listed on the Oslo stock exchange. Provides transportation, storage, regasification and terminal solutions in the LNG segment.
Table 1. Profile of the companies
Company Location Market/Segment Private/Family
ownership
Size A Oslo area Owns and manages a diverse fleet of
crude oil and product tankers, container vessels and offshore service vessels.
Shipping distances: Large distances (Intercontinental routes)
Family Medium
B Hordaland county
Offshore and subsea. Owns and operates seismic vessels, supply ships and subsea vessels.
Shipping distances: diverse fleet, some vessels sail large and others only short distances
Private Large
C Oslo area Owns and operates vessels for harbour duties, offshore support, salvage and emergency response.
Shipping distances: Short distances
Private Large
D Oslo area Owns and operated deep-sea vessels for vehicle and break-bulk transport.
Shipping distances: Large distances (Intercontinental routes)
Private Large
38 E Oslo area Short sea: owns and operates cruise and
passenger ferries.
Shipping distances: Short distances
Family Large
F Bergen Dry bulk and chemical transportation.
Shipping distances: Large distances (Intercontinental routes)
Family Medium
G Oslo area Offers transportation, storage and regasification of LNG.
Shipping distances: Large distances (Intercontinental routes)
Private Large
Note: It was defined that companies with 1-20 employees are small, companies with 21-100 employees are medium, and companies with over 100 employees are considered large.
3.2.2. Data collection
As mention in the previous section, in qualitative research, the most common methods used to collect information are interviews, focus groups, observations, and text analysis (Kuper, Reeves, & Levinson, 2008). In this thesis, semi-structured interviews were conducted as the method of primary data. The researcher posed open questions to the interviewees to express more information about the topic.
Interviews provide rich information about people’s experiences, ideas, opinions, values, etc. (May, 2011). The dynamic in an interview is that the interviewer poses questions to the informants in a way that a discussion is created around a particular topic, encouraging the interviewees to share their experiences, insights, and opinions (Moser & Korstjens, 2018).
Semi-structured interviews allow the researcher to ask the interviewee to clarify or elaborate on the answers given (May, 2011).
By conducting semi-structured interviews, the researcher expected to obtain rich information to answer the research problem by understanding and decoding the meanings that the participants have given to the topics. The information collected from the interviews was analysed to understand if there are any commonalities between green shipping practices and the competitive advantage.
39 The sampling design and the specifications of the interview guide are described in the following two sections.
3.2.2.1.Sample
The population considered for the present thesis is shipping companies with offices in Norway that owns and/or operates ships. The researcher used a list of the members of the Norwegian Shipowner’s Association to define the samples units. Each one of the 141 companies listed was reviewed to corroborate, in the first place, that they still existed and to check the type of business activity that they developed to be able to categorize them later on.
The present research uses a non-probability sample design, which is used when it is not possible to identify the probability at which each sample unit will be included in the sample (Frankfort-Nachmias et al., 2015), and a deliberate sampling is performed. Among the non- probability sample design, there are several sampling strategies, such us: Criterion sampling, convenience sampling, snowball sampling, purposive sampling, and theoretical sampling (Moser & Korstjens, 2018).
In criterion sampling, the participants are selected because they have a common experience with a phenomenon (Moser & Korstjens, 2018). A purposive sample is about selecting participants or cases with rich information about the central topic of the research (Coyne, 1997). In convenience sampling, the samples are selected because they are conveniently available due to their accessibility, geographical proximity, willingness to participate, etc. (Etikan, Musa, & Alkassim, 2015; Frankfort-Nachmias et al., 2015). Snowball sampling is normally used when the researcher is handling with populations that are hard to reach (Srivastava, 2007). The strategy is that the researcher asks the existing sample units to name or refer new sample units, then asks to the new sample units for referrals, and the process continues until the sample is representative enough (Goodman, 1961). Finally, theoretical
40 sampling is based on collecting, coding and analysing data from the start and use the emerging findings and categories as a directive to know what data should be collected next (Coyne, 1997).
Through constant comparison and analysis of the data, the researcher selects the participants and ensures that there is adequate representativeness of the concepts (Moser & Korstjens, 2018).
Understanding that the selection of the research sample will have “a profound effect on the ultimate quality of the research” (Coyne, 1997, p. 623), the sampling strategy selected for this thesis was a purposive sample.
The initial selection of the samples was based on the following criteria: a) The companies are Norwegian shipowners; b) they should, if possible, have business, in different segments of the industry; c) include companies of different sizes; and d) the informants should have knowledge and insights about the subject of study and have the intention to share their experiences and perceptions with the researcher (Moser & Korstjens, 2018). Therefore, it is relevant that the participants are in a managerial position or in the CSR/sustainability department as they must be familiar with the firm’s environmental projects and initiatives. The criteria were verified with information from corporate websites, the LinkedIn company’s profile, annual reports, association websites and articles. The initial sample list was reduced to 73 companies.
In the second phase of the selection of the samples, the researcher contacted by phone several companies to ask if they would like to participate in the interviews and if they could confirm who was the person responsible for green projects within the company. In many cases, the name of the person was not revealed and an email with the specifications of the interview was required in order to confirm if they could participate or not in the interview. A telephone conversation with the informants of the companies that agreed to participate was conducted to
41 check the informant’s relation with the topic. Finally, a sample of 7 companies agreed to participate in the interviews. The informants’ profiles are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Informants' profiles Informant
- Company
Informant’s position Gender Native Language
Meeting
A Technical director Male Norwegian Face-to-face
B Technical manager & head of procurement
Male Norwegian Telephone
C HSEQ-Manager Male Norwegian Telephone
D VP global head of sustainability Male English Face-to-face E SVP marine & technical Male Norwegian Face-to-face
F Senior project manager Male Norwegian Telephone
G Vice president QA & risk management
Male Norwegian Face-to-face Note: The abbreviations stand for: Vice President (VP), Senior Vice President (SVP), Health, Safety, Environment, & Quality (HSEQ), and Quality Assurance (QA)
3.2.2.2. Instrument: Interview guide
The interview guide was written as a guide for the researcher to add some structure for comparability and assure that the questions are aligned with the topic and the research. Despite the fact the interview is semi-structured, the flow of the interview will depend in large extent on the interviewee’s answers (Moser & Korstjens, 2018). It is of great importance to have a clear guide that allows the researcher to have a clear overview of the interview and to cover all the relevant topics.
The interview questions will cover the perceptions and experiences of the company and their thoughts about the topic for the industry in general. Through the questions that will be asked the researcher wants to put in evidence the company’s approach to sustainability and green shipping, their motivations to adopt GSPs, how they measure GSPs, and the results or effects that the GSPs or sustainable projects have had on their organizations.
