國際貨櫃航運業經營管理之研究-以A公司為例的個案研究

Abstract

國際貨櫃運輸已成為全球最重要的貨物運輸方式，其發展帶動全球化的趨勢，改變二十世紀後期人類的生活型態與品質。然而，近幾年國際貨櫃航運業的市場持續呈現在國際油價波動、船舶大型化、供過於求、運價低迷等現象，貨櫃航運公司紛紛透過整併或重組策略聯盟的方式，進行艙位互換、出租與共同派船來降低營運成本和提高營運效率，並增加市場佔有率與競爭力，其經營之管理非常競爭且複雜。目前從實務角度去探討國際貨櫃航運業經營管理之相關文獻及研究報告甚少。 本研究經由相關文獻探討暨分析，透過企業的業務架構理論及經營管理理論，提出國際貨櫃航運業之經營管理，應該包括營運、服務和資訊三大主要構面。再根據本研究所提出的架構，進一步研究相關的衡量方式與操作性變數，提出各個子構面，即營運包括：航線、市場、成本及績效；服務包括：品質(水準)、承諾、創新及評價；資訊則包括：全球性、創新性、變異性及應變性。 在實證研究方面採個案研究法，選擇在此產業經營將近50年且年年的經營利潤皆優於前幾大主要同業的平均的A國際貨櫃航運公司作為單一研究對象。並驗證得知營運、服務與資訊三構面確實支撐著國際貨櫃航運業的經營管理，其之間的關聯性是相輔相成且缺一不可的。此外，在本研究的過程中，發現顧客服務佔國際貨櫃航運業的整個業務超過一半以上，顧客服務的好壞直接影響顧客滿意、顧客忠誠度及公司經營績效。而今，顧客服務常被解釋為「容易做生意」或是「注意顧客需求」。因此，我們可以進一步印證，國際貨櫃航運業應該朝著「全面自動化」及「全面客戶需求」來達成顧客滿意，才能在此業內經營地長久，並保有競爭優勢。 國際貨櫃航運業因交易量大且日常業務處理繁複並具專業技術等特性，其在資訊技術的應用上一直是超前於其他相關的供應鏈，但隨著大數據、人工智能、互聯網、區塊鏈等新資訊技術的發展，航運業的商業模式正以多種方式在變革中，除了同行間（併購及聯盟)的競爭壓力之外，亦有其他外來競爭者的威脅已經開始涉獵海運電商服務平台。未來國際貨櫃航運的專門知識及技術的優勢將會被資訊技術之發展運用取代，而未來的經營模式應由資訊技術來領導。資訊大戰可能顛覆此產業的經營管理！

International container transport has become the most important cargo transportation mode in the world. Its development has driven the trend of globalization and also changed the human life style and quality in the late 20th century. However, in recent years, the international container shipping industry market has continued to show fluctuations in international oil prices, large-scale ships, oversupply, and low freight rates. Container shipping companies have used interchangeable or restructured strategic carrier alliances to carry out space swaps or jointly services to reduce operating costs and improve operational efficiency, market share and market competitiveness, hence the business management is very competitive and complicated. At present, there is not much practice in the relevant literature and research reports on the operation and management of the international container shipping industry. After reviewing the related literature, this research proposes that the operation and management of the international container shipping industry should include: Operation, Service, and Information. Based on the study framework and verification of the example, we further propose the secondary key factors for each, i.e. Operation: Trade, Market, Cost and Performance; Service: Quality, Commitment, Innovation and Evaluation; Information: Globalization, Innovative, Variability and Adaptability. In addition, during the research process, it was found that Customer Service accounted for more than half of the total business of the international container shipping industry. Customer Service has a direct impact on customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and company operating performance. Today, Customer Service is often interpreted as 'Easy to do business' or 'Concerned about customer needs'. As a result, we should achieve customer satisfaction through comprehensive 'Automation and Customer Needs' to maintain the long-term business presence and competitive advantage of the industry. The international container shipping industry has been ahead of other relevant supply chains in the application of information technology because of the large volume of transactions and the complexity of daily operation processing and know-how. However, with the development of new information technologies such as Big Data, AI, Internet and Blockchain, the business model of the shipping industry is changing in many ways. Apart from the competitive pressures among peers (mergers and alliances), there are also threats from other external competitors that have begun to sneak into the maritime e-commerce service platform. In the future, the advantages of international container shipping industry’s expertise and technology will be replaced by the development of information technology. Future business models should be led by information technology. Information warfare may subvert the operation and management of this industry!