Title: Measures for evaluating green shipping practices implementation

Authors: Kee-Hung Lai; Y.H. Venus Lun; Christina W.Y. Wong; T.C.E. Cheng

Addresses: Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong ' Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong ' Business Division, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong ' Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract: Despite the need for environmental management in shipping, there is no extant measurement scale that comprehensively captures green shipping practices (GSP) in shipping operations. In view of this research void, we investigate the construct of and develop a measurement scale for evaluating GSP implementation in the shipping industry. Based on conceptualisation of GSP in an earlier study and survey data collected from 107 shipping firms, we develop, refine, and test a six-dimensional GSP measurement scale specifically for evaluating GSP implementation in the sea transportation context. The six GSP dimensions include company policy and procedure (CPP), shipping documentation (SD), shipping equipment (SE), shipper cooperation (SC), shipping materials (SM), and shipping design for compliance (SDC). We construct two measurement models at first- and second-order levels for evaluating the implementation of GSP and validate them by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The empirical findings suggest that both of the measurement models for evaluating GSP implementation are reliable and valid. This study makes a novel contribution to the shipping literature by empirically developing and validating the construct of GSP implementation. Practically, we contribute a validated measurement scale useful for shipping companies to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their greening efforts and identify areas for improvement.

Keywords: environmental management; construct measurement; confirmatory factor analysis; CFA; performance evaluation; green shipping practices; greening shipping; company policy; company procedure; shipping documentation; shipping equipment; shipper cooperation; shipping materials; design for compliance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2013.053251

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2013 Vol.5 No.2, pp.217 - 235

Received: 24 Nov 2012
Accepted: 29 Dec 2012
Published online: 28 Feb 2014 *