PERFORMANCE EVALUATION IN THE PORT SECTOR: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

This study aims to map characteristics of port performance evaluation articles that addressed port efficiency, to verify the types and functions of the metrics presented in the studies and presents evolution of performance evaluation in the port sector. Thus, a Bibliographic Portfolio was selected consisting of 149 scientific articles on the topic investigated. Data collection and analysis were carried out using the intervention instrument ProKnow-C. The results indicate that the majority of the portfolio presents port performance benchmarking (112 articles) and only 37 articles evaluate the performance of ports individually. It can be noted, although the control and communication functions of metrics are widely used in evaluation port performance, the improvement function is minimally explored. Likewise, it is noted that metrics that focus on predicting results are not widely used. However, despite the strong tendency to measure and compare port performance, it is possible to visualize that several studies in the area have presented concerns with management with regard to support for taking decision-making process, the importance of feedback from performance evaluation systems aimed at continuous improvement in the port sector, identifying bottlenecks and proposing improvements, forecasting productivity and costs, strategic management and evaluating performance from the perspective of stakeholders. The contribution of this study is made in a theoretical and practical way through the presentation of a thorough review of the discipline under study and addressing how to position the use of metrics to evaluate the ports performance, demonstrating their functions and types, and pointing out opportunities for future research.