Cooperation between Sea Ports and Carriers in the Logistics Chain

In a modern economy, international trade is an important factor in the development of various regions. Shipping is one of the most important elements of the global supply chain. However, after the economic crisis of 2008, global shipping revenues plummeted. One way to restore profitability is the consolidation of shipping routes and the globalization of shipping lines. As container transport lines move to larger ships, the structure of the delivery route becomes a structure with intermediate points. This trend put forward higher demands on the port infrastructure, which aggravated the competition between regional ports, as well as ports that could degrade into a large cargo consolidation port. The economic advantage is enhanced by cooperation between shipping lines and ports. Thus, ports and shipping lines in the same supply chain can be mutually beneficial partners. The study analyses the effectiveness of horizontal and vertical cooperation between ports and carriers. As a source of information, a review of the literature on this issue, expert opinions, and statistical data is taken. Next, a mathematical model is built on the basis of cooperative game theory, and numerical analysis is carried out. The results show that the strategy of cooperation of shipping lines strongly depends on the situation with the supply and demand of vessels. A port that interacts with shipping lines will significantly reduce port charges, which creates the advantage of receiving more port requests. However, cooperation may lead to losses for the port, so a redistribution of profits is necessary to maintain the coalition.

How Firms Cooperate in Business Groups? Evidence from Poland

Purpose: The study aims to identify the main directions of intragroup cooperation, along with crucial areas of cooperation in business groups, and develops theoretical models of cooperation in a business group. Methodology: The qualitative approach is applied in the study that is based on the cross-case analysis of four business groups operating in Poland. Findings: Results indicate that business groups cooperate mainly vertically (cooperation between the core company and affiliates) in operations. Horizontal (among affiliates) and vertical cooperation in other areas – marketing, R&D, finance, and human resources – are not so intense. The study enables us to propose a theoretical framework of cooperation models in business groups based on two dimensions – the direction of cooperation and the number of cooperation areas. It leads to the identification of four models: two-sided loose cooperation, two-sided tight cooperation, multi-sided loose cooperation, and multi-sided tight cooperation. Implications: Identification of main directions of cooperation in business groups, along with areas of cooperation have implications for both researchers and managers. Findings of the study and the theoretical framework of cooperation models in business groups can be used as a basis for the further theoretical exploration of the organization and functioning of business groups in the economy and a strategic decision guideline for managers. Originality: The literature focuses mainly on the interorganizational cooperation between dispersedly owned standalone entities. Studies on intraorganizational cooperation in business groups are limited. The study aims to provide a better understanding of cooperation between entities in business groups.

Global value chains as a transformational indicator of changes in the global economy

Глобальные цепочки стоимости (ГЦС) стали результатом развития вертикальной кооперации, основными инициаторами которых являются международные, транснациональные компании (ТНК). Именно ТНК стали движущей силой развития экономической глобализации. В современных условиях пандемия стала поворотным моментом, оказавшим значительное влияние на ГЦС и, следовательно, на экономическую глобализацию. 90% мирового товарооборота по данным ЮНКТАД находятся под ограничения из-за пандемии. Закрытие границ странами потребовало от национальных хозяйств рассмотреть возможность восстановления внутреннего поступательного развития исходя из реально сложившихся условий. Вопрос формирования национальных источников развития внутри стран и перестраивания географии формирования ГЦС (преимущественно в рамках одного региона, сокращая плечи транспортировки продукта) стал практически для всех стран достаточно актуальным. Поскольку основным видом кооперационного взаимодействия в рамках ГЦС была вертикальная кооперация, то переформатирование географии формирования ГЦС, вполне ожидаемо, приведет к более активному использованию преимуществ горизонтальной кооперации между хозяйствующими субъектами разных территориально приближенных стран. Одновременно воздействие пандемии на экономическую глобализацию в целом обусловливает усиление межгосударственного согласованного регулирования, в т.ч. регионального масштаба. Симптоматично, что в современных условиях правила ВТО игнорируются достаточно большим количеством стран, что сопровождается политикой протекционизма и санкций, практически не легитимной с точки зрения международного права. Подписание Всеобъемлющего регионального экономического партнерства в ноябре с.г. странами АСЕАН представляет собой свидетельство регионализации в международном взаимодействии, обозначает развитие тренда формирования согласованного участниками регионального правового поля для развития экономического сотрудничества, включая вопросы регулирования электронной торговли, конкурентной политики, защиты интеллектуальной собственности и других актуальных вопросов, ранее не фигурировавших в имеющихся соглашениях, опираясь при этом на основные правовые нормы ВТО. На основании изложенного авторы приходят к выводу, что собственно экономическая регионализация, в т.ч. трансформирования процесса формирования ГЦС в направлении повышения удельного веса их региональной компоненты, являются имманентными чертами трансформирования мировой экономики в условиях реального полицентризма. Global value chains (GVC) are the result of the development of vertical cooperation, the main initiators of which are international, transnational companies (TNCs). It is TNCs that have become the driving force behind the development of economic globalization. In today's context, the pandemic has become a turning point that has had a significant impact on GVCs and therefore on economic globalization. 90% of world trade, according to UNCTAD, are under restrictions due to the pandemic. The closure of borders by countries demanded that national economies consider the possibility of restoring their internal progressive development based on the actual conditions. The issue of the formation of national sources of development within countries and the restructuring of the geography of the formation of GVCs (mainly within one region, reducing the shoulders of product transportation) has become quite relevant for almost all countries. Since the main type of cooperative interaction within the GVC was vertical cooperation, reformatting the geography of the formation of GVCs, quite expectedly, will lead to more active use of the advantages of horizontal cooperation between economic entities of different geographically close countries. At the same time, the impact of the pandemic on economic globalization as a whole determines the strengthening of interstate coordinated regulation, incl. regional scale. It is symptomatic that in modern conditions the WTO rules are ignored by a sufficiently large number of countries, which is accompanied by a policy of protectionism and sanctions, which is practically illegitimate from the point of view of international law. The signing of the Comprehensive Regional Economic Partnership in November this year ASEAN countries is evidence of regionalization in international interaction, denotes the development of a trend in the formation of a regional legal framework agreed by the participants for the development of economic cooperation, including issues of regulation of electronic commerce, competition policy, protection of intellectual property and other topical issues that have not previously appeared in existing agreements, relying on this on the basic legal norms of the WTO. Based on the above, the authors come to the conclusion that the actual economic regionalization, incl. transformation of the process of GVC formation in the direction of increasing the share of their regional component are immanent features of the transformation of the world economy in the context of real polycentrism.

Selected approaches to digital transformation of public administration

The article describes the features of digital transformation for public administration and civil service. Public administration should become the basis of changed public relations; ensure the solution of the most significant issues affecting citizens through the use of data in a single information (digital) space. Coordinated work and ensuring horizontal and vertical cooperation between public authorities and local self-governments are an integral part of this process. Digital transformation is understood as the process of creating a single national digital space. The provision of public services and the execution of powers take place through the interaction of digital twins of government bodies and government civil servants. At the same time, other business entities, non-profit organizations, residents of the country, and their associations will be able to connect to this information space. The implementation of this concept will contribute to improving the efficiency and quality of public administration.

Evaluation of Synergies in the Context of European Multi-Business Utilities

In this paper, we evaluate selected multi-business utilities in the European energy market with regard to synergy potentials. To this end, we survey the development of the energy market in Europe and the performance of integrated versus focused utilities regarding their capital market performance measured by their corporate surplus (or deficit). The analysis is restricted to true business integration, in contrast to horizontal or vertical cooperation among separate firms. The German utility company RWE is analyzed in more detail. We find that, over the last 10–15 years, most of the multi-business utilities investigated underperformed compared to more focused utilities, and that they were even below the STOXX Europe 600 utilities index. Furthermore, synergy potentials need to be evaluated continuously, especially when influencing factors, with the potential to act as “game changers”, are either emerging on the horizon or are already present. We conclude that operating an integrated business model is not necessarily outdated in today’s energy markets, and offers a number of advantages.

Cooperative Strategies in the Age of Open Innovation: Choice of Partners, Geography and Duration

In the era of open innovation, the choice of a cooperative strategy is one of the most significant factors determining the effectiveness of innovation activities. The authors investigate typical configurations of cooperative networks in Russian manufacturing, including the choice of partners, the role of spatial distance, and the duration of joint projects. Using the firm-level data (1324 in 2015 and 545 in 2018) the paper estimates the role of cooperation in the innovation outcomes in terms of innovation novelty and export capacity. The most common cooperative strategy is vertical cooperation that is the involvement of clients and suppliers in the process of innovation development. The geography of cooperation rarely extends beyond the region’s borders and is mostly of an irregular (short-term) nature. A small number of enterprises that engage in international cooperation tend to rely on long-term linkages with academia, which is a distinctive feature of the most innovative Russian companies, including also those involved in the creation and distribution of intellectual property.

Research on the Pricing Model about Online Celebrity Economy

With the continuous development of China's Internet economy, the model of grasping Internet economy benefit is diversified. Since 2016, the online celebrity economy has formed a trend of Internet marketing, and the online celebrity economic industry chain further has established along with the further development of MCN institutions. The relationship among the overall industry upstream and downstream sectors become closer and closer and even appear the trend of vertical cooperation. This paper is aimed at expressing the pricing mechanism of the online celebrity industrial chain and applies game theory and mathematical analysis to propose a reasonable pricing model

Coopetition

Ray Noorda, the former CEO of Novell Inc., first coined the term “coopetition” in 1992 to describe a common phenomenon in the computer industry: cooperation between competitors. This phenomenon is inconsistent with classical economic and business theory going as far back as Adam Smith, who viewed the production system as based on a separation between suppliers and buyers. Micro-economists have traditionally viewed the firm as buying raw materials and components from suppliers, producing finished goods, and selling those goods in competition with other firms to a different set of firms or consumers. However, starting in the 1990s, research on forms of cooperative relationships between competitors became very common. The most common types are (a) competing firms engaging in horizontal alliances along the same level of the value chain and (b) vertical cooperation along different levels of the value chain between suppliers and firms in the focal industry or between customers and firms. In the last 25 years, there has been a great increase in research on coopetition. In a systematic literature review conducted in 2014, one researcher found over 130 academic articles in more than 80 academic publications published since 1996. The majority of the research to date has been qualitative, with many cases studied conducted. A number of special issues in academic journals have been devoted to the topic in general or to special topics concerning coopetition. The Strategic Management Journal organized a special issue in 2018 on the interplay of competition and cooperation, and a number of workshops have been held on coopetition strategy and innovation.

A Vertical Cooperation Model to Manage Digital Collections and Institutional Resources

The technology space of the University of Denver Libraries to manage digital collections and institutional resources isn’t relegated to one department on campus – rather, it distributed across a network of collaborators with the skills and expertise to provide that support. The infrastructure, which is comprised of an archival metadata management system (Archivespace), a digital repository (Node.js + ElasticSearch), preservation storage (ArchivesDirect), and a streaming server (Kaltura) is independently but cooperatively managed across IT, library departments and vendors. The coordinated effort of digital curation activities still allows each group to focus on the service they have the most vested interest in providing. This paper will talk about the different management and development practices involved in developing our integrated infrastructure to provide digital collections as a service.