Port resilience planning is a subset of the wider disaster resilience literature and it is concerned with how port stakeholders work together to make port systems more resilience. Port stakeholders include government departments, the port operator, ship operators, importers, agents and logistics firms. Ports are vital for the operation of cities and whole countries, especial island nations like the UK. Single port systems are multi-level systems with complex operational-level relationships and interdependencies. Additional levels to this include government and the policy-level. Preparing for the crises and disasters that might befall ports requires information sharing between stakeholders about key dependencies and alternative actions. The complexity of ports presents barriers to information sharing; as do commercial and political sensitivities. This paper uses a multi-level case study on the UK's system of ports to propose an approach to information sharing that uses the subjectivity of information from a supplier's perspective and from a user's perspective to reduce barriers of complexity, confidentiality and political sensitivity.

Government departments have limited resources but they are responsible for the healthy functioning of whole markets. This tension is amplified by the opportunities to generate, share and use information from new data sources and digital technologies. Huge increases in volumes and types of data produced by sensors and firms' IT systems can potentially be shared between firms which can cause information overload. This paper uses government orchestration theory to investigate the problems and opportunities of the UK's maritime transport ministry as it supports resilience planning for the whole country's ports system. We build on the developing Lean Government (l-Government) literature by theorizing on the differences between government and other stakeholders. We use a case study to investigate how these differences hinder as well as support the role of a government department. And how the special perspective of an orchestrator can integrate and filter information, motivate diverse collaborators and support the use of orchestration platforms in l-Government.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to disentangle the interactions between logistics operators and government stakeholders in cross-border logistics operations with a specific focus on the UK and Brazil. Design/methodology/approach The research builds on supporting literature. The comparative cases of the UK and Brazil are examined by reference to an extensive series of focus group workshops as well as a series of interviews with key informants. Care was taken to make sure that comprehensive engagement the respective business and government communities were in place, and that there were opportunities to feedback on the analysis. Findings Suggestions were provided on how to improve the business–government interactions in cross-borders logistics operations. The analysis considered transaction costs and scope for trade facilitation. The research also helped produce a descriptive model of business–government interactions in cross-border logistics operations. Research limitations/implications The paper points to new directions in the understanding of how businesses interact with government agencies, and the kind of issues they face in cross-border logistics operations. However, the research only looked at two countries and there is significant scope for further enquiry within the logistics literature. Practical implications Reduced transaction costs at the border and subsequent economic opportunities for the UK and Brazil. Social implications A list of practical reform recommendations informed by the business communities of the UK and Brazil. Originality/value This paper’s original contribution to the literature is its framework for the analysis of transaction costs associated with the business–government interactions in cross-border logistics operations. In addition to the resulting findings in Brazil and the UK it may serve as a template for research elsewhere.

With falling tariff levels, it is probably not surprising that the non-tariff area and trade facilitation, in particular, are receiving growing attention. Apart from the World Trade Organization (WTO), trade facilitation is a subject of substance within a wide range of international organizations including several United Nations (UN)-type bodies, the World Customs Organization (WCO) as well as those concerned with economic development, supply chain security, and sector-specific issues such as international transport and logistics. The resulting body of international trade facilitation instruments and initiatives, which include conventions as well as detailed technical recommendations, is extensive. This article provides a general review of key elements and topics that are associated with trade facilitation and sets them against underlying challenges and obstacles in practice as well as for research. While much of the current effort in trade facilitation begins with a top-down premise – whereby governments seek to implement international conventions and recommendations nationally – the author argues that trade facilitation is inherently an operations-focused topic and deserves to be approached from a bottom-up approach, too. Such approach not only provides a strong case for an interdisciplinary research agenda, it also brings into question whether current institutions concerned with trade facilitation have the necessary capabilities to apply themselves to the more operational aspects associated with international trade.

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