| dc.description.abstract | The most challenging issue that shipping companies are confronted with in the
coming years is the need to become more sustainable. Accordingly, exploring
critical factors in the implementation process is necessary. Whereas previous
research has focused on the need for sustainability within the shipping industry,
research that proposes how the industry can adapt to the changes in an efficient way
is still lacking. This study aims to fill the gap by understanding how Norwegian
shipping companies effectively can adapt to sustainability regulations being
enforced on the industry. Consequently, an explorative qualitative study with five
top management officials in the Norwegian shipping industry was conducted. The
shipping companies were all situated in the region of Vestland and managed
operations internationally.
Based on the findings, the authors have developed a theoretical model which
highlights six factors that are interconnected to generate an output variable. The
study argues that Vision and Communication act as main themes, and that Core
Values, Analysis, Need for Change, and Capital acts as supporting themes. The
authors further argue that these six factors can generate the output variable Agility.
By focusing on these six factors, shipping companies can become agile and able to
effectively adapt to stricter sustainability regulations enforced in the industry. The
authors believe these findings may highlight critical factors when implementing
sustainability initiatives in shipping companies and fill a research gap into the
practical implications of implementing sustainability changes in the industry. | en_US |
