The impact of digitalization and digital logistics platform adoption on organizational performance in maritime logistics of Taiwan

Abstract

The significance of new technologies and digitalization have been recognized in maritime logistics operations amid COVID pandemic. Understanding the adoption of digitalization and collaborative digital platform between participants in industry is important, particularly the path of digital transformation and the impacts they create. However, these issues have not been fully explored in the maritime logistics industry. This study thus developed a model that incorporates digitalization, digital logistics platform adoption, organization’s digital transformation, as well as organizational performance, and examined the associations between them through six research hypotheses. Postal questionnaires were distributed to shipping companies, port operators, shipping agencies, and ocean freight forwarders in Taiwan. The survey yielded a total of 165 valid responses. Subsequently, CFA was applied to verify the model, and SEM was employed to examine the proposed hypotheses. The main findings of the study indicate that enhancing digitalization and embracing digital logistics platforms can significantly contribute to digital transformation. Both digitalization and digital transformation have a positive impact on organizational performance. However, the adoption of digital logistics platforms currently demonstrates an insignificant effect on organizational performance at this stage. Consequently, leveraging the lens of network effects theory, the findings are further discussed, and implications are suggested.