Evaluation of the service quality of container ports by importance-performance analysis

The present study applied importance-performance analysis (IPA) to investigate the relationship between the importance level and satisfaction of port service quality and to enable port authorities to draw port managerial and operational policies for improving service quality. This IPA approach is based on the port service quality characteristics drawn by the Kano two-dimensional quality model, and examines the Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Busan, and Kaohsiung ports from the viewpoints of 15 container shipping lines deploying container ships at the above ports. The results demonstrate that the shipping lines were most satisfied with the Singapore port, while the Shanghai and Busan ports had a lower satisfaction level than the others. The IPA matrixes of the five ports confirm that, from the viewpoint of resource allocation efficiency, resources should be shifted from quadrant D to quadrant A to improve overall performance of service attributes. Therefore, port managers have to 'keep up the good work' regarding these attributes. Terminal operators can use the results to develop port strategies improving port service quality, to design better service quality control systems, and to capture more container cargoes in the fierce inter-port competition in Asia.