Climate change is anticipated to have a significant impact on coastal infrastructure, including navigational aids and ports. This paper presents the results of a vulnerability assessment of ports in Australia to climate change. Results reveal variable vulnerability in ports in the short and long term in relation to their exposure to climate change. However, this is offset by inherent adaptive capacity both in current climate change initiatives driven by ports, and in the self-confidence of the industry to be able to adapt. We conclude with a reflection on the implications of these results for future ports analyses.

The resilience of US container ports is increasingly challenged by disruptive and stressful events such as regulatory change, adverse weather, larger container ship sizes, changing patterns of trade and sea routes, and the still to be quantified effects of enlarging the capabilities and capacity of the Panama Canal. Port sustainability requires the port managers to be resilient in their practices, to maintain existing performance levels and to increase market share when opportunity presents. The primary question that this paper addresses is how US container ports might be affected by adverse events and how they undertake resilience processes when faced with complex problems and uncertain outcomes. The paper gathers insights from literature on complex adaptive systems to discuss how US container ports may adapt to changing circumstances through innovation and the emergent outputs of self-organised agents (components) of their port organisations. The paper suggests that by conceptualising ports as complex adaptive systems, port managers may be able to better understand the complexity of change and organisational dynamics and thus harness the phenomenon of self-organisation towards their strategic intent.

Business collaboration is increasingly the focus of management scholars and practitioners alike. Collaboration brings both benefits to organizations and numerous challenges. In disaster management, the response to events that impact people, communities and businesses frequently involves the response of multiple organizations. Collaboration in this chaotic and uncertain environment is difficult. Humanitarian supply chains are part of a service- based industry, thus interactions and relationships with people are necessary, further increasing the management complexities. Managing humanitarian supply chains is a people business that still appears to be anchored in an efficiency paradigm focusing on cost reduction. This paper examines challenges and issues involved in collaboration and coordination in the context of the humanitarian supply chains through the lens of international human resource management practices. It suggests greater emphasis on developing an effectiveness paradigm that focuses on value creation, knowledge sharing and collaboration. Understanding collaboration in the complex context of humanitarian supply chains provides opportunities for application of this learning from the business world

This paper explores the role and value of collaboration through telephone interviews with 32 senior managers in the Australian logistics industry. Key findings from this elite sample include collaboration being a significant strategy which has been successfully utilised to grow business over the past three years by the majority of the sample. Their strong commitment to collaboration as a strategy demonstrates its perceived value to their organisations. The interviewees anticipate that the number of collaborations will continue to grow in the industry over the next decade, indicating that managing collaboration's key enablers, such as business facilitation skills, is important to ongoing success. Reinforcing collaboration enablers may benefit organisations collaborating in Australian and Asian logistics systems.