The maritime and port sector is widely considered conservative concerning the ability to introduce innovation in respect to other industries. This may be due to the lack of cooperative interactions among the several players involved. It does not mean that innovation does not occur in this industry. Along with some technical innovations, managerial, organizational, and cultural innovations also take place in the sector. The literature has considered the assessment and effects of the adoption of particular innovation, but still few studies underline the innovation path in a broad sense with a specific focus on terminal operators. The present article aims at filling this gap through a field analysis grouping together case studies developed in different world regions and examining the adoption path of innovation through a mix of three different techniques (i.e. the H- and I-indexes, a Systems of Innovation Analysis, and a Qualitative Comparative Analysis). Research outcomes underline how, even if no unique recipe for success can be found, specific factors (e.g. a ranking of innovation objectives, coordination among actors, and institutions) can influence the achievement of success. The analyses allow suggesting strategic and policy advice that may help link in a better way the innovation drivers with their actual effects.

Today, Third-Party Logistics Providers (3PL) face a great pressure in order to meet its clients’ needs: customers demand a high level of time and place value for their deliveries, at lower prices, making the last mile activity not only a challenge whilst meeting the clients’ requirements but likewise in managing the profitability and the financial balance of the operation. In order to meet the logistics’ operation efficiency, several 3PL monitor their activity assisted by a variety of ex-post systems of performance indicators that assess the quality and efficiency of the logistic process. Whereas most of the times 3PL do not fully exploit the potentiality of those performance systems.The objective of this paper is to provide comprehensive and innovative performance measurement framework for a Third-Party Logistics Provider, transferrable for other stakeholders. The framework is supported in a thorough revision of the existing literature regarding performance indicators systems, with particularly significance in the field of logistics and freight transport.The rich variety of logistics’ performance indicators arrays frequently focus on a specific domain or follow a typical framework which includes metrics for cost and asset management, customer service, productivity and quality. In order to meet the specifics of a 3PL, we believe that a more detailed framework would be beneficial.The framework we propose is organized in three levels: the activities dimension (e.g. transport, warehousing, and customer service), the decision level dimension (operational, tactical and strategic) and the different actors dimension (e.g. carriers, 3PL and consolidation centers). A case study of Urbanos, a Portuguese 3PL firm, was used to validate the proposed framework

Recent trends in airport-centered real estate development are addressed, with emphasis on the concept of the airport city. Airport cities are major economic hubs that have exhibited substantial growth and profits. However, evolution toward an airport city is difficult; several airports worldwide have failed in the attempt. The emergence of this type of development is related to major trends in the aviation sector during the past decades. Globalization and liberalization processes have led to a strong reliance of airport operators on nonaeronautical revenues. Real estate development centered on airports arises as a strategy to maximize nonaeronautical revenues and as a response to a need for revenue diversification. The purpose of this research was to identify the critical, underlying factors in the emergence of an airport city. A framework was designed to illustrate the agents that shape airport city development and the relationships between them. A key informant survey was then conducted with 30 respondents and complemented with personal interviews of eight of them. The results suggest the existence of four critical factors for the development of an airport city: the connectivity of the airport and its surroundings, the economic potential of the surrounding area, a sustainable development context, and a commercial attitude by the airport operator.