Institutional Perspective on the Adoption of Technology for the Security Enhancement of Container Transport

The adoption of technology for security enhancement by organizations in a container transport chain has become a necessity for enhancing container transport security. Organizations in a container transport chain, including shippers, consignees, freight forwarders, transport operators, maritime carriers, container terminal operators, custom authorities and government agencies, adopt technologies, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, smart box initiative and container non-intrusive inspection (NII) technology, due to the institutional pressures exerted by partners in the chain. This paper explores the implications of the different types of institutional isomorphisms, namely coercion, mimesis and norms, from both the perspectives of organizations that have taken the initiative to adopt technology for container transport security enhancement and those that have followed other organizations to adopt technology. The possible impacts of the different types of institutional isomorphisms elaborated in this study can help managers better understand the institutional pressures that they put on, and the institutional pressures that drive them to adapt to their container transport chain partners; in particular, the possible problems and compliance requirements they may face in the course of adopting technology for enhancing container transport security.