L I~ACI(GROUND AND RATIONALE

Ou of the various modes of transportation; water transportation is considered

10 >-: the most popular one. This water transportation shalJi I'! 1.:1 ude SC,l

T;' r <IOI(),·t~'[·I'Oll. lOJ',,,C']' transportation zreat lakes tl·<111SJ ..... ortation ere (·):11 (·1" :I"""t'

. II .. _.\- .. ,~,_~._t _~ .'v .... t i c ~,.,,\ . G tv _, 1=> ( J.C.l."\.. 0.) c~ ~ j ll.C .1 '1,., "':" , ._ •• ,.1 ~1_.t·,~,J.

the ,'. ea transportation is considered to be the most important one and it bas

gained lot 0 f popularity after globalization. This sea transportation is carded

au t ': y the front categories of transporters namely 1

1. 11a1n Line Operators (MLOs)

2. Non-Vessel Operating Container Carriers (NVOCCs) and

3. Freight Forwarders (FFs)

In the past there had oecn a lot of researches undertaken on MLOs and FFs ,

but ITVOCCs, had not been much researched upon. Hence the present research

is .~cing to be on NVOCCs. NVOCC is defined as, "a carrier that issues bills of

Jading for carriage of goods on vessels which it neither owns nor operates".

Service quality (SQ) is considered to be the most critical success factor of

,._·1

any service setting. SQ is defined as "how excellently a company delivers its

services". In order to excel, a service setting must fill-up the gaps existing

between the expected service quality and the present service

ell_lit! itv. "If

I _

something is not measured, it cannot be monitored". Hence th is study aims at

.i i

measuring the service quality of NVOCCs. in order to offer suggestions for

bet.erment of NVOCC trade. The scope of this study is confined \0 Tuticorin

but tile research shell be generalized to any geographical mea in India.

~. \VOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organisation and its environment.

SV TUT analysis is conducted to study the strengtheeweakness and opportunities

:1 & .nrcats of a company/industry. Here'S' means strc:lgth, ''IV' means

weakness, '0' means opportunity , 'T' means threats.

Strength, weakness are internal to a company/industry and opportunities,

threats are external. In this research a SWOT analysis is going to be conducted

as the No.1 NVOCCs operated in Tuticorin(i.e India Lanka Express Container

Line CILE)) for the purpose of offering suggestions to ensure its competitive

performs nee.

SCfJPE OF TIlE STUDY

There are 15 NVOCC operators operating in Tuticorin. Out of which ILE is the

House agents (CHA) and Freight Forwarders(FF),

leading NVOCC operator. As a researcher I have selected ILE for l1!Y search.

Data will be collected from 25 respondents includes the Shipper, Custom

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following are the objectives of the research ..

1. To measure the present service quality level of NVOCCs operating Hi

Tu .iiorin.

2. r) identify the service quality gaps in the service offerings of NVOCCs

operating in Tuticorin and to offer suggestions for the improvement of service

quality ofNVOCCs operating in Tuticorin.

3, To conduct a SvVOT analysis on a leading NVOCC (i.e India L.iHlk:\ Express

Container Line( ILE)) and to offer suggestions to ensure its competitive

performance,

3. HYPOTHESES

It is proposed to form 1 or 2 sets of hypothesis for each objective,

· .

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4.l\1ETHODS

4.1. RESEARCH fY1ETIIODOLOGY

the research will Eo1 tow explorative method, some part the descriptive method

Mixed research methodology will be followed in this research. Some part of

and some other part will follow experimental method.

4~' PODTTi ~ ~'T01'l,1 ANn SI- M' PI ..." ',i. •. '-- r ulAlo.l .. J'I rd VI.. 1 --,.Ii,

The population for this study comprises of 3 categories of users ~)r the services

of NVOCCs. These categories are shippers (including Import and Export

Sh i ipers), Customs House Agents (CElAs) and Freight Forwarders. The list of

sl.ijpers, CHAs and Freight Forwarders operating in India shall be compiled'

w.tu the help of Associations of Cl.IAs, FFsand customs records. There are 15

NVOCC operators in Tuticorin .Out of which IndiaLanka Expresst ll.E) is the

leading NVOCC operator. As a researcher I have selected ILE for my research.

Data will be collected from 25 respondents which include Shipper/CHA/FF.

4.3. TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

The study will be based on both primary and secondary data. Primnry data will

be collected by employing a questionnaire specially prepared for the purpose.

Telephone interviews and opinion polls will also be. conducted for the purpose ..

~'V7:'~1fi(,":~~~~-~'w:w:;pc~Zt~;r~s\?T:;;?'E:T~)1~:';'rf;·:fifirw'r~~f~1\~r,a~;!ltftil~:~~:;~s;?}ri~1i,ll:~~~;:~?j~::';" ,::;'::;1;, :.'f~i!~~II;!~.§1!1~1~11l1I

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,

Secondary data will be collected from textbooks, journals of shiDring Industry,

Ni.'OCCs association manuals, Government publications, internet sites etc.

SWOT analysis on ILE will be conducted based on the data collected through

customer satisfaction survey, brain storming ,focus group/intervievvs,

environmental scanning etc.

s » I'Rt:)r'En .... uTpT!' F:l\n DA1'A COLLECTIoN

+,»>, -,_, 'L., ..;.J .•• Y _L\. . .ic'.J U· }_, ~.... .' ~~ ... '0 ,

Bciore finalizing the questionnaire, it will be pre-tested by c\ reu luting it to

SOT'.C shippers, CJ:-:J.As and FFs operating 111 Tuticorin. f\ fter :)rt':csting, the

ql E stionnaire will be administered to respondents either by he'lllei delivery or

til 'c ugh investigators. The questionnaire. will be prepared based 0.11

Sl:\ .. VQUAL battery. The questionnaire will consist of open- ended and close-

ended questions. Some questions will be structured by using attitude

measurement scales.

5. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIOr.;r

For the purpose of presentation of data, graphical methods like tables, graphs,

pic charts, bar diagrams, histograms etc. will be used. The cL'Il~\ will be

analysed by employing statistical techniques like GAPs analysis, CHI square

test etc.

6. EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION FROM TIlE STUDY

I

\.

The results of the study will be of utmost use to NVOCCs operating in

Tuticorin. With the help of this study the NVOCCs shall .understand their

present service quality level and the expected service quality of their

customers. Out of this study they can realize the gaps present between them

and come to know the actions to be taken in order to fill-up the gaps.

Wilen the gaps all filled-up the service quality level will be enhanced and thus'

the NVOCCs trade in Tuticorin will flourish.

7 ~,!l'\IITATION~; AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RKSE1\RCl-]

T11( limitation of this research is that the scope is confined only to NVOCC~;

operating in Tuticorin. This research shall be replicated in the future by'

interested researchers to cover a wider area, for examp le a research shall be

undertaken to measure the service quality levels of NVOCCs present in a

region/state/country. Future researchers shall follow the frame work of this

research to measure service quality levels of other service settings too.

Apart from this in future a SWOT analysis or( TOWS analysis) can be

conducted on ILE in national or international level.

PROPOSED CIT/\PTER DESIGN

Cf-TAPTEr( - 1. Introduction of the Study

CHAPTER.- n. Research Methodology

CHAPTER- III. Profile ofNVOCC

C FIAPTER- IV. Analysis and Interpretation

CI-IAPTER - V. Summary of findings , suggestions &condusiqns.

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