Digital Maturity and Port Performance in an Emerging Economy
The Conditioning Roles of Digital Skills and Port Community Governance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23882/emss26407Palavras-chave:
port governance, port digitalisation, digital skills, port community governance, MoroccoResumo
Port digitalisation is widely promoted as a lever of port performance, yet empirical evidence remains dispersed and is drawn mostly from European and Asian ports. Drawing on the information technology business value perspective, complementarity theory and the dynamic capabilities view, this study examines whether the digital maturity of a port community is associated with four dimensions of port performance — operational, economic, environmental and social — and whether this association is transmitted by digital dynamic capabilities and conditioned by digital skills and port community governance. Survey data were collected from 150 members of the port communities of Tanger Med and of the ports managed by the Moroccan National Ports Agency between March and May 2026 and analysed with partial least squares structural equation modelling. Digital maturity is positively associated with economic (β = 0.419), environmental (β = 0.413) and operational (β = 0.344) performance, but not with social performance. Digital skills strengthen the association with operational and economic performance, and governance strengthens the association with economic performance while being directly associated with operational performance. Johnson–Neyman analysis shows that digital maturity is not associated with better perceived performance among respondents who report the weakest skills or coordination. Contrary to expectations, digital dynamic capabilities of community members do not mediate the relationship, and this null result is estimated precisely. The findings, robust to clustered inference, multilevel estimation, a formative specification and multiple-testing correction, suggest that digital investments pay off only when they are coupled with user skills and community-level coordination.
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