A survey of 115 Thai container-terminal practitioners analyzed with PLS-SEM linked smart-port technology with environmental/governance drivers and sustainable management, while the social-to-smart-technology path was unsupported.
Key findings
- Six of seven hypothesized paths were supported, with average R² of 0.602 for endogenous constructs. Environmental factors related to social, governance and smart technology; governance related to smart technology; the social-to-smart path was unsupported; and smart technology had a strong positive association with sustainable management.
Why this matters globally
The study offers an ESG-plus-digital-transformation framework for ports in an emerging economy and highlights governance as a potential enabling structure.
Thai researcher contribution
Burapha University generated Thai practitioner evidence in a nationally important maritime-logistics context.
Limitations to consider
The 115-person cross-sectional self-report sample limits causal inference and may carry common-method bias. No operational measures of emissions, energy, safety or performance were used.