The evaluation of port governance actions by port users perspective: a study in the Port of Santos, Brazil

This paper aims to analyse the perception of port users about the governance actions in the Port of Santos (Brazil). This is an important approach since most studies regarding port governance address governance structure and port functions, but do not consider the actions to be taken to improve the coordination of port logistics chain. The sample considered was composed by experienced managers of 30 International Freight Forwarders that operate in the referred port. In order to ensure the quality of the sample were selected only managers with higher education and at least five years' experience in the studied sector. Through a quantitative and descriptive approach, with data collection by means of a survey, the different governance actions related to four dimensions of a considered governance model were evaluated from the perspective of users. The results indicate that the Port of Santos develops governance actions incipiently in all dimensions, revealing that the management of the port still needs to evolve to achieve a higher level of coordination.