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This paper explores the effect of port's service time, particularly the mean and variability, on shippers' total landed costs to determine the competitive position of the port and derive recommendations for the strategic design of port services.

The competitive position of a port is estimated considering the service level offered to the end-users of the port such as port service time, its variability and its effect on the total landed costs observed by the port users. The proposed methodology is meant to help ports to determine the required service time levels to maintain or gain a competitive advantage against other ports, in terms of attracting common hinterland's customers.

Results show the advantages of considering service levels factors to determine the competitive position of a port, and what are the minimum characteristics required to capture more traffic volumes, that can help port managers to take strategic design decisions to better position the port in the current fierce market.

The proposed methodology is illustrated by considering a case study, which is the Port of Guaymas in Mexico. Data was not directly collected by the port, but based on interviews with shippers and public information, a representative case is presented. Due to a confidentiality agreement with the Port, specific references for most of the data used to estimate the model's parameters are not provided. The analysis is intended to show the potential value of this mechanism and can be used for evaluating the competitive position, from a high-level perspective, of any port to determine potential hinterland by improving the service level of the port.

The existing literature on port choice and port competition has not previously considered the effect of port service levels under the perspective of total landed costs of the users, being this paper a contribution to fulfill this gap.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a combination of forecasting methods that enables a holistic understanding of a future situation, given certain influencing variables by a combination of real data and expert knowledge.

The proposal combines two well-known methods: first, system archetypes that correspond to generic structures, allowing us to handle model management issues, and second, system dynamics that offers technical support on a computational level to assess different scenarios or problem solutions.

The case study considers the situation of the mining industry in Chile and its related variables, including four different scenarios. Based on the proposed methodology, the results indicate that: first, the price of copper is paramount for the industry and its effects are not limited to company profits; second, a long period of downfall in copper prices could halt exploration and development projects.

Systemic archetypes are still a subject of research and their application in different fields of knowledge continues to increase to improve this simulation approach.

The case study illustrates the combination of a Vester matrix and initial system archetype models that are enriched using the system dynamics approach. Indeed, the case study aims to understand the consequences of different scenarios based on the problem-driven approach provided by Vester.

The goal of prospective studies of large-scale and complex situations is to model the real situation to obtain solutions that may enhance social welfare.

The proposed methodology contributes to the existing literature by integrating techniques such as the Vester matrix, system archetype modelling and system dynamics simulation, all of which were proposed previously in the literature as independent techniques.

Este artículo propone una combinación de métodos de pronósticos que permite una comprensión holística de una situación futura, dadas ciertas variables de influencia mediante una combinación de datos reales y conocimiento de expertos.

La propuesta combina dos métodos conocidos: (i) arquetipos de sistemas que corresponden a estructuras genéricas, lo que nos permite manejar los modelos, y (ii) la dinámica de sistemas que ofrece soporte técnico a nivel computacional para evaluar diferentes escenarios o soluciones de problemas.

El caso de estudio considera la situación de la industria minera en Chile y sus variables relacionadas, incluidos cuatro escenarios diferentes. Según la metodología propuesta, los resultados indican que i) el precio del cobre es primordial para la industria y sus efectos no se limitan a las ganancias de la empresa; ii) un largo período de caída en los precios del cobre podría detener los proyectos de exploración y desarrollo.

Los arquetipos sistémicos siguen siendo un tema de investigación y su aplicación en diferentes campos del conocimiento continúa aumentando para mejorar este enfoque de simulación.

El estudio de caso ilustra la combinación de una matriz de Vester y los modelos de arquetipos del sistema inicial que se enriquecen utilizando el enfoque de dinámica de sistemas. De hecho, el caso de estudio apunta a comprender las consecuencias de diferentes escenarios basados en el enfoque orientado a los problemas proporcionado por Vester.

El objetivo de los estudios prospectivos para situaciones de gran escala y complejas es modelar la situación real para obtener soluciones que puedan mejorar el bienestar social.

La metodología propuesta contribuye a la literatura existente mediante la integración de técnicas como la matriz de Vester, el modelado de arquetipos del sistema y la simulación de dinámica de sistemas, todo lo cual se propuso anteriormente en la literatura como técnicas independientes.

This article sheds light on the missing links concerning the study of using integrated enabling technologies toward sustainable and circular agriculture supply chains by examining the available literature and proposing future research possibilities.

The relevant literature was researched through online databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, Academic Search Premier, Emerald, IEEE Xplore, Science Direct, World Scientific Net and Springer-Link Journals, covering a period from 1999 to 2020. A systematic literature review based on 75 papers analyzed the integration of the concepts of enabling technologies, sustainability, circular economy and supply chain performance in agriculture supply chains.

It was identified that enabling technologies and agriculture supply chains alone have been explored further than integrated enabling technologies, sustainability, circular economy, supply chain performance and agriculture supply chains. Enabling technologies and agriculture supply chains' main findings are: enabling technologies have been studied to improve food safety, food quality and traceability in agriculture supply chains. The main results regarding integrated enabling technologies, sustainability, circular economy, supply chain performance and agriculture supply chains are: Internet of Things and information communication technology play an important role in addressing food security, traceability and food quality, which help achieve sustainable development goals.

This review study provides 13 research questions to underpin future trends regarding integrated technologies' application in agriculture supply chains for circular and sustainable growth.

This paper seeks to evaluate the factors that contribute to congestion at port entrances, propose a comprehensive approach to managing port gates that addresses the factors causing traffic jams and assess the outcomes of resolving the issue through an optimal model for incoming container truck traffic.

The study employed a one-way ANOVA and a one-way MANOVA to examine the impact of congestion-causing factors on the waiting time of trucks in each lane at the entrance gate. The purpose of this was to comprehend the intricate issue and demonstrate the outcomes of the resolution. We used the identified factors that were causing congestion to develop a management strategy for the port gate. As part of this strategy, we implemented a policy where traffic flows in the opposite direction in certain lanes. The Simulation of Urban Mobility program introduced the microscopic traffic simulation model as a discrete event simulation.

The examination of variables influencing the congestion at the port entrance revealed that there were four factors contributing to the congestion: (1) the quantity of lanes; (2) the level of bookings; (3) the factors related to the traffic signal cycle and (4) the assignment of lane types. The one-way MANOVA analysis of the three factors yielded significant evidence for a single pair of interactions. (1) The factors to consider are the quantity of lanes, the level of booking and the assignment of lane types. If the entrance to the rear alley consists of two lanes with a width of 1.85 at the 50% capacity level, and if the critical value of the uneven queue coefficient is reached, it can result in a maximum reduction of the average waiting time by 15.02%.

This study is unique because it examines the surrounding environment and operational behavior of the port to identify how individual and group congestion factors interact. It uses various statistical tools to determine the allocation of the number of port entrances with a reversible lane policy and appointment level. Additionally, it analyzes the detailed results using microscopic traffic simulation modeling. The established foundational model can assist operators in simulating the queue length and mean waiting time of trucks for this specific waiting line in other ports with comparable entrance characteristics.

This article develops a review of the university social responsibility literature to identify the most influential countries, authors, journals, and institutions, their structure, and research lines.

The review was carried out from a bibliometric and network analysis of documents published in the Web of Science database.

In total, 192 documents were found that were scientifically mapped in this field. From the network analysis, four research perspectives were identified: strategic impact management policy, user and its stakeholders, service-learning and its contribution to user, and theories, approaches, and strategies of University Social Responsibility (USR). Finally, the agenda for future research are presented.

The present work carries out a bibliometric and network analysis that seeks to contribute to the literature on USR, identifying its current perspectives and future lines of research.