A qualitative study on MNCs in the shipping industry, and their adaptation to environmental sustainability

Abstract

In recent years, sustainability has emerged as a significant aspect of contemporary business practices, driven by increasingly strict regulations and growing consumer demand for eco-friendly products and services. This shift is particularly critical in industries like shipping, which play a central role in global trade yet pose substantial environmental challenges, such as air and water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and ecological degradation. Due to existing gaps in the understanding of the specific strategies MNCs in the shipping industry make use of to apply to environmental sustainability objectives, this study aims to fill those gaps by investigating how MNCs in the industry are working with environmental sustainability. The data collection will be conducted through qualitative interviews with 8 knowledgeable industry professionals. Our findings show that MNCs are adapting their strategies to obtain competitive advantages, to be able to keep up with, or pull away from the competition. The strategies that were used by the MNCs in this study included reducing fuel consumption and emissions from vehicles and vessels, optimizing routes and cargo space, and energy and waste management on the office sites etc. Our findings accentuate how MNCs in the shipping industry are aware of the importance of environmental sustainability work within each organization that was studied.