Port authorities as community managers: The case of Brussels

Port authorities are increasingly pressured to act as community managers. Little is known however on how this role should be adopted in order to effectively accommodate conflicts of interest while benefiting port development. In this paper we reflect on the wider literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) to understand how being a community manager can contribute to port development. We highlight two approaches on CSR organizing that explain value creation for organizations, namely the stakeholder relations approach and the core business alignment approach. Then, we present a case study on how the Port Authority of Brussels invested in a river tourism project that is of peripheral importance to the port authority's goals, but did contribute to local societal welfare while benefiting port development as well. The case demonstrates how stakeholder demands and strategic logics conflict and expands on the risks and benefits for port authorities to act as a community manager. Most notably, the results suggest that port authorities benefit from selecting CSR initiatives that follow from stakeholder demands, but which indirectly allow port authorities to optimize their business operations.

Publication year:2015