Methodology of Hinterland Strategy Selection for Container Port Based on GE Matrix and Fuzzy TOPSIS

Hinterland strategy selection is used to determine a sound marketing plan and resource allocation for ports in their own hinterlands to compete for container traffic. There are three types of hinterland strategies that ports can employ: expansive strategy, maintenance strategy, and recovery strategy. The aim of this paper is to develop a decision-making methodology for container ports to establish a logical international container hinterland strategy under a fuzzy environment based on the business strength and industry attractiveness matrix (GE matrix) and fuzzy technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), in which the vagueness and subjectivity are handled with linguistics variables parameterized by triangular fuzzy numbers. This methodology took the attractiveness of international container hinterland units and a port's relative strength in every hinterland unit as the main assessing dimension to select a hinterland strategy. A fuzzy TOPSIS approach was used to evaluate the attractiveness of every international container hinterland unit and a port's relative competition in every hinterland unit. Furthermore, the GE matrix was erected to determine the hinterland strategy for a container port in every hinterland unit. Finally, the approach was demonstrated using the case of Lianyungang Port, China, which involved 30 international container hinterland units and 27 evaluation criteria. The application of a practical case indicates that this approach can provide effective decision support for container ports to establish an international container hinterland strategy.