Hierarchical Cluster Analysis on Competitiveness of Container Terminals in Northern Vietnam

Vietnam's sea-port industry has experienced a significant development in recent years. Especially in Northern Vietnam, both the demand and supply of handling services for containerized cargoes have increased at a considerable rates. Accompany with such movement, the competition among container terminals in the area becomes fiercer. In this paper, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis is employed to classify all 11 container terminals in Northern Vietnam by collecting data concerning terminal competitiveness. After the classification, each group will be discussed in order to reveal more details about their competitive characteristics. The paper consists of five sections. Section 1 is the general introduction. Section 2 provides a general literature review about competitiveness and factors to evaluate competitiveness. Section 3 explains variables and methodology applied to do the analysis. Section 4 presents the results with linkage to the current condition. Section 5 summarizes the analysis results. It is shown that container terminals in Northern Vietnam should not only pay attention to their service qualities but also have to find out an appropriate mechanism to avoid unhealthy competition. The paper is expected to contribute a background for further researches in container terminals' competition in the region as well as hints for operators in planning and making decisions.