Influence of strategic decision-making on the performance of the port of Cotonou

Abstract

Always, the permanent main concern of business leaders is the performance of their structure not only to counter the competition but above all to make the capital invested profitable and satisfy the stakeholders. To achieve this, several decisions must be made to give strategic orientations. If the decision-making process seems simple in small entities, it is more complex in meta-organizations where the interest of each stakeholder must be taken into account. The objective of this research is to establish the influence that strategic decision-making can have on the performance of an RTO such as the port of Cotonou. This research is conducted using a quantitative methodology based on a questionnaire with a sample of 135 executives who have worked or are still working in the Port. The data processing is done with the Amos 23 software where we first proceeded to a Factorial Analysis in Principal Component then confirmatory. Then we did reliability, validity, significance and student tests, and finally, calculated the adjustment and correlation indices (β). The results of this study show that the presence of external administrators within the Board of Directors has no influence on the performance of the port. It also shows that the experience of administrators influences operational performance but does not influence commercial performance. Finally, it shows that the moment of decision-making influences both operational and commercial performance. The results of this research help to explain the influence that decision-making has on the performance of a Territorialized Network of organization. It also invites managers to consider the experience of Board members in setting up Boards of Directors and the appropriate time before making each strategic decision. 

JEL Classification: G30, L19, L25

Paper type : Empirical Research.