Freight Transportation Security System
(2026)- Abstract
- Freight transportation security concerns both public and private actors, however, their interests are often misaligned resulting in conflicting pressure and trade-offs. To understand this, a connection of macro and micro perspectives is required, which is enabled by an institutional lens. Furthermore, there is limited empirical knowledge of how policy design and implementation shape operational conditions. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to increase understanding of freight transportation security from an organisational field perspective, and to analyse how institutions and organisational responses shape practice and influence security, legitimacy, efficiency, and effectiveness.
This research has an open system perspective... (More) - Freight transportation security concerns both public and private actors, however, their interests are often misaligned resulting in conflicting pressure and trade-offs. To understand this, a connection of macro and micro perspectives is required, which is enabled by an institutional lens. Furthermore, there is limited empirical knowledge of how policy design and implementation shape operational conditions. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to increase understanding of freight transportation security from an organisational field perspective, and to analyse how institutions and organisational responses shape practice and influence security, legitimacy, efficiency, and effectiveness.
This research has an open system perspective combining inductive reasoning with deductive elements. It comprises four studies that have been conducted with a qualitative multi-method approach on an organisational field-level using a field experiment, an interview study, an integrative literature review, and an evaluative case study. Together the four appended papers study intermodal transportation and transportation of dangerous goods, and analyse how regulations, law enforcement, security solutions, and other institutional arrangements influence operational conditions, organisational responses, and performance.
The findings show that freight transportation security is shaped by interacting institutions and that misfit between institutional expectations and operational conditions leads to uneven implementation, trade-offs between security and efficiency, low legitimacy, and unknown effectiveness. This research develops and applies the Freight Transportation Security System (FTSS) model that captures roles of institutions and enabling mechanisms in shaping operational conditions, organisational responses, and performance.
This research argues that security programmes should be designed, implemented, and evaluated based on a systems approach where operational conditions, incentives, and strategic objectives are aligned across the organisational field. The results demonstrate that efficiency and security can be improved for both public and private actors through digitalisation and process-oriented security solutions, while fragmented threat understanding, limited monitoring, and limited feedback and learning constrain sustained improvement. Based on the findings, six propositions are formulated to enhance freight transportation security at system level. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Freight transportation security concerns both public and private actors, however, their interests are often misaligned resulting in conflicting pressure and trade-offs. To understand this, a connection of macro and micro perspectives is required, which is enabled by an institutional lens. Furthermore, there is limited empirical knowledge of how policy design and implementation shape operational conditions. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to increase understanding of freight transportation security from an organisational field perspective, and to analyse how institutions and organisational responses shape practice and influence security, legitimacy, efficiency, and effectiveness.
This research has an open system perspective... (More) - Freight transportation security concerns both public and private actors, however, their interests are often misaligned resulting in conflicting pressure and trade-offs. To understand this, a connection of macro and micro perspectives is required, which is enabled by an institutional lens. Furthermore, there is limited empirical knowledge of how policy design and implementation shape operational conditions. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to increase understanding of freight transportation security from an organisational field perspective, and to analyse how institutions and organisational responses shape practice and influence security, legitimacy, efficiency, and effectiveness.
This research has an open system perspective combining inductive reasoning with deductive elements. It comprises four studies that have been conducted with a qualitative multi-method approach on an organisational field-level using a field experiment, an interview study, an integrative literature review, and an evaluative case study. Together the four appended papers study intermodal transportation and transportation of dangerous goods, and analyse how regulations, law enforcement, security solutions, and other institutional arrangements influence operational conditions, organisational responses, and performance.
The findings show that freight transportation security is shaped by interacting institutions and that misfit between institutional expectations and operational conditions leads to uneven implementation, trade-offs between security and efficiency, low legitimacy, and unknown effectiveness. This research develops and applies the Freight Transportation Security System (FTSS) model that captures roles of institutions and enabling mechanisms in shaping operational conditions, organisational responses, and performance.
This research argues that security programmes should be designed, implemented, and evaluated based on a systems approach where operational conditions, incentives, and strategic objectives are aligned across the organisational field. The results demonstrate that efficiency and security can be improved for both public and private actors through digitalisation and process-oriented security solutions, while fragmented threat understanding, limited monitoring, and limited feedback and learning constrain sustained improvement. Based on the findings, six propositions are formulated to enhance freight transportation security at system level. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/29966abb-83fa-49a5-b103-42be7d323cdc
- author
- Nyquist Magnusson, Camilla LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Prof. Brehmer, Per-Olof, Linköping University, Sweden.
- organization
- alternative title
- Transportskydd i godstransportsystemet
- publishing date
- 2026-03-24
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Freight, Transportation security, Policy, Performance, Institutional theory, Organisational field, Institutional fit
- pages
- 143 pages
- publisher
- Division of Packaging Logistics, Department of Design Sciences
- defense location
- Lecture hall Stora Hörsalen, Ingvar Kamprad Designcentrum (IKDC), Klas Anshelms väg 20, Faculty of Engineering LTH, Lund University, Lund.
- defense date
- 2026-05-08 09:00:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-8104-892-6
- 978-91-8104-893-3
- project
- Freight Transportation Security System
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 29966abb-83fa-49a5-b103-42be7d323cdc
- date added to LUP
- 2026-04-12 21:16:07
- date last changed
- 2026-04-14 12:40:00
@phdthesis{29966abb-83fa-49a5-b103-42be7d323cdc,
abstract = {{Freight transportation security concerns both public and private actors, however, their interests are often misaligned resulting in conflicting pressure and trade-offs. To understand this, a connection of macro and micro perspectives is required, which is enabled by an institutional lens. Furthermore, there is limited empirical knowledge of how policy design and implementation shape operational conditions. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to increase understanding of freight transportation security from an organisational field perspective, and to analyse how institutions and organisational responses shape practice and influence security, legitimacy, efficiency, and effectiveness.<br/><br/>This research has an open system perspective combining inductive reasoning with deductive elements. It comprises four studies that have been conducted with a qualitative multi-method approach on an organisational field-level using a field experiment, an interview study, an integrative literature review, and an evaluative case study. Together the four appended papers study intermodal transportation and transportation of dangerous goods, and analyse how regulations, law enforcement, security solutions, and other institutional arrangements influence operational conditions, organisational responses, and performance.<br/><br/>The findings show that freight transportation security is shaped by interacting institutions and that misfit between institutional expectations and operational conditions leads to uneven implementation, trade-offs between security and efficiency, low legitimacy, and unknown effectiveness. This research develops and applies the Freight Transportation Security System (FTSS) model that captures roles of institutions and enabling mechanisms in shaping operational conditions, organisational responses, and performance.<br/><br/>This research argues that security programmes should be designed, implemented, and evaluated based on a systems approach where operational conditions, incentives, and strategic objectives are aligned across the organisational field. The results demonstrate that efficiency and security can be improved for both public and private actors through digitalisation and process-oriented security solutions, while fragmented threat understanding, limited monitoring, and limited feedback and learning constrain sustained improvement. Based on the findings, six propositions are formulated to enhance freight transportation security at system level.}},
author = {{Nyquist Magnusson, Camilla}},
isbn = {{978-91-8104-892-6}},
keywords = {{Freight; Transportation security; Policy; Performance; Institutional theory; Organisational field; Institutional fit}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{03}},
publisher = {{Division of Packaging Logistics, Department of Design Sciences}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Freight Transportation Security System}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/247261201/Avhandling_Camilla_NM_LUCRIS.pdf}},
year = {{2026}},
}