Comparative evaluation and comparison of the functions of different types of international maritime bill of lading

The purpose of the present study is to make a comparative comparison between the functions of paper and electronic bill of lading and to evaluate their comparison. The research is of applied type and multi-criteria decision making method. In the first step, resources were searched and collected. Then, the data were categorized and coded. Then, data were compared, evaluated, analyzed and summarized. Hierarchical analysis (AHP) method was used to compare the options. Also; Delphi method (expert opinions) was used to weigh and compare the pairs of variables. For final analysis, Expert Choice software, version 2004 was used. The results showed that the indicators affecting the evaluation of paper and electronic bill of lading are classified into 9 different areas. These indicators include: transfer of contractual rights, transfer of possession, transfer of ownership, receipt of goods, contract of carriage, validity of signature, speed of delivery, registration of information and costs. On the other hand, a pairwise comparison of the indicators showed that the "transfer of ownership" index had the highest weight (0.64) and then the "contractual rights transfer" index with a weight (0.58). The lowest weight belonged to the index "Record various information" with (0.15). In terms of pairwise comparison of weighted indices of both types of bill of lading, the results showed that neither had absolute superiority over the other. Paper bill of lading received more points than electronic bill of lading in the transfer of contractual rights, transfer of ownership, transfer of possession, receipt of goods and contract of carriage. The electronic bill of lading had priority over the paper bill of lading in terms of signature validity, speed of operation, information registration and cost.