Application of Fuzzy Cognitive Map to Design the Causal Structure and Analyze the Factors Affecting Good Governance in the Ports and Maritime Organization

Ports always play a strategic role in the development of a country's domestic and international trade, whether it is developing or developed. Ports as a base of maritime trade have changed a lot in recent decades, but in line with these changes, the Ports and Maritime Organization, as the main custodian of port and maritime policy, must adapt quickly, and this adaptation and the process of change in the next generations of ports of the country should lead to good governance in the management of port affairs. The evolutionary process of port governance shows that a single version cannot be used for governance reforms in all ports of the world, so in this study we try to examine the factors affecting good governance at the organizational level. The present study is a descriptive-survey research in terms of applied purpose and based on its nature and method. The statistical population in this study includes 22 experts of the Ports and Maritime Organization and the sampling method is random and purposeful due to the large number of experts. In this study, we first identify the factors affecting good governance by examining past literature studies in a hybrid manner and then  examine the components by surveying experts using the Fuzzy Delphi method and finally to show the causal reasoning between the components of the technique. Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping is used. Findings indicate that the components of  Equal Rights and Equity, Responsiveness & Accountability,  Defining Outcomes have the highest degree of centrality, respectively, and this indicates the importance of the above components compared to other components of good governance in the Ports and Maritime Organization.