Dealing with multicultural human resources in a socially responsible manner: a focus on the maritime industry

Shipping companies’ crucial need for cost cutting is their main motive for recruiting seafarers of various nationalities and formulating multicultural teams on board ships. This paper seeks to examine ways of dealing with cultural issues by being a socially responsible company. The main point of the research is to examine how managing multicultural crews is related to the shipping companies’ and the industry’s social responsibility. An extensive literature review on the cultural issues of maritime manpower, with a focus on the working and living conditions and the management of shipping crews, reveals important aspects of the subject. This analysis is enriched with qualitative data from an on-board case study, and from a survey among crew managers and manning agents. Results show that managing multicultural human resources in a socially responsible manner requires socially acceptable behaviour towards seagoing labour from all the industrial actors.     

Cultural diversity, manning strategies and management practices in Greek shipping

The present paper examines the way Greek shipping companies and Greek seafarers perceive culture, and how this affects their approach to crew management and operation of the ships. The analysis focuses on the manning strategies employed by the companies, on the operational problems that might occur on-board, and on any possible disturbance of the relation between the ship, the office at shore and third parties. Finally, a number of management practices which, when implemented, help to overcome these problems is also examined. The research methodology includes a review of the existing literature and interviews conducted by means of questionnaires filled in by crew managers and seafarers. Results show that some of the predominant problems encountered aboard, as far as communication with multicultural crews is concerned, are rooted in cultural and linguistic incompatibility, as well as in inadequate and inappropriate training. Furthermore, crew managers and seafarers lack both a clear perception of culture, and share opinions on the implementation of manning strategies. The present paper concludes that culture management can enhance crew team cohesion, upgrade communication at all levels, and, finally, improve the quality of the working environment, the safety of the workplace and the overall performance of the team.     

市场经济的产物——专业船员公司

计划经济时期的船员管理体制已不能适应我国现今市场经济时代和国际航运市场的发展。专业化船员公司是我国航运企业生存和发展的必然产物。把船员作为一种人力资源,传统的航运企业应该通过船员体制改革,达到从拥有船员资源到控制船员资源的转变,盘活船员资源,让它在船员劳务市场中健康发展。     

中国船员对外劳务输出的现状及发展策略

国际航运市场的迅速发展,使得船员需求量大幅增加,中国船员劳务输出在当前国际船员劳务市场上的份额很小,找到存在的问题,正确对待,合理解决,对中国船员劳务输出的发展大有益处。中国船员劳务公司应该加强自身建设,增强社会责任感,为中国船员劳务的发展和航运强国的建设贡献力量。     

发达国家船舶配员现状与未来

简述了国际航运发达国家船舶配员减少的发展过程,总结了船舶配员减少的基础和主要方法,目的是为我国国家、航运企业及航海教育提供参考。     

现代航运业发展与船舶配员减少引起的安全问题分析

由于现代航运业的发展与船舶配员减少等原因，海上船舶安全出现了新的问题。文中从船员疲劳、ISM规则实施以及公司追求利益等方面进行分析，提出了相应解决上述问题的意见和建议。     

2020全球限硫令对海员权益的影响

2020全球限硫令的推出,对各方均造成了极大的影响。为确保海员权益不受损害,文章结合国内外资料以及对部分海员的访谈,在国内首次系统分析了2020全球限硫令的实施对海员在人身安全、职业健康、工作休息、工资报酬、责任追究等五方面影响;并首次从船东和主管机关的角度分别提出了履行2020全球限硫令时保护海员权益的建议,即船东要加强培训、确保船舶配员、关注海员职业健康和工资报酬,船旗国和港口国主管机关要加强海员权益保护检查、确保提供合格燃料油以及给予海员足够的宽容和理解等。     

The reform of Chinese state-owned ship crewing agencies and implications for China’s seafaring labour export

ABSTRACT

With the economic reform in China, the international shipping industry and some academics anticipated, as early as the 1990s, that Chinese seafarers would flood the world’s seafaring labour market. However, China’s seafarer export has been far lower than these expectations. This article seeks to explain this lack of development through research into the management strategies of two major ship crewing agencies in China, which have been reformed to different degrees, and the experience of the seafarers who work for them. To examine this question, 86 interviews of managers and seafarers were conducted in two Chinese state-owned crewing agencies (SCAs) between 2008 and 2013. The studies demonstrate that despite the economic reform in China, the SCAs were still supported and constrained by institutions at higher levels, instead of becoming independent, market-oriented economic entities, which constrained the development of foreign manning business. This partly explains the limited rate of increase of China’s seafarer export.     

船员管理信息系统的构想

探讨了构建船员管理信息系统,依托信息技术对船员实行有效的动态管理。在系统开发、用户访问和安全设计等主要方面初步论证了管理信息系统的技术可行性。研究表明,应用网络的开放性和交互性,能够充分发挥网络联系政府、船公司、船员的实效,在船公司与船员之间以及政府管理机关与船员之间建立一种新型的服务平台,在全国范围建立快速的、优良的船员管理信息系统,从而进一步提升我国航运服务业的国际竞争力。     

论船舶配员服务行为的法律属性

船舶配员服务作为一种航运实务中非常活跃的经济行为,其真实法律属性直接影响到各相关方权利责任的分配．文中从船舶配员服务行为法律属性入手,分析演化过程,力图在复杂的航运实际与法律法规的规定中找到平衡点。     

我国北方国际航运中心的定位与发展研究

基于我国北方建设国际航运中心的思路,对传统的航运中心的概念进行了分析,并依托于对大连港各方面竞争优劣势的剖析,提出了环渤海湾乃至我国北方地区国际航运中心的新的定义,并对该地区国际航运中心的建设与发展提出了战略性发展的策略研究。     

京杭运河山东段航运发展战略探索

在分析京杭运河山东段航运发展现状的基础上,提出京杭运河山东段航运发展战略总体目标是建设京杭运河水上运输高速大通道,打造现代化航运体系,并阐述了实施四大战略的发展战略重点及建立六大工作机制的发展战略措施。     

舰船人员编制的设置与控制

在舰船研究设计过程中,人员编制因涉及总体设计和部队组建而成为一项重要且复杂的工作。合理的人员编制是舰船功能充分发挥的重要保证,同时也是舰船总体设计的基本输入之一。针对舰船人员编制的特点,提出人员编制设置的基本原则和流程。由于舰船总体资源有限,且需要严格控制全寿命周期费用,因此在舰船研究设计过程中应对人员编制予以控制,对此,提出了技术性和非技术性2种途径。针对舰船人员编制研究的未来发展方向,从技术和验证等方面进行了展望。     

Clustering and performance: the case of maritime clustering in The Netherlands

Over the last years, the concept of clustering has become a central concept for analysing the competitiveness of nations, industries and firms. The cluster concept can be usefully applied to study clustering of maritime activities. Maritime activities, such as shipping, shipbuilding and port and maritime services, are clearly geographically concentrated in a number of maritime clusters. Due to ongoing internationalization in these industries, the concentration of maritime activities in clusters is likely to increase. This observation leads to two important research questions: what are the advantages for firms to locate in clusters and what factors influence the development of maritime clusters? This study identifies four agglomeration economies that attract firms to cluster: a joint labour pool, a broad supplier and customer base, knowledge spillovers, and low transaction costs. Furthermore, it discusses the effects of aspects of the cluster structure, being the presence of internal competition, the heterogeneity of the cluster population, the entry and exit barriers, and the presence of (above mentioned) agglomeration effects. It also briefly discusses the important issue of cluster governance. This overview allows one to develop a theoretical framework to analyse clusters. In the empirical part, this framework is applied to the maritime cluster in The Netherlands. Based on empirical data, from surveys amongst firms in the maritime cluster, studies commissioned by the Dutch maritime Network and regional statistics, the presence of agglomeration economies in the cluster is shown. Secondly, it is shown that the cluster structure is beneficial for the performance. This paper finishes with conclusions and suggestions for further research.     

“撇缆活结”在船上的另类应用

随着船舶科技含量的提高,船上的船员不断精简。如何能在人员减少的情况下,完成原来高强度的工作,成为船员所面临的一个很现实的问题。扫舱工作就是一项高强度的工作,而且,这项工作需要多人一起完成。把“撇缆活结”应用到这一工作中,会大大减低工作强度,能在人员减少的情况下,很好地完成扫舱工作。     

Port system evolution – the emergence of second-tier hubs

Some evidence has emerged of second-tier hubs inserting themselves between hubs and feeder ports, producing a new hierarchy of port networks. This article aims to establish the dynamics of this process based on illustrative cases in Asia, South America, and Europe. Findings reveal spatial factors to include a cluster of small ports with minimal sailing distance within a given range, suitable channel and berth depth, and ideally high capacity inland links. From the economic perspective, demand-side factors include a local captive market and aggregated demand to be captured from other ports, while supply-side factors include diseconomies of scale at traditional hubs, an increase in direct services, an increase in large feeder vessels calling from first-tier hubs which are then transhipped to smaller feeders for serving local ports, and an increase in overland servicing of local smaller ports. From a strategic perspective, vertical and horizontal integration in the shipping sector has produced extensive network economies, whereby shipping lines look to create group-specific port hierarchies, enhanced in the presence of aggressive management strategies and supportive policies. This finding suggests that proactive port stakeholders can in certain circumstances seize the opportunity to capture this role within their port range.     

航运电子市场精确定价

根据航运市场中影响定价的主要因素，提出了精确定价是在当今信息网络化和经济全球化的浪潮下，承运人最合适的定价形态，分析了精确定价及其条件．指出了在航运电子市场巾，承运人应从托运人的偏好、差异化的航运服务、单独付帐和避免托运人套利等4个方而对航运交易加以控制，从理论和实例2方面阐述了采用价格差异(精确定价)策略对承运人所带来的收益，在得出航运企业利润最大化条件的基础上，提出了承运人制定精确定价的5个步骤。从而为我国航运企业制订信息化及电子商务发展战略提供有益的参考。     

Viability of transarctic shipping routes: a literature review from the navigational and commercial perspectives

The continuous ice retreat in the Arctic has fueled speculations of new transarctic shipping routes to be operational soon. While the media vigorously propagates the great potentials of these routes, researchers have accessed the feasibility of opening of transarctic shipping routes from various perspectives; diverse and some polarized conclusions have emerged. This paper aims to critically review the studies that examine the necessary conditions and requirements that make transarctic shipping routes sufficiently viable. We mainly focus on two aspects: navigation conditions and commercial features. Selected studies are analyzed and compared in depth. Finally, possible future research directions are put forward.This article is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled Viability of Transarctic Shipping Routes: An Overview, presented at the International Conference on ‘Global Integration of Economies and Connectivity Development’ in Taiwan on 31 August 2015.     

The perception and image of shipping

The image of the shipping industry plays a vital role in developing maritime transport as a major future, sustainable transport alternative. In particular, it is crucial to understand the image the shipping industry has among young people and the anatomy of the concept in order to be able to effectively promote careers in shipping, to cultivate shipping as an attractive labour market and to develop attractive educational programmes. The focus of this paper is the image of the shipping industry. This study reports on the findings of a large-scale survey of the image of shipping- and image-related concepts among upper secondary school pupils in Sweden, Norway and Greece. We define and analyse empirically by means of multivariate statistical analysis the anatomy of the image concept. We identify various image dimensions, estimate how young people rate the shipping industry along these dimensions and estimate their relative importance to young people who are planning their future careers. The results from this study can be used as a base for describing and explaining the images that young people have of the shipping industry. Such knowledge is fundamental for deriving and developing constructive strategies to promote careers in shipping, to adapt shipping to the expectations of young people and to develop creative and relevant educational programmes. Finally, understanding the image of shipping among young people is important not only for the shipping industry, but for other stakeholders as well, such as ship-owners associations, trade associations, labour unions, transport authorities and administrations and policy makers at the national and supra-national level.     

Comparison analysis for subjective and objective weights of financial positions of container shipping companies

This paper explores the positions of financial ratios identified utilizing both subjective and objective weighting methods—the consistent fuzzy preference relation (CFPR) and entropy—based on questionnaires collected from experts and the financial statements of major shipping companies in Taiwan and Korea. The comparison of perceptions of financial ratios by country and by expert group illuminates some financial aspects that experts may have ignored or not paid close attention to during the business operating process, especially in today’s turbulent world shipping market. The major results of this paper show that experts in the two countries have different perceptions of the debt-to-equity ratio and that by combining the results of objective and subjective weights, categorization of financial ratios by quadrant can help decision-makers find business options and strategies to improve the financial performance of their companies. This research approach may be applied to other business entities, improving on the direct rating method used in previous studies.