Cross-cultural studies on organizational strategies for shipping firms : aspect of individualism or collectivism, power distance and performance orientation

• Main Author: Wong, Sek Teng.
• Other Authors: Chew Ah Seng, David
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Maritime studies::Maritime management and business
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/52618
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

More than 90 per cent of the world trade is carried by maritime transport and thus shipping is essential for the growth of economy. However, many shipping companies were negatively affected by the financial crisis. Singapore shipping companies also cannot escape from the disaster in shipping industry. In order to survive in this industry, the traditional shipping companies need to have a change to adapt the new trend. Hence, impacts of the culture on the implementation of strategy were widely discussed in this report. This study aims to determine the comparison among correlation between organizational culture based on Hofstede and GLOBE model and also strategy implemented by shipping companies in the 3 continents namely United States, Europe and Asia. Our research shows that shipping companies from all the 3 continents are collectivism. Besides, shipping companies from the United States and Europe are prone towards low power distance while Asian shipping companies are prone towards high power distance. Moreover, American and European shipping companies are inclined towards high performance orientation but Asian shipping companies are inclined towards lower extent. On the other hand, we analyzed the financial situation of each shipping companies based on ROE and Free Cash Flow. NYK and Tidewater are the benchmark for the Singapore shipping companies because they have increasing FCF and positive ROE. Thus, we suggest that the Singapore shipping companies should adopt the dimensions of organizational cultures such as collectivism, low power distance and high performance orientation. Our research was appraised through conducting eight interviews with relevant shipping companies and sending out survey forms to the employees of shipping companies. More in-depth study could be carried out in the future discussing how each niche in the maritime industry is affected by the culture such as container, tanker, offshore and etc. The culture of MNC which is mixed national culture could be further studied.