A study on impact of organisational culture on company performances in Singapore shipping industry

• Main Author: Shum, Zhenyi
• Other Authors: Chew Ah Seng, David
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Maritime studies::Maritime management and business
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/67482
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With the shipping industry witnessing a host of global firms successfully harnessed their organizational culture characteristics to their competitive advantage, and ultimately lead to high performance, this research aims to study the methods in which the Singapore shipping industry can adopt to create a sustainable high performance culture, in particular focus in the leadership and strategic planning aspect. Surveys and Interviews have been conducted with the professionals from the shipping companies in Singapore, inclusive of both local companies and multinational corporations. Results have shown that regardless of company size and the type of company, there are similarities, in the aspects of leaders and strategy; an organization needs to put in place to ensure high sustainable performance. Further analysis has shown that employees that harnessed different working experience have different expectations and needs. The younger employees value autonomy, at the same time, requires constant guidance. On the other hand, the more experienced employees value stability and mutual respect from the leaders. Hence, leaders have to adapt and be flexible in the management style. In addition, strategic planning has been acknowledged to be essential for an organization to curb future challenges, both external and internal. While different companies have different niche areas and strategy, results show that it is important for companies to structure interactive work processes. Interdepartmental communication has been found to be a subtle problem in some companies, reflecting the need for plans to put in place effective communication interdepartmentally. A company has to continuously strive for improvement, hence proving the need for employee development and R&D plans in the organization. In the course of the report, analysis would be done on the leaders and strategy of the Singapore shipping firms. Further discussion would also be carried out on how these two factors have relations with organizational culture and sustainable performance.