Shipping is a people's business : a study of human element in container shipping industry

• Main Author: Oh, Jun Kai
• Other Authors: Kenneth Tan Siah-Ann
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Maritime studies
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/67746
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Many studies in the past have been conducted to analyse the People factor in shipping industry. However, there is actually still limited study conducted to compare and evaluate the importance of shore-based human, software and hardware specifically in container shipping industry. Hence, this study aims to bridge the gap in that aspect in the first part of the study and will also establish some of the People factors that are important for companies to manage in the second part. Other than comparison between People, Software and Hardware, the aspects of People factors that would be explored in this study are the leadership, culture and needs models, and also skill sets. In addition, how companies should manage women would also be studied. Surveys and interviews were conducted with people working in container shipping companies or those with prior experience in the industry. By analysing the result, it is found that People is the most important out of the 3 factors. In addition, a function for the relevant factors in People that are deemed important for container shipping companies to manage are established. The crucial leadership qualities in container shipping are adaptability, integrity, decision-making skills, ability to develop strategy and communication. An adaptability and involvement cultures are also deemed as important in container shipping companies. For needs, the major ones are security and belonging. Skill sets wise, Service orientation and operational experience are regarded to be an advantage for good commercial performance. It is also found that treating women fairly is imperative as this would affect their motivation and indirectly the performance of the organisation . All in all, although People factor is the most important, there should still be integration of People, Software and Hardware as People alone could not contribute to a sustainable success of container shipping companies. In the final part of this study, it also discusses the implications which offer more insights for further studies related to this topic.