In earlier times a ship belonged to one nation, was technically and commercially managed by the owner and was manned by one nationality, with one agenda.
Communication was much easier, as the interaction was between people with similar perceptions.
These days shipping companies operate under diverse circumstances. Vessels may be financed by Japanese banks, built in Korea, for a company registered in Malta with the principals living in Italy.
Ships may have commerc ial management from London, technical management from Singapore and personnel with Indians as management staff, Ukrainians at operator level and Filipinos as support staff, thus involving three or more crewing agencies.
The different entities involved in operating the vessel may never even know each other, let alone speak the same language. They may have different values and no common loyalty. Persons of unknown
168 THE NAUTICAL INSTITUTE
FUNCTIONS Command and Control
Communication internal
R espirati on
absorption and digestion
Blood Circulation
Excretion
Locomotion Communication external
Procreation
ORGANS Brain and the nervous system
Nose, lungs Mouth, Stomach, Intestines
Heart, arteries and veins Rectum and access ones Hands and legs Vocal chords, mouth, body Reproductory organs
compatibility with different levels of knowledge and intelligence, different social and religious beliefs, different eating habits, discipline and loyalty are brought together as a team on board.
These individuals, sometimes of widely different ethnic backgrounds, have varying values of community habits, probably as the result oflimited civil liberties and class barriers which existed in the countries of their origin. At times it impacted their ability to take orders and restricted participation in informal social dialogue or expressions of conjecture and j est. Language barriers restricted the transfer of thoughts, exchange of knowledge, quality work and ability to learn. Differing body language complicated issues even further. A complex alliance sprouted as a result of essentially an economic wedlock.
In their flight to the developing countries for crew to manage and operate vessels, more traditional shipowners proceeded cautiously. Not surprisingly, in many cases, ties with former colonies were preferred over others of unknown and untried origin or familiarity .
All this may have eroded the shipboard culture. It is very important, under these circumstances, to have well defined personnel management, which must adapt to the cosmopolitan nature of the vessel's operation.
Figure 25.5
The functions of shipboard management need to be defined at this stage.
Functions of shipboard operations
As can be seen in the diagram above, these functions precede the persons responsible for carrying them out. Thus if a master is incapacitated, the chief officer, with the help ofthe chief engineer and the rest of the staff, would carry out the responsibilities of the master, thus completing the command and control
and other associated functions.
An understanding of this is required to manage social relationships on board. Before that let us examine the seafarer's social responsibilities.
Social responsibilities of seafarers
Seafarer's social responsibilities can be classified as internal and external. Internally seafarers have responsibilities towards:
Own vessel.
Own shipmates.
Safety of shore labour, officials, visitors and passengers .
The flag they fly.
The company.
Externally, seafarers have responsibilities towards:
A cleaner environment.
Other ships and seafarers outside their own ship.
Ports and shipping facilities.
The avoidance of accidents, lower repair costs, reduced operational losses, lower insurance costs, improved company image and reputation are the benefits of keeping up to such social responsibilities.
These can be achieved through:
l. C omp etent managers and op erators
2. Professional cooperation and social attitudes such as:
Respect for other religions, languages, cultures, and races.
Interesting social and sports activities on board.
Help to the sick, depressed & distressed shipmates.
Navigation
Propulsionandpower
Commercial/Cargo operations Command and Control Systems Planned Maintenance
Care of Persons en board Mooring and U nmooring Emergency preparedness
These are inherent for right functioning - the function of care of persons on board.
Seafarers' responsibilities towards the vessel and shipmates fall in the domain of social relationships with multi-cultural crews and thus the central domain of this paper.
National differences
National differences amongst a ship's staffhave a direct bearing on social relationships on board. Doctor D.H. Moreby, in his paper presented to the international manning and training conference at Singapore in November 1989, has explained that:
"A significant difference between people from different countries is their attitude towards authority and rules. By investigating managers and workers in 40 different countries, Hofstede developed
a
Power Differential Index (PDI) which measures the hierarchical distance managers maintain from their subordinates and the distance workers perceive their managers to be removed. A high PD! shows that managers have a great deal ofpower over the workers and maintain a distance from them".Another interesting turn to this came when Hofstede investigated the attitudes people held towards company rules. A high score on the Rule Orientation Index (ROI) is when people abide by the letter ofthe rules even when, under the circumstances, this is against the best interests of the company. A low ROI shows that workers use company rules as nothing more than general guidelines.
Thus emerged a matrix (see figure 25.6) of these combinations based on the works of Moreby and Hofstede. This matrix has critical implications for manning and ship management. A shipowner, ship manager or ship master employing crews from the same cluster (high PD!, high ROI, say), finds it relatively easy. However, one could well imagine the predicament if the master and management came from the high PD!, high ROI cluster and those at the support level were from the low PDI, low ROI cluster.
It should be appreciated that the above is based on a study of sections ofpopulations at various points
HlIhPDI HlghROI France, Italy, Greece,
Spain, South America, India, Malaysia, Singapore
LowROI Japan, Phillippines,
West Africa, East Africa
of time and may not hold true in all cases, all the time.
Whilst agreeing with the works of Moreby and Hofstede a question has emerged:
"Isn't itpossible to convert people from one cluster (high PDI, high ROI) to another cluster (Iow PDI, low ROI)"? The answer is Yes.
Problems in multi-culture - myth or reality - a case study
"Prescription withoutdiagnosislsmalpractice, whether it be in med,cine or management" - Karl Albrecht, Organisation Development.
The author wishes to share the observations made through a 'case study' used as a learning aid to appreciate various factors contributing to human relationships on board.
The author acknowledges the 275 participants of the Vessel Resource Management course conducted by the School ofSynergic Studies and 165 participants of the Master RevalidationlUpgradaing course, held between August and December 1998, at Lai Bahadur Shastri College of Advanced Maritime Studies and Research (LBSCAMSAR). The views of these participants are listed below.
A case study on personnel management with multi-cultural crews
MT YWCA was manned by Indian senior officers (master, chiefengineer, chiefofficer, second engineer and radio officer) with the rest of the crew Filipino, except for a Polish fitter. The master joined with the bosun, pumpman, seven other crew members (all Filipinos) and a Polish fitter. The 11 other staff had already been on board for a month. The relieved master had not mentioned any untoward incident on board in his handover.
Within a fortnight the master realised that the chief offic er, with a superior certificate, on afirstpromotion, was found wanting in many basics and required a lot of guidance. The master, who recognised that training of subordinates was a function required for the effective running of a vessel, decided to extend the guidance. There was also a tremendous shortage of
chief officers.
One month later it was noticed by the master that the Filipino pumpman (a key post on oil tankers) on
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LowPDI West Germany
Figure 25.6 USA, N.W. Europe,
Scandinavia, Australia.
the vessel was behaving arrogantly with the chief officer. On enquiring with the chief officer it was found that the pumpman had apparently written excessive hours in his overtime sheet and that this was a reaction based on the chief officer ticking him off.
The master called for the pumpman, whose version of the story was that he felt the chief officer incompetent as a tankerman and that there were quite a few times that clear instructions were not being handed over. He had therefore requested that his daily jobs to be carried out be given in writing. As about
the overtime, he said, he followed the same norms as on his last vessel and if a different approach were to be taken he would abide by it. However, "I have come to work here and make money", he said.
Each participant was given the task of analysing the problem and stating it specifically to thus arrive at a possible solution. Their views are tabulated in figure 25.7 below:
As can be seen, the diagnoses are many. Ifeach of them were a judge in the situation above, their diagnosis would have led them to prescribe accordingly. That is to say, if they considered the
Diagnosis/ problem as expressed by participants
% representation of participants views Pumpman aggressive, arrogant 25
Pumpman wanted more money 7
Chief officer inefficient and
incomp etent 18
Overtime related problem 4
Pumpman taking advantage 6
Communication problem 6
Due to multi-cultural crew 14 Master's ineffective handling
of the situation
Lack of command/control/monitor Superior unwilling to learn
from sub ordinate
Company selection procedure Lack of procedures on board Chief officer not giving written instructions
Figure 25. 7
8 2 I
5 3
pump man arrogant they would have disciplined him and expected the problem to be solved. If they considered that inadequate procedures were the cause they would have construed that additional procedures would have solved the problem and so on. What is alarming from the above is that each diagnosis has a different prescription.
If the root cause is restricted to on board the vessel then, of course, the chief officer's ineffectiveness or lack of competency is the problem. This can be ascertained by the fact that ifthe competency situation was corrected the possibility of such a situation arising is reduced to minimal. Moreover, this ineffectiveness was in spite of the fact that he was holding a superior certificate. Professionally he should have chosen to make himself competent at the time he got his mates certificate. It is this lacuna in the system that STCW'95 amendments to STCW'78 attempt to rectify. The problems, as we can see, are not multi-cultural in any way. This could have happened on ships with the same or differing nationalities and culture.
Looking beyond the scene on board we should review the procedures and role played by the employer during the selection process. Does the shore office have a responsibility for selection? Should we compromise on quality ifthere is a shortage? Should the ship's staff sympathise with the shore selection if there is no system for company training?
It is said that sympathy never corrects a situation.
It is empathy that is required. That is seeking to understand before wanting to be understood. What is alarming is the small percentage of ship and shore personnel who accept this pointofview! Ifthe superior (in this case the chief officer) were inefficient, the subordinates would take advantage. This is a natural law. Through a further review the general consensus agreed was as follows:
In the final diagnosis, the chief officer had been exposed due to lack of competency, forcing him to oscillate between an aggressive and passive role. The aggression shown by the pumpman and his taking advantage of the situation is but a part of the natural law we live in.
The meaning of the term exposed
In a power hungry, hierarchical systern it is most appropriate to empower authorities to pass and fail
Competence of Technical Management!
people-pass orfail students, pass or fail subordinates and pass or fail people in general. For example, 40 % and above is a pass, whereas below 40 % is declared 'fail'. The problem of failure arises only when the individual involved accepts failure.
In reality ,people fail within themselves before they fail in the outside world. The positive way of encouraging a person who considers himselfweak is to grade him.
Grade A = Excellent; B = Very good; C = Good;
D
=
Fair and E=
Exposed.Grades A to D will be considered competent or passed, whilst grade E means exposed, or failed. Thus out ofa group of 10 appearing for an examination, let us assume that two are with Grade E, i.e., Exposed.
This means that when they are in the company of the others who have got Grade D and above, they would stand exposed to the latter's whims and fancies. Thus, in the case study discussed earlier, the chief officer has definitely been exposed due to lack of competence.
Human behavioural traits to understand multi- culture
This section deals with the relationship between aggression, assertiveness and passivity. The table in figure 25.8 is the author's concept of what leads to different behavioural tendencies and corresponding effectiveness. This should be considered when managing social relationships.
Assertiveness comes with having clear directions, understanding management and especially stress management.
How competence affects social relatiooships We are a combination of mind, body and soul. This is why every habit or competence of ours is a combination of attitude (soul), skill (body) and knowledge (mind). Through various such imitations, acquirements and internalisation'S, the present self is a permutation and combination of place of birth, parental influence, age, sex, language, religion, education, skills, environment, past experiences, etc., all of which reflect in ourperception. Thus inequalities are caused. This inequality manifests itself as differences in culture, caste, religion, competence, language and nationalism.
Degree of Effectiveness
Understanding Long Short
H urnan relationships self term term
AGGRESSIVE High Low Low Low High
ASSERTIVE High/medium High/medium High/medium Hi.e:h Hi.e:h
Figure 25.8
Such differences can affect social relationships.
Many a time the competence ofa person nullifies such differences. As we know, competence is subjective and as such affects social relationships.
Ratio of technical to managerial to social (f:M:S) skills
This calls for introspection into our educational system. As has been agreed by most of the professionals who attempted the case study, the ratio ofcompetence required to perform functions on board vis-a-vis T:M:S should be 4:4:2 for the management level, whilst our formal system is designed for the ratio 8: 1:1. This is a large mismatch and leaves most of our learning ofmanagerial and social aspects to mimicking and borrowing from our superiors. This was our informal education. Anything informal, not documented, goes through a declining phase and that is what could have happened to shipboard/shore management This is also due to the fact that of the three domains of our competence - attitude, skill and knowledge-attitude is themostdifficultto document and hence the learning process of subordinates remains too subjective.
Standardised management cannot be passed down an informal sy stem. Documentation is a necessity for standardisation. We can see that STCW'78 issued a certificate primarily on a knowledge based syllabus.
STCW'95 looks at competence through knowledge and skills. However, it is the attitude which will determine whetherthe acquired knowledge and skill is put to good use. Welcome to STew 2002 I!!, or
should it be earlier?
Solutions
Until then the solution suggested to the above case study and, subsequently, to managing this so called
"multi-cultural problem" is:
Superiors should realise that the function of shipboard management is more imp ortant than the person.
Superiors should self motivate, learn as a professional would and take a more assertive role.
The chiefofficer should mend his relationship with the pumpman in the best interest of vessel and respect and utilise the pumpman's technical expertise. When we examine the T:M:S required on board for the pumpman, it would be in the ratio of 7:2:1. Hence a certain amount of aggression in a subordinate is to be expected, as he is not given formal management training. As we go higher in position, the requirement for our technical skills takes a secondary role compared to management skills.
The company should review its selection procedures.
Training institutions should review course syllabuses, based on a training need analysis, carried out with shipping company inputs and make effective changes.
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Multi-culture should not to be propagated as a problem, but as a strength. Shipboard personnel need to be aware and learn the ways different
cultures manage their lives and organisation.
Senior Il1llI1lIgement both on board and ashore should be conversant with the peculiarities of various nationalities and learn to gain from their strengths. It is basically the responsibility of the person performing the superior functions to learn and understand the needs and peculiarities of the person performing the lesser functions.
• It would help if operator and support level personnel were aware of the multi-cultural differences of senior management.
A wareness programmes in place about these differences, ifany, should take a back seat, keeping the goals of the organisation in focus. It can be proved that these differences are internal barriers within the self.
Flag states should make clear that they issue a certificate of qualification and not a certificate of competency. This would lead to people taking more interest in their own competency, rather than unknowingly submitting to believing that the certificate makes them competent.
Promotion of a shipboard culture at an internationallevel.