Ioannis Theotokas

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.

Value creation through corporate destruction? Corporate governance in shipping takeovers

This paper investigates corporate governance implications for shareholder value in shipping takeovers. Inadequate corporate governance structures are shown to affect corporate growth and even turn a company into a takeover target. The interesting case study of Stelmar Shipping is employed in an event study model, in order to evaluate the impact of takeover bids on corporate value and assess target and bidder shareholder returns. In line with past evidence, target shareholders are found to attain positive value gains but bidder shareholders only marginal benefits. The empirical findings underline the need for convenient corporate governance systems that minimize frictions related to agency problems and potentially result to a positive impact on shareholder value.

Corporate governance and board practices by Greek shipping management companies

Purpose – Corporate governance is an area of interest to researchers, stakeholders and the general public. In recent times, there has been an increased concern about the effectiveness of the board within corporate organizations due to corporate scandals and accounting irregularities of some well known firms, which highlighted the inefficiency of monitoring corporate boards and the overseeing of managerial decision making. This paper aims to investigate the effects that a number of factors such as organisational demography, organisational size, ownership type, board size, CEO duality and CEO dependence/independence have on board configuration.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the literature on organisational demography and board structure characteristics. Primary data were gathered from 27 management shipping companies having their head office in Greece.Findings – Findings show high levels of influence of the CEOs on the Board of Directors, since in most cases the CEO is the Chairman of the B...

Decision support systems for human resource training and development

Human resource training and development methods and techniques have different qualitative characteristics that require a multicriteria and multiscenario framework for their assessment. This study incorporates the AHP to assess the nine most important human resource training and development methods and techniques, under five criteria and six scenarios. The methods considered are ‘on-the-job training’, ‘mentorship’, ‘apprenticeship’, ‘vestibule training/simulators’, ‘web-based learning’, ‘instructor-led classroom training’, ‘programmed self-instruction’, ‘case studies/role playing’ and ‘systematic job rotations and transfers’. ‘Vestibule training/simulators’ and ‘mentorship’ have the average best scores, and they should be among the first priorities especially when efficiency, the motivation of employees and minimization of the duration of training time are the most important factors. ‘Web-based learning’ is ideal for minimizing training costs or when ease of application is the first priority. ‘On-the-job training’ is a very good alternative when the cost of training should be reduced while the motivation of employees should be increased.

Managing culturally diverse maritime human resources as a shipping company’s core competency

ABSTRACT The last few years a great body of research focused on the problems observed in the shipping industry due to the mix of different nationalities on board. Herein, the problem is observed in the managerial level, and specifically to the applied crew management strategies and the philosophy of the shipping companies regarding the issue of multiculturalism. The present paper seeks to elevate the value of human resources in shipping and to underline the potentials that human resource management and cultural diversity management have as a shipping company’s core competency. In a triangulated theoretical framework, the combination of resource-based view, human resource management, and cultural diversity management leads to a framework of choices which include strategies for the management of maritime human resources’ cultural diversity. The paper analyses the practical application of the proposed strategies and the fulfilment of the criteria required for turning crew management to a core competency and gaining sustainable competitive advantage from human resources.

Chapter 3 On Top of World Shipping: Greek Shipping Companies’ Organization and Management

The international shipping industry, and especially the bulk sector, has experienced the effects of numerous changes during the last three decades. It is not an exaggeration to state that one of the very few things that remained stable all these years is the leading position of Greek-owned fleet. Greeks own almost 17% of the world tonnage and rank at the top of the world maritime hierarchy. This chapter aims at examining the factors that have contributed to this success focusing on the internal environment of the companies by analyzing their resources and capabilities as well as their structural characteristics which created the conditions for their internal integration and the creation of a sustainable competitive advantage.

A literature review of port competition research

Research interest in the port industry has increased significantly in recent decades, due to the integration of ports in global supply chain strategies. Ports globally are facing strong competitive pressures in order to meet modern demand characteristics. The motivation behind this work has been to analyse the works present in academic journals, which fall under the port competition umbrella and identify niche areas of research. The study provides detailed analysis of the different research angles of port competition being port selection, port productivity and port competitiveness. Results show that most works focus on topics related to port selection, efficiency, performance and competitiveness. Room for future research appears to be in the areas of geographic comparisons of ports and terminals, financial indicators linked with environmental efficiency, efficiency in liquefied and liquid cargo terminals, port competitiveness and IT systems, port management related issues to strategy and marketing management and finally intra-port competition.

Shipping innovations: the different paths of Greece and Norway

The article compares innovative practices in two leading shipping nations, Greece and Norway. We also propose a framework for the understanding of innovation in shipping. Innovation in Greek and Norwegian shipping is analysed through developments at three levels. The macro level is the international context. The national context creates the meso level, defining resources available to the firms and the conditions for their operation. The micro level refers to the internal environment of the firms, the source of their strengths and weaknesses. For Greece, a strategy of market penetration and low cost leadership led to innovations exploiting their intangible assets. For Norway, the restrictive conditions prevailing at the meso level, promoted product innovation; the introduction of new ship types with advanced technological characteristics. In time, however, the two paths of innovation converged, following changes in the institutional framework.

The Potential for the Use of Single- versus Dual-Purpose Officers in Firms: A Theoretical Analysis Based on Resource-based, Transaction Cost and Labour Market Economics

This paper explores the issue of labour, within the context of maritime business. The authors consider the economic and operational advantages and disadvantages to a shipowner of developing and deploying dual-purpose officers within the worlds merchant marine. Two potential routes to increasing revenue are identified: improved ship utilisation due to efficiency gains, and increased demand due to the potential association with corporate social responsibility (CSR) if customer opinion on the policy is positive. Cost reduction as the main source of medium-term human resource value creation needs to be balanced with the investment costs of both instigating a shipboard reorganisation and, initially, of training dual-purpose officers. The difficulty lies in the fact that the advantages to be reaped may be insufficient to cover the required investment costs in countries with higher wages. Although the deployment of dual-purpose officers will probably not gain universal acceptance, the possibility exists for success in specific market segments, as long as cost-cutting or revenue creation opportunities are available.

Shipping Companies, the Economy and the State

What were the relationships among these highly successful, internationally active shipping companies with the Greek economy and the Greek state? The shipping sector has always been the most internationalized branch of the Greek economy and was decisive in its development.41 The peculiarity of the shipping business, participating in the international freight markets, is that its income is produced outside Greece; shipping capital flows into Greece from abroad and has little relation to the productive structures of the country. But public opinion considers the ties of the shipping industry with Greece as close or loose depending on the appearance of the Greek flag on ships and of the rise and fall of foreign exchange from shipping, as this appears in the accounts of the Bank of Greece. Indeed, the fact that a large part of Greek shipping activities is carried out abroad has reinforced the view that shipping has had very little influence on shaping the economic structures of the country. As a consequence of the above, analyses of the economy of Greece refer very little or scarcely at all to shipping.42 However, from its founding, the role of the modern Greek state was crucial to forming the Greek shipping industry. Since the mid-1970s, a series of studies has appeared on the course of Greek shipping and its relations with the Greek state from its founding to the present day (Kremmydas, 1985, Kardasis, 1993, Papathanasopoulos, 1983, Harlaftis, 1996).