Organizational and Managerial Implications of Quality Control in Shipping - Coursework Example

Management work The aim of the paper is to answer the two questions concerning management and to try to explain why social responsibility in shipping management has acquired different form in the recent years (with the examples of the Greek shipping companies), as well as how new Port Container Development will help the shipping companies to cope with the issues of the external environment. How have the social responsibilities of ship management business managers changed over the years What now is a major part in their business policies The expansion of the international markets, as well as the need of consumers to include social aspects into all spheres of management, have made shipping management change over the recent years in respect to social responsibilities being given special meaning. It has been proved, that old management techniques in shipping have been working fir short-term profits only; it has also become evident that socially 'responsible' shipping business causes higher revenues and better positive results for both the stock markets and the general company performance. New management framework has also been formed with the additional pressure of environmental issues, which always carried a tint of social knowledge. All these factors have challenged shipping management to re-negotiate their position in the social environment and in the society as a whole. CSR is essentially about companies moving beyond a base of legal compliance to integrating socially responsible behaviour into their core values, in recognition of the sound business benefits in doing so. Since businesses and the challenges they face differ widely, government interventions need to be carefully considered, well-designed and targeted to achieve their objective. (___) The PD Ports Company located in Hartlepool (UK) is the company which can be seen as the bright example of the organization having actively applied the principles of the CSR through changing legislation and environments. It is noted in the striving for further strengthening and promoting its CSR activities. It has been engaged into many CSR activities, and it should be said that CSR in the UK has become one of the principal governmental priorities. It is stated, that 'we recognize that there is no 'one size fits all' approach to CSR, and that companies need to consider the nature of their business and its key impacts in developing their CSR practice'. (http://www.csr.gov.uk/raisingawareness.shtml) This is why for the shipping companies the implementation of CSR carries certain peculiarities. Government works for the for making the companies aware of the available CSR practices and encourages businesses to improve their performance; this may be considered to be one of the essential changes in the general implementation of the CSR principles through the shipping companies. As for PD Ports, the company also takes active part in the promotion and support of the CSR principles through the following activities: the philosophy 'safety first' is the top priority for the company management; the company is prepared to invest into both Capital and people; the company has its main focus on the customers, and looks for additional profitability through this customer focus; the company shows full commitment to the equal opportunities for employees; what is essential, is that the company actively works for the promotion of the environmental interests, as well as for their protection. (http://www.thpal.co.uk/corporate/core_values.asp) 'While various conventions and regulations imposed minimum standards for the operation of shipping companies, the control mechanisms were not always efficient in their mission. However, quality in shipping is not a matter of the shipowners only. Quality has a price and, as with all other goods and services, this price is determined by demand and supply. Neither shipowners nor regulation alone can force or command this price if quality is not demanded by the users of the shipping service by the manufacturers, traders, freight forwarders or final consumers' (Galanopoulos, 2002). The major changes in the social responsibility for the ship management have been in the understanding that safety and quality of services had to be improved; International Maritime Organization was working in direction of setting minimal standards for the quality and safety of services provided by shipping organizations; the results of these efforts were reflected in the International Safety Management Code. It is an obligatory document and the companies have no choice but to comply with the requirements provided in it. Social responsibility presupposes that shipping enterprises should regularly trace and monitor the impact they produce on their stakeholders and on the society as a whole; in this case and only in this case the shipping enterprise will be considered a socially responsible actor in its business environment. In the UK, where shipping management and shipping industry play one of the major roles in the attitudes of the shipping companies towards the implementation of the social responsibility aspects may be defined in the three principal ways: some enterprises appear to be absolutely hostile towards social responsibility, others are neutral, and the third support the implementation of those principles understanding their increasing importance. In 2005 the PD Ports has become the company which has improved its company profile through active participation in the CSR activities; moreover, as the company is a large business entity and works with the society and impacts the environment, it is essential for the company to reflect its role in the society; the result of this reflection is usually shown through the improvement of the CSR practices by management of the company. Moreover, it is essential that each employee of the company understand the importance of the CSR activities and thus works for their better implementation and performance. There has been issued a Good Practice Guide on the state level to promote and to explain the importance of CSR for each company, especially for the shipping management; the higher importance of CSR for shipping companies is in the fact that they first of all seriously impact environment, and are connected with the increased hazards at workplace, thus CSR is essential for the employees of the shipping companies. In the implementation of the CSR activities, the PD Ports company has been able to create and use the following documents and principles: compliance with ISO 9001: 2000; environmental charter of the company; being accredited by grain and feed trade association; full service management from weighting facilities to line feed systems, which allows to comply with both CSR and environmental requirements. (http://www.thpal.co.uk/portservices/services.asp) Social responsibility has acquired new meaning through the following factors: it is admitted at present that inclusion of the social responsibility into ship management is essential for the better quality of the service delivery; social responsibility is directly connected with the protection of the external environment from the negative effects of the shipping activity, this is why with the growing pressure of the different environmental regulations social responsibility orientation is re-directed at environmental protection. Container port development and its role in solving the issues of the external environment Container port development is an important aspect within the broad economic policy setting with involving a large number of parties. The importance of this development is to support general economic efficiency of the country. 'Efficiency can be understood to mean the development of the linked, intermodal system that maximizes the national economic benefits of moving goods from sources to markets, where the benefits and costs considered include environmental effects'. (Hopkins 1998) Government and legislation play an important role in the supporting of the programs connected with the development of shipping business; port container development raises many different issues in relation to the potential external costs, because port container development needs provision of many environmental studies, navigational aids, dredging of channels, etc. Thus, container development has many sources of potential market failure. The New Terminal/ Port Container development is beneficial in resolving the issues connected with the external environments, which are usually involved into the normal performance of any shipping company. It is essential to consider the principal external challenges, among which are noise, air emissions, ship waste management, spills to sea, ground contamination, esthetical considerations and energy. PD Logistics has been appointed by Cheshire Recycling to take over and significantly expand the kerbside recycling collection contract in North Lincolnshire. Cheshire Recycling is an independent business unit and part of Bridgewater Paper. The decision is already bearing fruit with a 100 per cent increase in the volume of waste paper collected within the North Lincolnshire area. Cheshire Recycling is the UK's number one recovered paper collector from domestic properties. The company made the appointment of PD Logistics in response to a European directive that requires paper to be collected separately from other refuse to ensure that it is contamination free. Cheshire Recycling required a proven local supplier for its contract with North Lincolnshire Council to provide a seamless transition from the existing "blue bag" collection servicing 37,000 households, to a "blue box" system encompassing the 64,000 homes within the North Lincolnshire Council boundaries The main principles which will allow better environmental performance of the shipping companies in the UK are transparency of reporting, accountability and credibility of reporting. There are 22 Key Performance Indicators considered to be significant to UK businesses. Emissions to air 1. Greenhouse Gases 2. Acid Rain, Eutrophication and Smog Precursors 3. Dust and Particles 4. Ozone Depleting Substances 5. Volatile Organic Compounds 6. Metal emissions to air Emissions to water 7. Nutrients and Organic Pollutants 8. Metal emissions to water Emissions to land 9. Pesticides and Fertilisers 10. Metal emissions to land 11. Acids and Organic Pollutants 12. Waste (Landfill, Incinerated and Recycled) 13. Radioactive Waste Resource use 14. Water Use and Abstraction 15. Natural Gas 16. Oil 17. Metals 18. Coal 19. Minerals 20. Aggregates 21. Forestry 22. Agriculture (DEFRA, 2006) 1. Noise nuances Noise appears to be one of the most important aspects of external environment, and proper container port development plays major role in resolving any issues connected with noise. The New terminal/ port container development will allow to manage noise issues - it is clear that the noise from cranes and ships, the noise from container handling heard by the neighbors, the noise of the auxiliary machinery and other related noises should be reduced to the reasonable level to decrease the amount of complaints sent by the population who lives not far from ports. Through the new development program it will be possible to meet the requirements towards the level of noise, through the development of noise maps showing the situation with the noise at the port. The ports should make their priority communication with neighbors on the most important external environmental issues; this will make the action of the new container development more effective. In reality, the ISO standard 14001 requires organization of the external communication, thus in combination with the use of the Development plan it will work for the benefit of the whole neighborhoods in any port. (Ready 1998) 2. Emissions to air (dust and particles, metal emission) The emission from ships is another important issue which should be resolved. Through the application of the new Port/ terminal Container development it will be possible to meet challenges of reducing the emissions of sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides. The use of the following instruments by ports will give enough space for resolving the issue with the lower costs: the use of low sulphur fuel (with the sulphur content lower than 0.5%). If we take the example of the PD Ports, it will become clear that not all shipping companies are open to the implementation of such principles, and with many similar agreements being voluntary, many companies refuse to implement the proposed policies. However, it should be understood that despite the principal drawbacks which the Port/ Terminal Container development possesses (absence of tax regulations in relation to the external environments) it will work for the decrease of the air emissions. (Hopkins 1998) 3. Ship waste management The new Development in combination with the EU requirements towards management of cargo residues and ship waste will allow managing the issue through implementing the new waste-generating facilities. It is possible to make this system self-operating; the whole scheme of waste-management is not aimed at gaining additional profits. It should be understood that though the new Development scheme should be exercised together with the other regulations in the sphere which the issue touches; for example, Pollution control regulations of 1 June 2004 are to be used as the additional source of information when the new development scheme is implemented in the area of waste management. Waste reception can be invoiced together with the port-call and related fees for each appropriate recipient. It is also possible and necessary to pay special attention to the liquid waste, as it has become the major pollutant of water and the grounds around any port. (International Shipping Federation 1997) 4. Emissions to water Spills management can also be included into the list of the most important factors of the external environment in shipping management. Moreover, this issue is directly related to the previous one, describing the management of wastes. As the new port/ terminal container development program is aimed at eliminating ay serious consequences in the external environment use, it is also connected with it. Ship spills is just another example of the external environment issue which can be reduced by the development program. Management of spills requires knowledge of the negative impact they cause to the environment, and while the principal regulations state spills should not appear next to the water supply chains, The New Terminal Container development can be used for the consideration and development of the separate plan for managing ship spills in any port. It is desirable, that the plan is specified, as each separate port has its unique location which of course impacts the instruments and ways of spill disposal. (Ready 1998) 5. Emissions to land. Ground contamination should be taken into account when speaking and developing the strategy for the spills and other waste disposal. It is a relevant problem for those ports, which don't use the principles of the new Terminal Container Development; the issue should be managed from the viewpoint of the kind of waste which pollutes the ground around the port, as well as the types of instruments available for disposal and cleaning of the ground. Moreover, the new management plan (Development plan) is certainly the means of creating new modern facilities for the sea spills, ground contamination and other issues' resolution. Forestry and resource use (oil, gas) are the two more factors of the external environment which can be and need to be solved through the application of the Terminal/ Container development plan. From the esthetical viewpoint, the external environment should be supposed to be the place suitable for living; this is why more attention should and will be paid to the way the territory surrounding ports is organized. References PD Ports. 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IMO/ILO guidelines for the development of tables of seafarers' shipboard working arrangements and formats of records of seafarers' hours of work or hours of rest 1999, London: International Maritime Organization; Geneva, International Labour Office, International Shipping Federation 1997, Compliance by Companies with the STCW 95 Amendments, London, Marisec Publications. Irwin, TS and Snell, SA 1996, Management: Building Competitive Advantage. 3d edition. McGraw Hill. Kirwan, Barry 1994, A Guide to Practical Human Reliability Assessment, Taylor and Francis. Marine Technology, Society of Naval Architect and Engineers, New York. OECD/GD (96)4, 1996, Competitive advantage obtained by some shipowners as a result of non-observance of applicable international rules and standards, OECD, Paris. Paixao, A. C., Marlow, P. B. 2002, Strengths and weakness of short sea shipping, Marine Policy, (article in Press) Ready, N. 1998, Ship Registration (3rd ed.), London: LLP Ltd. 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