How Have the Social Responsibilities of Ship Management Business Managers Changed over the Years - Essay Example

I. How have the social responsibilities of ship management business managers changed over the years What now is a major part in their business policies Give relevant examples of genuine companies if possible. (Not NYK). Corporate Social Responsibility When we speak of social responsibilities, we refer to corporate social responsibilities of an organisation together with its interests. A lot of concepts have been given on corporate social responsibility or CSR, but we'll focus on some popular ones. CSR is closely linked with the principle of sustainable development which argue that enterprises should be obliged to make decisions based not only on financial/economic factors, like profits, but also on the social, environmental and other consequences of their activities.1 So we are talking here of the social, environmental, human and other factors that are beneficial to the workers, the community, the organisation or business, and the consumers. In this situation, business is not just earning more and more money, but also looking after the welfare of the people. Sometimes, we refer to employees as the workforce and the consumers as partners. Business becomes an ordinary part of life - to say the least - and people might get used to it. Everyone becomes a part of the family, giving inputs and suggestions for the good of the organisation, until success is not far behind. Social responsibilities of ship management business managers evolved through the years. From mere spectator taking simple passive roles (for example, giving small donations or philanthropies), they now take active roles in promoting social responsibilities, instituting programmes that become part of their business. These responsibilities or programmes are focused on the employees, the workplace, the consumers, and the community in general, promoting programmes for the advancement of each of these stakeholders by regarding them as partners in building a strong and coherent organisation. In the traditional sense, organisations and businesses regard employees as mere workers. Now they point to them as partners because they are building an organisation or business which their lives depend on. Ship management business relies upon an effective and efficient workforce therefore its management skills and programmes and objectives should be more focused on them. Corporate social responsibility is applied on the workplace. Job design also has to be positioned in such a way that the workers or employees can work with ease and safety. Moreover, the workers are encouraged to give suggestions or inputs on how to improve the workplace. Job designs are patterned after the workers' suggestions. Corporate social responsibility or CSR is defined as a concept that states that organisations, especially commercial businesses, have a duty of care to all of their stakeholders in all aspects of their operations. This duty of care is seen to go beyond their statutory obligation to comply with legislation.1 Promotion and protection of the environment are concerns of ship management. In a ship, voluminous goods are being processed, and if there are no environmental measures taken, there might be environmental disaster. We have heard of oil spills in seas which endanger sea life, the fishes and coral reefs. They could have been avoided if there were environmental and safety measures done in the first place. Safety measures are one of the social responsibilities of ship management. Safety of workers inside and outside the ship, the passengers or consumers and the local community where the ship is docked are concerns of management. Bartol and Martin (1990) have this to say on social responsibility: The idea that managers have social responsibilities stems, in large part, from the growing interdependencies of present times. Such interdependencies have woven an intricate web of common interests between corporations and the communities in which they exist. This broad view of the social responsibilities of management encompasses economic, legal, ethical and discretionary responsibilities.2 (p.105) Managers depend upon workers to function and do their work. They can not exist alone without their workers. That's why the interdependencies, as mentioned by Bartol and Martin. Business and the community have to go hand in hand, working on areas that promote the environment, and everyone will be benefited. Business will improve and the community too should gain in the process, in the form of economic advancement, jobs, and new and improved infrastructure instituted by the company. Ship management business managers have instituted programmes for the welfare of its employees or workers, the community and the consumers. The whole concept of port development have to focus now on the workplace and job design, giving emphasis on safety, environmental protection and preservation, and many other instances that will give good benefits to the workers. The welfare of workers is the primary concern of management, taking into consideration the many benefits due them like insurance, salary and allowances, over time pay, scholarship for their children, and their family's welfare. The community, too, in which the port is situated, will gain from their operations in the form of environmental protection, job generation, or maybe small-scale businesses. Bartol and Martin expound: If corporations and their managers are to be responsible, then one important issue is: to whom are they to be responsible Six major, somewhat overlapping groups are frequently mentioned: shareholders, employees, customers, the local community, general society (regional and national), and the internal community. These groups are considered social stakeholders because they can be affected for better or worse by the business activities of corporations. (p. 107) Activities reflecting social responsibilities of organisations like ship management businesses must be focused on these six major groups mentioned by Bartol and Martin. Shareholders, they are the owners of the business, and if they are concerned of the success of their business, they have to regard their employees or workers as partners. They have to instill in their minds that the workers are the ones working for them. They rely on these workers. The employees or workers, on the other hand, have responsibilities to the organisation they belong. They can not just take the business for granted, but they have to work for its success. Success of the business they belong is their own success. They have to cooperate with ship management in promoting the company and in realising the plans and programmes of the entire organisation. Reforms and programmes should also motivate the local community to cooperate with ship management where the ship is docked or is conducting business. The community must be made to realise that they are a part of the team and that the activities are for the good of the public. One of the primary concerns of ship management is on the customers. This is where business takes its revenues and so everything has to be done to promote the welfare of the consumers. The general society mentioned by the authors is also a stakeholder where some programs in ship management can be focused. The public should be informed of the benefits that the ship management is promoting. The Marina Maritime Management Services Marina Management Services Inc. (MMS) is comprised of a small group of highly skilled professionals with varied disciplines, both from within and outside the marina and boatyard industries. These varied backgrounds enable the MMS team to focus on managing all aspects of the marina and boatyard business.3 Marina also practices the philosophy of maximising on an individual's strengths while reducing weaknesses, to develop a more mature and valuable employee or worker. This approach allows for the employees' advancement, reduces turnover and makes a dedicated staff. Word Count: 1,236 II. Explain how a new Container Terminal/Port Development may cope with or influence the external environment in which they operate. Give relevant examples of external environments, (minimum 7). Container terminals and ports are strategically located at the interface of sea and land. These places are usually busy commercial, industrial and transport areas playing a key role in the economic development of countries. There are risks of environmental deterioration to sea, land and air in most ports, resulting from possible accidents occurring in the port area, or even from the day-to-day port operations and port development activities. Examples of these are water discharge, garbage, noise, dust, maintenance, dredging, etc. In addition, most port have fuelled the development of neighbouring cities, which in turn contribute to environmental deterioration, like sewage, air pollution, traffic, and noise, among others. Container terminals and ports must be properly maintained, regularly checked and developed to meet the demands of busy trade and commerce. In addition, new container terminals have to cope with existing external environments. Some of these external environments are in the form heightened security measures, extreme weather condition, development of quays, wharfs and jetties, development of pavements to suit the demands of equipment and machines and other forms of transportation, dredging of pathways or canals to accommodate large ships, building of structures or instituting measures for the prevention of environmental accidents, and development of roads and bridges to give ease to the flow of traffic. Ports, the Nodal Points Ports are where various modes of transport come together and where cargo is transferred from one transport mode to the other, hence they are called nodal points. In many ports the arriving cargo is not immediately transferred, but value is added to that cargo before it is transported to its final destination. This may involve refining in the case of crude oil, or the storage and blending of chemical products, etc. Storage and distribution also come under this heading, adding value in the port area. Value-added activities have a tendency to increase. The concentration of these various types of activities in a relative small area may pose a threat to environmental quality. The environment may be affected by day-to-day activities, incidents or accidents, and infrastructural activities linked to port expansion or infrastructural modification. A lot of factors or external environment should be taken into consideration in putting up a new container terminal. They have to cope with this, adjust, improve, sometimes modify, in order to go on with their operations smoothly and run their business without too much hassles. Communities thrive in a container terminal where maritime and port activities are not only one of the main sources of wealth and employment but also one of the fundamental channels for progress. The port is a business centre as well as a place where ships are loaded and unloaded, merchandise put into storage, ships built and repaired, and crews assembled. Shipowners, merchants, sailors and stevedores populate the port cities. Security on Ports After the 9/11 attack in the US, securities in ports and cities have been intensified. With this, container terminals have to cope with security measures that sometimes put a hindrance to the normal flow of operations. Review of Maritime Transport by UNCTAD has this to say: The US Customs Service agreed with a number of major trade partners on the implementation of two security schemes: the Container Security Initiative (CSI) and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). CSI goals are to establish criteria for identifying high-risk containers, to pre-screen containers before they are shipped to the United States, to use non-intrusive technology to pre-screen high-risk containers, and to develop smart and secure containers.4 These security measures are not only applicable to the United States but throughout the world. Ports have intensified their security programs affecting the flow of operations in container terminals. Sometimes these ports have to modify their operations to accommodate security. Extreme Weather Extreme weather condition is one of the mentioned external environment that a new container terminal has to cope with. Port development has to make designs with available equipment on standby so that even in a storm, operation will not be severely hampered. This also applies to colder areas. Snow storm can make or break some deals or functions in ports. Delivery of services and goods are affected in this condition. Goods have to be stored in large and well-built storages. Pavement Design Principle Pavements of ports and container terminals must be so designed to meet requirements. (page 51) UNCTAD Report states that: The fundamental design principle is to ensure that the designed pavement remains serviceable while a specified loading regime is applied throughout its design life. At most container handling facilities, the pavements are subject to two loading regimes. In the first, containers are stored in locks, and in the second, handling equipment runs alongside these blocks. Some handling systems (e.g. straddle carriers) require the handling equipment to enter the blocks and this can greatly increase the cost of the pavement since the storage area has to be designed to accommodate both types of loading. Prevention of Environmental Disasters The IAPH or International Association of Ports and Harbours, which is active in environmental concerns and safety in ports and ships undertook a survey of member ports and asked them to rank various environmental concerns. From the 183 replies received, the main concerns for ports were dangerous materials, water pollution and dredging and dumping of dredging waste. IAPH has also prepared a draft charter on environmental policy for ports which includes seven points: drafting of environmental impact analysis for port development; risk prevention for major accidents (vessel movement control, dangerous goods procedures, emergency plans); limiting of water pollution from ship, land and dredged materials; limiting of atmospheric pollution (dust, noise); limiting of waste and discharge through recovery, collection, recycling and supervised disposal areas; creation of quality of areas (green spaces, screens, clean-up areas); working to create enforceable regulations against polluters.6 Development of wharfs, quays and jetties In addition to other external environment factors, a new container terminal has to cope with the development of wharfs, quays and jetties. These natural structures have to be developed to accommodate large ships and the bulk of commerce and trade. They have to be enlarged to give way to the flow of traffic, and also to help in the protection and preservation of environment. Roads and Bridges Although construction and improvement of roads and bridges connecting to the port are the responsibilities of governments, container terminals have to cope with such constructions. If possible, terminals have to be built to give access to these roads, or secondary roads have to be built connecting highways. The same with bridges, they have to be built if they are still within the jurisdiction or land ownership of the port. Word Count: 1,138 References 1. Definition of corporate social responsibility, http://www.reference.com/searchq=corporate%20social%20responsibility 2. Bartol, K. M. & Martin, D. C., 1999. Management. Mc-Graw-Hill Book Co. - Singapore, 3rd ed. 1999. Irwin/McGraw-Hill. 3. Marina Management Services, Inc. website, can be found on http:www.marinamanagement.com/management/index.htm, retrieved 2007-03-16 4. Pesquera, M.A. & Ruiz, J. R., Sustainable Development Strategies for Cities and Ports, UNCTAD Monographs on Port Management, can be found online at: http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2003ch5_en.pdf. 5. Meletiou, M. & Knapton, J., Container Terminal Pavement Management, UNCTAD Monographs on Port Management, a series of monographs prepared for UNCTAD in collaboration with the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), Monograph 5, can be found online at http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ship4945supp1_en.pdf. 6. Report by UNCTAD Secretariat, Standing Committee on Developing Services Sectors Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Ports, Geneva, 25 October 1993, p. 5, can be found online at: http://www.unctad,org/en/docs/sddport1_en.pdf Read More