International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners - Essay Example

114213 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DRY CARGO SHIPOWNERS: Established in 1980, this organisation had been safeguarding the interests of the ship owners, managers and operators of dry cargo shipping. Dry bulk trades deal with the cargo of iron ore, steel, timber, coal, grain and other goods transported in huge containers. Its members are provided with complete information financial, managerial, and technical along with the current news. Its management looks for modern and innovative ways of achieving safety guidelines for the ships, safe, efficient and environmentally friendly. Management while dealing with all decision making, gets governed by external environments and shapes its policies accordingly. Management has to deal with many matters keeping external environment in mind. Its main concern is Bulk Carrier design and safety and this means that the importance attached to the safety of the ships is the main theme of the organisation. It has a technical committee called CASTEC, which meets twice a year to discuss technical matters, and deal with other connected issues. Bulk carrier design and safety had been of paramount importance and in late 1980s after some of them were lost and immediate programme had to be adapted with changes in the SOLAS Regulations and IACS rules. The main difference came with the introduction of new hull that would avoid considerable amount of damage and survive maximum amount of impact. IMO initiated a number of safety assessment studies, and the findings also had a number of recommendations and potential rules by December 2002, the SOLAS amendments were accepted by IMO, including the introduction of Double Skin Bulk carriers. Intercargo always works with close contact with IACS and the target had been designing and executing useful, safe, efficient and environmentally friendly sleek streamlined bulk carriers. It continues to monitor, research and understand the reasons of carrier losses and had been collecting all the statistics from 1990, and reports in its Bulk Carrier Casualty Report with analysis and pertinent answers to many hitherto unanswered questions. Number of cargo carriers and the lives of people employed in them, and the cargo are comparatively safer now. They have to make amenable rules so that the Port State Control’s rules and regulations are not flouted, as they are governed by the international conventions like SOLAS, STCW AND MARPOL that form the set of rules for the security, safety of the cargo ships. Pollution control in the high seas has become a matter of absolute concern for the shipping industry. We see many times, the sad oil spills and its unfortunate effect on the birds and sea life. All policies of the organisation are governed by these concerns with another combined task pleasing the flag state with the compliance of all the pertinent set of rules. This is no mean task, because most of the states are not particularly concerned about what goes on the high ways and the distant seas. Port States have certain rights and regulations for the foreign ships to be adhered to. They also have the right to detain any ship that has been found to be flouting the rules. Port State Control rules are not same everywhere. European port rules do not apply in United States and most of these rules are according to the regions they are in. Intercargo is worried about mediocre shipping practices and hence, is in favour of PSC inspections. This leaves the organisation making compulsory rules for members and others to complete the reporting forms and inspection forms. At regular intervals, organisation publishes the news, drawbacks, its concerns and the need for further regulations. Even the inspectors who have to check that vessels come under International Ship and Port facility security code (ISPSE) come under the PSC rules. Intercargo makes it a point to find out about the detained ships of members and makes enquiries about the causes of detention. Through its database, it publishes the names of the members often and details about the detained ships too are given. Intercargo tries to persuade members to support it against the market principles of Mississippi River. It also insists on unprecarious loading and unloading of bulk cargo at the terminals as this could dictate terms on the safety of the ship. IMO has developed the BLU Code, a safety code for loading and unloading of carriers. Its policies also change according to the Flag issues and it has very deep commitment for the ecological issues. Even the ship owners have similar concerns and it makes the work of Intercargo easier and shared. Sometimes, like in the recent sending of French ship Clemenceu to India for breaking, shipping industry very often finds itself in the middle of controversies. Organisations like Greenpeas at times have to be pacified with the right approach. Intercargo takes a lot of trouble to be part of the public concern on ecology and environment and this always results in the right actions and policies. Sometimes they get overlooked by people who are fighting for the environmental cause and these misunderstandings make Intercargo intentions slightly troubled. “Another campaign area is linked to shipbreaking, or as it now referred to, ship recycling. ….All owners contemplating the recycling of their ships are urged to consult the Industry Code of Practice on Ship Recycling, guidelines published in 2001 by the industry Associations and endorsed by Intercargo,” http://www.intercargo.org/ Education and training are the two main areas where the company has put in a lot of efforts and the staff has turned out to be exactly suitable for the job on hand. Scrutinising the dry bulk industry is never easy. But we can also notice that the company could never work without being influenced by the external forces at every step. Its business being venturing into waters of unfamiliar regions, the organisation has a duty and responsibility both to make the best under the circumstances. It is a high profile industry with many national, international and ecological responsibilities and there is no escaping it. Being a company that conducts its business in the public eye all the time, and also being answerable to internal, external, international, and high seas law, it has to be very careful how it deals with every situation it faces. It has its own obligations, it is answerable to many including its own members, and also it is answerable to the port authorities where it loads or unloads. It is a remarkable complicated work and the commitments are enormous. There had been instances of pirates attacking the ships though it is a bit rare. The entire shipping industry has to live through absurd weather conditions; political unrests in any of the destination countries and one cannot forget the effects of the war and hatred. During a conflict, the ships get attacked first as they are the easy targets. Now it is also subject to the all-pervading terrorism and its nefarious activities in any part of the globe. With this recent threat, shipping has entered the most dangerous era of the shipping industry. Maritime organisations not only prepare themselves for any eventuality, but also have to find the ways and means of dodging one. Shipping used to be the most romantic occupation at one time, when the world was living a quieter life. But it is not so any more. The most violent times have apparently gripped all parts of the world, and shipping has lost its unwavering romance for the first time in history. QUESTION 2: The organisation I am choosing for this question is International Underwriting Association and would like to explore its managing style. Its mission statements proclaims thus: “The IUA exists to protect and strengthen the business environment for international insurance and reinsurance companies operating in or through London,” http://www.iua.co.uk/ It also proclaims that it is making the market more efficient, while helping the companies to comply with many requirements. It spends a lot of time in sorting out the underwriting issues of the members, apart from talking to brokers and representing the market interests. Coming to the way of managerial functions, top decisions are taken by IUA Board, and below that Trade Association, Finance, Marketing and general purposes Committee, and Market Association are functioning. It was a concentrated kind of management and it suited well to the company. Education and training committee: Language clubs, Reinsurance, insurance Technical Education Committee, Representation and Legislation Committee: compliance sub committee, North American sub committee, Supervision, accounts, taxation and Solvency Sub Committee. Chief executives and representatives are elected annually on a rotation basis. Dave Matcham, as the Chief Executive of the Company, functions in his own inimitable style to run the organisation with a high profile, yet practical efficiency. It had not been easy to face the increased risk of hull war, strikes and especially of terrorism. Management has been dealing with a lot of perils in the recent past and to a very large extent, it has affected the management style of functioning and its decisions. The Chief Executive functions in the traditional Managing Director style, with hierarchies working under him implementing rules and decisions taken by the top most committees headed by the Chief Executive again had been highly suitable as long as the company was based only in London. Now with the globalisation and having offices in other countries, making it necessary to employ the locals from the host country. People, speaking strange dialect, representing hitherto unknown cultures, belonging to diverse race and culture reflecting in their day-to-day behaviour had not been exactly assets to the organisation. It is not easy for the management to get over the barriers, come into terms with the present and accept the different views and non-negotiable ways of working of other cultures. This requires essential co-operation from both the sides. Diversity is always defined as the human differences that play a definite role in every organisation like customs, assumptions, rules, practices, arts, skills, beliefs and values and all these reflect in the employees’ way of functioning, working, living, dealing with other people, and their relationship with the company. Management Directors’ style may not be that effective in this culture game. At least it would take a longer time to adjust. As we are referring to the maritime industry here, other cultures have their own sets of beliefs and values that govern the seas, waves, seasons, time, eloquence of breeze, forerunners of disturbing weather, right time to venture into the sea, and the religious attitudes to ward off all evils that might plague the water-bound journey of the vessels. Leadership style of management is suitable for authoritarian conventional organisations and the maritime organisation is a very suitable region where it can be applied with success. It comes out of the King and his divine right to rule, but is unsuitable for inter-cultural management. When employees from other cultures are unprepared to work for the good of only the company, this kind of management would like to force them to do so, resulting in many unpleasant situations. They will make the stick more effective and the workers of alien culture would rebel. And hence, the conflict continues. At the same time authority cannot be completely undermined: “Authority is the cement of organization structure, the thread that makes it possible, the means by which groups of activities can be placed under a manager and coordination of organizational units can bee promised. It is the tool by which a manager is able to exercise discretion and to create an environment for individual performance,” Koontz (1974, p.212). This also requires ethical management. This management does have not have any limiting factor, and it is not nationality bound. It is necessary to change the style from authority to democratic, or participative, because the free-rein leader uses his or her power very little. “This type of leader ranges from the person who does not take action without subordinates’ concurrence to the one who makes decisions but consults with subordinates before doing so,” Koontz (p.347). Identifying the national culture, its environment and organizations, convergence and divergence with the categories, its language and language of business, religion and its interference in business, religious beliefs and their affect, political context, business-government relationship, geopolitics, legal context and laws of the host country contrasted with the international law, are all essential for effective management. “Although difficult to define and to measure, national culture can be classified on a number of dimensions (such as tolerance for ambiguity among its people, preferences for individual or collective decision-making, or the pervasity of religious thought).” Wilson (1990, p.178). There had been many problems with the international management like conflict in the international firm, decisions over structure, territorial structures, communication problems and difficulties, choosing an effective and efficient structure, communication with local economies, images, nationality and products, operating and communicating in developing countries, human resource issues, global mobility of the personnel, recruitment, selection and training, comparative industrial relations, and dealing with multinational trade unions. “Organizational behaviour concepts, originally development in single-country organizations, become especially relevant when applied to firms operating internationally. In particular, questions or organizational design, coordination and control take centre stage,” Wilson (p.390). To avoid this situation, management style has to be changed into democratic style with participation and this would fetch better results. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Eden, C. and Spender, J.C. (1999), ed., Managerial and Organizawtional Cognition, Sage Publications, London. 2. Koontz, H. and H. Weihrich (1990), essentials of Management, 5th edn., McGraw-Hill Pubvlishing Company, New York. 3. Linstead, S., R.G. Small, Paul Jeffcutt (1996), Sage Publications, London. 4. Wilson, D.C. and Rosenfeld, R.H. (1990), Managing Organizations, McGraw-Hill Book Company, London. ONLINE RESOURCES: 1. http://www.intercargo.org/ Accessed on 1.3.2006. 2. http://www.iua.co.uk/accessed on 1.3.2006. 3. http://ohioline.osu.edu/bc-fact/0014.html 4. http://www.solbaram.org/articles/clm2su.html 5. http://www.srds.ndirect.co.uk/leader01.htm 6. http://www.managementfirst.com/management_styles/ 7. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=LEADERSHIP+STYLE+OF+MANAGEMENT&meta= 8. http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html 9. http://www.cba.uri.edu/Scholl/Notes/Leadership_Determinants.html 10. http://www.leadersdirect.com/leadstyle.html Read More