Bridging the gap: Aligning culture between ship and shore
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Program
Maritime management (MPMAR), MSc
Publicerad
2023
Författare
May, Philippa
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
This thesis aims to find strategies for, and barriers to, cultural alignment between ship and
shore. The results of this research show that: (1) to align culture between ship and shore, an
organization must adopt a culture based on people‐first values, holistic communication, low powerdistance,
and two‐way trust; and (2) the main barrier to ship‐shore alignment is a culture that
contains elements of hierarchy, patriarchy, autocracy, and disjointed communication.
The cultural elements that were shown to support alignment were also shown to negate the
barriers. These barriers were found in a literature review to be common descriptors of ‘how it is to
work at sea’. Together these points exhibit the crux of the issue: that seafaring culture itself prevents
alignment between ship and shore. In other words, cultural alignment cannot be achieved if
seafaring culture is allowed to remain in its current state. The results therefore highlight its
tremendously problematic nature.
The need for a different style of leadership is growing in the maritime industry as the
cultural gap persists between ship and shore. A transformational type of leadership based on trust,
holistic communication and people‐first values will serve to both negate the problematic aspects of
seafaring culture and align culture between ship and shore. This will make it possible for seafarers to
work in a culture that benefits both them and maritime organizations, taking into account the
modern world, its challenges of complexity and ever‐increasing requirements for intellectual
diversity.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
maritime, seafaring, culture, ship, shore, organization, trust, communication, hierarchy, power‐distance