Projektet gennemfører en antropologisk analyse af forholdet mellem a) smarte teknologier (fx automation, smarte algoritmer eller drone- og vision-teknologier) b) fagpersoner ombord ifm. navigation) c) fagpersoner og beslutningstagere i rederiorganisation (som bestillere af ny teknologi) og d) udviklervirksomhederne (som designere af fremtidens løsninger) for at afklare, hvilke ikke-tekniske aspekter, der skal tages højde for og hvilke nye samarbejdsformer, der er behov for, og hvordan disse understøttes organisatorisk, når nærmeste ’kollega’ for fagpersonerne ombord bliver en robot eller en automatiseret teknologi. Fokus i projektet vil være på, hvordan samarbejdet mellem medarbejder/leder og robot/drone/teknologi skal/kan organiseres, samt hvordan de nye typer ’kolleger’ vil påvirke organiseringen af samarbejdet.
Background
The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC2006) entered into force in August 2013 and is a milestone for better working and living conditions (WLC) for seafarers. As of March 2020, 96 countries have ratified the MLC2006, covering more than 90% of the world’s shipping fleet. A system of port state control (PSC) allows ratifying countries to inspect any foreign ship arriving in their ports for compliance with the convention. It is intended as a second safety measure for the identification of substandard ships that sail all over the world. Nine regional agreements, so-called Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), have been signed to coordinate and standardize PSC inspections and to increase efficiency by sharing inspections and information. This paper uses public PSC statistics to evaluate the impact of the MLC2006.
Methods
A preliminary analysis using registered tonnage and MLC2006 ratification was conducted and seven MoU were selected for the analysis. The annual reports of these MoU have been viewed in September 2019. Numbers on annual inspections, deficiencies and detentions and in particular data for deficiencies related to living and working conditions and certificates and documents, have been extracted and analyzed for the years 2010 to 2017.
Results
Across the eight-year period analyzed, inspection numbers remained stable among all MoU authorities. Deficiencies overall and deficiencies related to WLC declined, indicating an improvement in conditions overall and an increased focus on seafarers’ conditions on board. After the MLC2006 entered into force, three MoU reported WLC-ratios above 14%, while the numbers didn’t rise above 10% in the other four authorities. Deficiencies related to certificates and documents did not rise significantly between 2010 and 2017. Two European MoU showed the highest ratios for deficiencies in both categories analyzed.
Conclusion
The analysis confirmed that an increasing attention is being paid to the inspection of working and living conditions, especially in European countries. However, a clear positive impact of the MLC2006 could not be determined from the PSC statistics in this analysis. A large variation still exists among the MoU, a fact that demands increased efforts for harmonization of PSC procedures.
The authors revisit the literature on the use of expatriates and specifically Boyacigiller (1990) and examine whether OW Bunker, a Danish bunker oil trader, filled positions at its foreign units with traders transferred from its other units (expatriates). The authors test the generalizability and robustness of past findings on this topic by using a different dependent variable, sample, and methodology. Design/methodology/approach: By searching the traders' LinkedIn profiles and consulting secondary sources, the authors obtain data on current and previous positions and work location and type of customer handled (global or local). Using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), the authors analyze 236 hiring decisions made between 1983 and 2014. Findings: The authors find that OW transferred expatriates, principally home-country nationals, to handle global customers in its large foreign subsidiaries located in high-income countries. In another clear pattern, expatriates were used to start new foreign subsidiaries. These results generally confirm those of Boyacigiller. However, and contrary to her findings, none of our scenarios for internal transfers feature expatriates being sent to culturally and institutionally distant subsidiaries unless it is to serve global customers, casting doubt on the idea that a major reason for using expatriates is to remedy a local shortage of skills or to handle political risk. Originality/value: The authors test the generalizability of Boyacigiller’s (1990) findings and confirm a large part of it. They extend her study by demonstrating that MNEs deploy expatriates not only to distant countries but also to close ones.
Within realistic time constraints we successfully trained six occupational health and safety professionals in applying a Design Thinking (DT) approach to solve complex musculoskeletal and psychosocial problems at work. DT may be defined by the double diamond model pointing to a non-linear and user-centred problem-solving process iterating through divergent and convergent phases A key characteristic of DT is the ability to frame a problematic situation in new and interesting ways. The training was done in a full-day workshop followed by a learning-by-doing phase in which they planned and completed design sprint workshops in companies. The professionals went from novices into advanced beginners according to the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. In the overall question of the usefulness of DT in OHS management, the average rating went from 6 before the training course to 9.5 after. In an evaluation of the DT approach on a 1–5 scale they rated design sprints at 3.8 to be more appropriate to manage complex problems than the methods they normally used. However, more experience seems necessary to adopt the DT mind set of an iterative process, in which they need to decide which tools to use in an emergent, nonlinear and iterative fashion.