Conflict Related Incidents on Board Ships: An Online News Content Analysis

Conflicts, while being unavoidable in an unorthodox workplace such as the ship, might produce serious consequences. This study aims to identify and classify the reasons and the consequences of conflict related incidents on board that have made the international news. For this aim twenty-two news articles on conflict related incidents have been gathered from eight maritime industry specific online news outlets and a content analysis has been carried out to illustrate the role of conflict in these news-worthy incidents. The results show that conflict can be observed in three categories: (1) Conflict between the crew members and the shipowner/ship management companies; (2) conflict between superiors and subordinates; and (3) conflict among crew members. In the first category, “unpaid wages” and “inadequate working conditions”, in the second category, “abuse of power and authority” and “intolerance to criticism”, and in the last category “fight among crew members” due to various reasons, such as ethnical differences and exclusion are found to be prevailing reasons for conflict situations that may result in dire consequences. Even though these incidents are irreversible, the content analysis carried out in this study highlights several policy implications that can be implemented to alleviate the intensity of conflict situation on board

Corporate Political Activism and Reputation Risks: The Starbucks Case Via Media Exposures

Corporate political activism (CPA) could be defined as a business' stance towards political issues which are of particular interest to a part or majority of the public, and actions they take in this context. When compared with ordinary corporate social responsibility activities, CPA activities, due to the subjects focused, pose risk of reputation loss for businesses that implement them. The reformed business-community dynamics that were shaped by the changing consumer expectations and increasing impact of businesses, forces said businesses to conduct a more thorough decision making process. In this research that handles the Starbucks Race Together campaign, which is originated from the racial unrest in the United States of America and resulted in corporate reputation loss, it is aimed to thoroughly investigate the reasons behind said reputation loss. The findings that were acquired through media exposures show that "lack of sincerity of the campaign", "business-cause incompatibility and problems regarding the applicability of the campaign", and "aim-application incompatibility of the campaign" play a crucial role in the reputation loss of a business. Despite the risks it brings about regarding reputation, it is not possible to deem CPA activities as utterly harmful or useless. The findings from the Starbucks Race Together campaign provide essential implications for businesses that would like to participate in advocacy of social problems

Conflict Related Incidents on Board Ships: An Online News Content Analysis

Conflicts, while being unavoidable in an unorthodox workplace such as the ship, might produce serious consequences. This study aims to identify and classify the reasons and the consequences of conflict related incidents on board that have made the international news. For this aim twenty-two news articles on conflict related incidents have been gathered from eight maritime industry specific online news outlets and a content analysis has been carried out to illustrate the role of conflict in these news-worthy incidents. The results show that conflict can be observed in three categories: (1) Conflict between the crew members and the shipowner/ship management companies; (2) conflict between superiors and subordinates; and (3) conflict among crew members. In the first category, “unpaid wages” and “inadequate working conditions”, in the second category, “abuse of power and authority” and “intolerance to criticism”, and in the last category “fight among crew members” due to various reasons, such as ethnical differences and exclusion are found to be prevailing reasons for conflict situations that may result in dire consequences. Even though these incidents are irreversible, the content analysis carried out in this study highlights several policy implications that can be implemented to alleviate the intensity of conflict situation on board

Evaluation of Investment Impact on Port Efficiency: Berthing Time Difference as a Performance Indicator

Highly competitive nature of port business environment puts heavy pressure on port operators on performance related issues. In order to be competitive, after all the other strategic moves are exhausted, what is left is to improve the performance of a port by means of increasing the number of vessels calling the port. One way to achieve this goal is to minimize the time spent at port for each vessel. Using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to evaluate its efficiency, this paper analyzes a port which made investments in order to improve this issue with berthing time difference (BTD) as the output. The results show that DEA method can be a valuable tool for port operators in evaluating the efficiency of their investments