Faculty of Arts and PhilosophyDepartment of Translation, Interpreting and Communication

Company visit report of PSA Antwerp

Produced at the request ofEnglish Business Communication Professor Bernard De Clerck

By Laurine Decloedtstudent Multilingual Communication at Ghent University

December 2015

Table of contents

Title page.................................................................................................. 1Table of contents...................................................................................... 2Acknowledgements.................................................................................. 3Abstract…………….................................................................................. 31. Executive summary.……………………………………………………….. 42. Presentation of the company................................................................ 43. Photo of the staff meeting room............................................................ 5 4. Meeting report.......................................................................................5

4.1 Introduction of the participants………………………………….…5 4.2 Miscommunication………………………………………………… 6 4.3 Intercultural behaviour….……………………………………….…7

4.4 Negotiation principles and conflict types……………………….…7 4.5 Vocabulary…………………………………………………………..8 4.6 Place and time………………………………………………………8 4.7 Agenda……………………………………………………………… 85. Seating arrangement and organogram................................................. 96. Personal reflection.………………………………………………………. 117. Conclusion…..…................................................................................. 128. Appendices......................................................................................... 12 8.1 Interview transcription…….……………………………………...12 8.2 Notes…….……………………………………............................ 189. List of References…………………………………................................ 21

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Acknowledgements

First of all I wish to thank K.V., HR manager at PSA for taking the time to answer my e-mails and for allowing me to assist the conference call at PSA. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance I received from HBDI trainer J.B. Furthermore I would like to thank Nils Smeuninx for the theoretical context regarding negotiation principles, which I applied in this report. I would also like to thank professor Bernard De Clerck for his guidance throughout this report. Last but not least I would like to thank my mother for driving me to PSA Antwerp and for helping me to find a company that was willing to collaborate.

Abstract

This report gives a summary of the company visit at PSA Antwerp, where a conference call was attended and observed by the author of this report, Laurine Decloedt. The assignment was requested on the 10th of December 2015 by Professor Bernard De Clerck. The main findings were that a conference call had certain limitations and that the intercultural background of the participants led to miscommunication. Furthermore, this meeting was rather informal and less structured than expected. Therefore can be concluded that meeting and negotiation strategies were not really applied.

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1. Executive Summary

This report aims to describe the conference call at PSA Antwerp that took place on Thursday the 15th of October in one of the boardrooms of the company at the Napelsstraat in Antwerp. The purpose is to review whether meeting and negotiation strategies are applied in real life meetings. Three countries participated, they were filmed by camera and each country could watch jointly. All of the attendees were managers of different departments within the company. The conference call evoked miscommunication and technology issues. The fact that there were people from different cultures participating caused a little frustration and miscomprehension between the participants in Belgium. The time difference also caused a significant delay, because the Belgian HR manager had not calculated the time difference well. First I will introduce the company of PSA Antwerp, then I will present a picture of the meeting room. After that, I will discuss the notes I made during the meeting and I will sum up my findings. Afterwards there is also a transcription of the interview with the HR manager of PSA Antwerp.

2. Presentation of the company

PSA Antwerp is situated in the Napelsstraat in Antwerp. PSA Antwerp is the biggest terminal of containers at the port of Antwerp. The company is part of PSA international, one of the leading global port groups. With its flagship operations in PSA Singapore Terminals and PSA Antwerp, PSA participates in port projects countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas. Through its port projects, PSA delivers award-winning services to shipping line customers so that they can enjoy high levels of efficiency and reliability – attributes which have long been the hallmark of PSA. PSA’s principal business is the provision of integrated container terminal services including multi-purpose terminal services. The visited department at PSA was the Human Resources department. (PSA Antwerp 2015)

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3. Photo of the staff meeting room

4. Meeting report

4.1 Introduction of the participantsThe meeting conducted on Thursday October 15 happened over the phone, using a camera and a TV screen. It can be defined as a conference call. Three countries participated: Belgium, Panama and Argentina. PSA Belgium was represented by a HBDI representative, a PSA HR manager and an IT-technician. In Panama four people were present: a general manager, two other managers and an intern.

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Argentina was represented by one single manager. The HBDI representative in Belgium took on the role as chair. In Panama the general manager was not assigned the role as chair, but an obvious hierarchy could be deduced between him and the other Panama managers. Not only did he profile himself as more important, he was also the only voice to be heard in the Panama meeting room. Overall, there were not that many participants, so it was a rather small meeting.

HR manager K.V. had a passive role during the meeting. After the meeting, K.V was interviewed about his role in this meeting and other meetings. There he said that his role in this meeting was to just attend. During the meeting he observed and took notes. The representative of HBDI, to be identified as the chair, was seated in the middle of the table, turned towards the TV-screens. The camera was pointed at him. He walked around a lot while the IT-technician changed the camera’s position, so the chair was constantly visible for Panama and Argentina.

4.2 MiscommunicationThe meeting was operational. PSA Belgium had decided to install the HBDI system at PSA overseas. The siege of the company, in Belgium, called for a meeting to discuss the matter. PSA managers often use cameras and microphones to hold meetings overseas and it could be concluded from this particular meeting that they needed technicians to make everything work properly. The meeting was supposed to last two hours, but eventually it took four hours. At first, the HR manager had booked the wrong meeting room and they had to switch rooms. Then the IT-technician went missing, which made the situation all the more complicated. When the correct meeting room and a proper IT-technician were finally found, it appeared that the HR manager had done a wrong calculation of the time difference between Panama, Argentina and Belgium. Overseas, the meeting was scheduled at 9am, and in Belgium at 15pm. However, it was only 8.30am in the countries overseas. This turned out to be an advantage to the Belgians, as they were already half an hour late due to the miscommunication about the meeting rooms. On top of that, the same situation presented itself in Argentina. Half-way through the meeting, three people came in to the meeting room and claimed they had booked the room.

The conference call also gave rise to some communication problems. Sometimes the people in the different countries started talking at the same time. Nobody could anticipate the moment at which other participants started speaking, and when this happened, none of the participants could understand each other. It was also remarkable to see the HBDI representative ask a question that none of the other participants appeared to have understood, due to technical sound issues. At that moment, the managers all looked up at the speakers in their meeting rooms. When the representative repeated the question, the managers overseas answered ‘yes’, while the HBDI representative did not even pose a yes/no-question.

4.3 Intercultural aspectThe meeting was very informal and at times slightly rude. The multicultural aspect of this meeting might have had a part in this. The conventions for the people at Panama

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and Argentina differed from the Belgian conventions. A few examples: during the meeting, the participants at Panama were scrolling on their smartphones. They were even taking pictures from time to time. One person left the meeting room twice. The first time, someone rudely came in to the meeting room and called one of the Panama managers away. The second time the intern left the room, without being excused, to have a chat and a coffee with somebody standing outside the meeting room. The walls of the room were in glass, so her actions were to be witnessed by all participants. As confusing as this was for the Belgians, the others at Panama were not bothered by this. It was also very remarkable how the Panama managers were hanging in their chairs. They were sitting legs wide, or with one leg over the other knee in a 90 degree angle. Their hands were on one knee or on the backside of their chair. If they did not understand the Belgian HBDI properly, they promptly shouted ‘what?’ instead of ‘could you repeat that please, I didn’t quite catch that’ or any other polite phrase. The general manager at Argentina also left his meeting room for fifteen minutes without being excused, leaving the HBDI representative to shout: ‘Argentina, excuse me, Argentina?’. Apparently, the manager was thirsty and went to get himself a bottle of water. Even if the Argentinian manager made a less impolite impression than the managers at Panama, he was also leaning on his desk for quite a while, his hand under his chin. For the rest of the meeting, he firmly kept his arms crossed and leaned back in his chair.

4.4 Negotiation principles and conflict typesDifficulties arose when observing the negotiations skills of the participants. It was also unclear whether the chairman practiced hard bargaining or soft bargaining. They were discussing whether to apply the HBDI system in Latin-America or not, but as the meeting developed, it became clear that the Latin-American countries did not really have a say in this. It appeared to be implicitly decided beforehand that PSA overseas would take on the HBDI system. If there were any negotiation principles, it was very difficult to distinguish them. Meeting related vocabulary was sometimes used, but the level of English was not very high, so only very simple phrases were used. No conflicts arose. Even though the Belgians were frustrated from time to time, no sign of frustration was given to the other participants. The other countries were constantly nodding and agreeing, no conflict could be ascertained. If conflict types had to be determined among the managers, the general manager of Panama could be a shark. He abruptly and roughly brought the other Panama managers to silence, as soon as they desired to speak out. He finished their sentences or gave his own opinion. The others were all very collaborative and agreeing, they could all be determined as teddy bear conflict types. No intention to offend anyone was among them and they cooperatively agreed with all propositions. The HBDI representative, the chair, was more of the collaborating type. An owl conflict type. He insisted on feedback, cooperation and input.

4.5 VocabularyAgreeingAgreeing vocabulary was ascertained in simple phrases, such as ‘Is that okay for you?’, ‘Correct’, ‘It sounds okay’, ‘We are okay’, ‘Yes, that is true’, ‘Yes, Yes, Yes, a 100 percent!’ and the HBDI representative once said ‘Your observation is very, very

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interesting’. InterruptingWhen interrupting one another, there was of course the Panama general manager who did not use any phrases to interrupt someone but started speaking unannounced, the others used simple phrases such as ‘Sorry, can I ask you..’ and ‘I want to say something’. DisagreeingWhen disagreeing, phrases were used such as ‘I don’t understand why’, or ‘It’s a good argument, but a wrong conclusion’ or ‘No, not from my side’. ClarificationEspecially the HBDI representative used some particular clarification phrases such as ‘You were saying… something like this?’, ‘Is this an answer to your question?’, ‘So you say…’, ‘Can you please repeat..’. The others simply said ‘what?’. Expressing opinionWhen expressing opinions, phrases such as ‘In my opinion..’, ‘For me…’,’From my side, I think that..’ were used.AdjournmentWhen it came to the adjournment, it was the HBDI representative who said: ‘I think that we can round of..’ Then the others nodded. The HBDI representative said ‘This was a nice way of working’. Panama responded: ‘Thank you very much for your time.’ Belgium used a very informal ‘Bye bye’ and everybody waved at the camera. Argentina answered in Spanish: ‘A la proxima sessiona!’

4.5 Place and timeThe meeting took place on a Thursday afternoon, which should be an ideal time to hold a meeting for collaboration and team-work, as has been taught in the English Business Communication course. For Argentina and Panama, it was 9am.This might have affected them slightly. They seemed distracted or did not understand what was asked of them. In the interview K.V. was asked about time scheduling, he said he preferred using the planning assistant of MS outlook. He added that even though this application exists, some people forget to check it and still invite him on a moment that he clearly has another appointment on the agenda.

The meeting was held in a darkened meeting room. However, the room had white draperies, so the room was still too bright and there was not enough contrast to have a clear view of the screen.

4.6 AgendaNo strict agenda was noticed. The opening was very informal, all of the participants just said ‘Hello’ or ‘Good morning’ and asked ‘How are you?’. There were no apologies for absences. In the interview with K.V. after the meeting, K.V. emphasized the importance of an agenda. However, no agenda was set up during the meeting. Maybe the passive role of K.V. might offer an explanation here. He did not have any input. Furthermore, all of the participants should have had documents with them, sent to them by e-mail. Apparently the participants in Panama and Argentina had forgotten these. Topics were not introduced. Everybody was aware of the main topic. It appeared that there were two parts to the meeting that each took 45 minutes, but

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the chair did not explicitly move on to these parts. There was also half an hour room for questions and discussion, and afterwards for some feedback. The chair announced this by saying: ‘Discussion, please.’ And ‘May I have some feedback, please.’ No next meeting was fixed. K.V. explained in the interview that most meetings at the HR department proceeded like this and that it were only the formal meetings with the unions (which he never attended) that had a strict agenda and structure.

5. Seating arrangement & organogram

Boardroom at PSA Antwerp:

Boardroom at PSA Argentina:

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Boardroom at PSA Panama:

Organogram:

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6. Personal reflection

As mentioned before, the meeting commenced with a lot of miscommunication. PSA Antwerp is a very big and important company, so the expectations of the meeting were for it to be an official and stiff meeting with important and professional people. However, the meeting was very informal, there was no stress or time pressure and there was little professionalism. The Latin-American influence of Panama and Argentina on the one hand and the Belgian influence on the other hand provoked some intercultural differences. All three countries a complete different way of conducting meetings, the Latin Americans were not focused and left the meeting room whenever they pleased. The Belgian participants on the contrary did not leave the room and kept actively participating. Notes were taken by L.D., the author of this report, with the theory on negotiations and meetings as a framework. While taking these notes, it was noticeable that in practice the theory did not apply. K.V., the HR manager, also took minutes of the meeting.

7. Conclusion

The main findings of this report were that this meeting was not conducted in a strictly organised manner. There were a great deal of mistakes made in terms of organization and communication. A conference call has certain limitations, not only the technological aspect may cause problems, also the fact of not being present in one room may cause overlaps, miscomprehension and interruption. Furthermore, the intercultural background of the participants lead to miscommunication. The participants all had different habits when it came down to conducting meetings. The culture difference generated more miscommunication. This meeting was obviously rather informal and less structured than expected.

8. Appendices

8.1 Interview transcription

A = the interviewer (Laurine Decloedt)

B = the interviewee (Koen Vansteelant)

[...] = pause

XXX = not understandable

* = did not finish word or sentence

A. Good afternoon

B. Good afternoon

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A. What is your name please?

B. I am Koen Van Steelant.

A. What is your function in PSA?

B. You mean function or function title ?

A. Both.

B. Title is senior officer training and recruitment and that means that I am most often occupied with organising training for technicians within PSA Antwerp and PSA Zeebrugge.

A. And what was your role in the meeting?

B. My role in the meeting was representing HR from headquarters in Antwerp. PSA Antwerp is in fact the HQ for Europe, Mediterranean and Latin America region. And as there is a meeting regarding HR subjects with people from Argentina and Panama, it is important that somebody from HR is at least representing, following, being present for any feedback afterwards if necessary. And the subject that was at hand is also a subject that is my responsibility.

A. And how do you feel about meetings in general? Do you like them. Do you think they are interesting, helpful or needed ?

B. Meetings are needed desperately. Some meetings are inefficient. Some meetings are inefficiently because people do sometimes, not always, but sometimes tend not to stick to the agenda… or even avoid conclusions and to do lists at the end of a meeting. A meeting that starts with a well looked after to do list from the previous meeting, and a well thought to do list from the actual meeting is an efficient meeting, otherwise it can be a waste of time.

A. Of course […] and this specific meeting, how do you feel about this specific meeting? Do you think it was a success ?

B. I believe it is a success, but there is still a way to go, as the subject for the people in Argentina and Panama […] is quite new,[…]new and unknown, so that makes them a little distant. Yeah w*[…] They do not yet fully believe that there is a lot of benefit for them personally in the subject and in the effort they can put into it. We hope to continue that way and persuade them that it is beneficiary for them personally. There is work to be done.

A. So the purpose was to convince, to persuade them about HBDI ?

B. Well the purpose[…]HBDI is a tool we are using, we will continue to use , and we want people to change, to try to change their mind-set into an HBDI model. It is a model, nothing more than a model, and all models are short. All models have*[…]You can’t[…] you can’t put everything in one model. We know that very well. But every model has advantages and we want those people, as well as people in headquarters or people wherever in the PSA group[…]we want them to seek for the advantages in the HBDI model.

A. And so if you were to give it a score, the meeting, on a usefulness scale, what would you give it like a score out of ten?

B. On usefulness, on usefulness? Seven.

A. Do you think the meeting was long enough? Or was it to short or to long ?

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B. Was ok, I think, it was ok.

A. What do you think is the appropriate length for a meeting ? Of a meeting ?

B. Some meetings are too long when they last ten minutes, and some meetings are to short when they last for half a day. Can’t tell that.

A. And is there a policy about conducting meetings in PSA, are there like these rules participants need to follow, which are provided […] by the firm or […] ?

B. No house rules, no house policy on meetings.

A. No? no training on meetings?

B. Unfortunately, there have been some trainings in order to raise the efficiency of meetings. We had that before but we did not change that into steady policy within the company, and I wonder, I really wonder, whether our company is nowadays, as it is now, ready to accept a meeting policy. You see, it is again some, some regulation. You cannot tie people to policies on this and policies on that. I don’t know whether the company is willing to accept another policy on, in this case , meetings. As useful, as efficient as it may be, probably it is very efficient to have a companywide meeting policy and a companywide way of organising[…] A way of making meetings more efficient, probably this is very very good, but if the people are not ready for that kind of change, it will not help us.

A. Yeah, Yeah, of course. But in meetings when there is like[…]is there a structure that people follow, is there like an agenda, do they[…]they have this structure[…] do they say: ‘This is in the agenda, we start with this and continue with that and that[…]’ Do they really do that?

B. Quite some meeting do have an agenda and I think that quite some meetings[…] regularly[…] treat any subject but the subject in the agenda. As there are many different people in the company, and many different departments, and many different[…] personalities conducting and leading meetings, there are just as many different kind of meetings.

A. Yes, yes, certainly.

It is my initiative, sometimes when I feel it is appropriate, to take the lead and to say: this subject is for a quarter of an hour, the other subject as well. Now let’s focus on this: what do we need to conclude anything on this subject? We don’t have it, we don’t have the possibility to conclude anything on this subject? Ok stop discussing this subject, we will first get the other steps we need before concluding. Yeah. You see*[…]but sometimes I think: somebody should do that, but when it is a meeting where I don’t have any authority*…

A. Then, who is the leader? Is there a leader?

B. There will be a leader of course. Somebody will be the president of the meeting. If the president of the meeting is[…] let’s say for instance, […] I don’t know, never happened before, but might in het future […] if the president of the meeting is the finance director, I am not going to take the role to say: cut this subject, over to the next subject as we do not know on this and that item. That’s not my role. I can wonder why somebody is doing that or is not doing that and I can try to learn something from that situation, that is not my place.

A. But sometimes there are like kind of incompetent leaders who completely take a different role than the one that should be followed during the meeting and then you would say: let’ s stick to this and that.

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B. Well, let’s say if that is a meeting with direct colleges, with people from my department, with people I address directly and so on[…] then I might try to find a polite way to stick to the agenda or a polite way to change the agenda while in the meeting, when I think it is useful. Very important, very important to make the difference between: what do I think the meeting and the company needs ? What do I think? How do I address other people to tell them that? What do other people want?

A. Yes, all these things have to be considered.

B. All has to be considered because if I tell now what is the best solution for the company, supposing I would know that, supposing, if I tell what the best is for the company and if that is directly against the idea of somebody else, that’s a bad thing for the company. Because the best solution for the company is at that moment compromise. I have to wait for the right moment, for the right opportunity to launch a good idea.

A. And would you negotiate during a meeting about your own ideas and opinions ?

B. Sometimes.

A. Ok, so which style would you choose amongst these: avoiding, competing, compromising, collaboration , accommodating, and why would you choose one of these?

B. Competing is always difficult, try to avoid. [Laughs]. Avoiding can be useful if it means postpone and wait for a good opportunity. Collaborating is quite often the most rewarding in good feeling. Accommodating, sometimes, if it does not bother me too much, if it does not compromise my goals and my settings and whatever. Compromising[…]to gave and to take, give and take, negotiate, very well. Compromising and collaborating are I think most preferred. Competing I like to avoid it, but nevertheless sometimes I fall into it. Accomodating, perhaps*[…]

A. That’s when you don’t really care about the subject.

B. Yeah[…] When the level of importance for my job, for my responsibilities, for my duty is not at stake. Importance for my job, my responsibilities, for my terrain of duty is not at stake. Avoiding[…] sometimes.

A. And do conflicts occur much during meetings? Harsh conflicts when people go in against each other?

B. Rarely, much of the people are quite well aware that having a discussion[…] euhm[…] evolving to to genuine conflict, is not good for the result of the meeting, is not good for the the the the[…]personal feeling about is*[…]So people do try to avoid it.

A. So, there’s no shark amongst your colleagues? A shark is someone who likes to compete all the time during a meeting.

B. Hhh*[…] There might be some in the company, but not in my direct environment. Not really in my department luckily, yeah luckily.

A. And[…] how are meeting times chosen ? Do they just say you and you have to be there that time, that place or do you really have a say in*

B. It depends, it depends. When I organise a meeting I have the planning assistant of the MS outlook application and I can see whether the people that I like to be present are present or not. Some people forget there is a planning assistant and they invite you on a moment that you clearly have another appointment in the agenda. That depends on people.

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A. Do you say you can’t come or[…]Do you let them […] How do you let them change time and place?

B. Sometimes I will reply with a proposition of please change that date and time. Sometimes I will say: very sorry, but not possible to be in that meeting at that time. I have a prior appointment or an appointment that was already organised. Declining is a bit rude[…] I don’t like people declining my invitation for a meeting without any further explanation. It helps that somebody says: no I will not come to your meeting because of my employees in the department is fully aware of the subject and is fully responsible for the subject and he or she will attend the meeting. Perfect for me, absolutely normal that this has been declined. But declining without any further notice, I don’t like it. So I try not to send to other people that kind of decline I don’t like to see for myself.

A. And what do you think about this meeting time; on a Thursday, in the afternoon, at 3 o’clock .

B. A three o’clock it was scheduled but apparently there was a problem with the time schedules overseas. It was four o’clock now. It will run after five o’clock when it ended. It happens. I do not like this so much.

A. Actually there is a theory that problem solving meetings, where creativity is needed, are the best conducted in the morning[…] and his meeting was conducted in the afternoon. So according to the same theory this would improve collaboration and teamwork. It is also said that Thursday afternoon is the best time to do meetings.

B. Is it ?

A. Yes, according to all these kind of studies and theories that I learn at school. So it is a well-chosen time.

B. Anywhat the purpose of the meeting is?

A. Yes, it does not matter which purpose[…] but in the afternoon it would improve collaboration and teamwork.

B. Oh well thank you for that information!

A. Yes It’s , Yes it’s one of the things I learned at school. So[…] and further questions I have[…] Ah. Do you use special vocabulary during meetings[…] do you like[…] change what you say, will you use nice propositions like: ‘may I correct you there’[…] or ‘I would like to introduce ‘ or ‘let’s*[…] Things like that? Or do you really don’t pay much attention?

B. Never pay too much attention to that! On the other hand, I do tend to , sometimes, probably as well in meetings as in other situations, I do tend to stick to very stiff upper lip phrases and introducings, but in a way that everybody can notice that I am a little bit joking with the stiff upper lip attitudes. So it is not really stiff upper lip, it is joking. But in the meantime it is the very very clear way to say: now it is finished, now we going to conclude, now you are officially welcomed, or whatever[…] You see.

A. And like*[…] does the chairman apologize for those who are absent sometimes[…] in the beginning of the meeting? Or[…] Does that occur?

B. Yeah, depends on the type of meeting, yes, depends on the type of meeting.

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A. Is that also part of a fixed structure meeting? First there is the welcoming, then the people who are absent, then introducing the agenda[…]

B. Let’s say[…] The most formal meeting is I think, but I have never been present in that meeting, but I think the most formal, the monthly review with the unions.

A. The board meeting?

B. The board meeting is management meeting management, but management meeting unions that’s quite a formal meeting. With a very formal report afterwards that is published companywide. There the people that are absent or that are not coming, send somebody else to replace them. Even the person that replaces somebody else is officially being appointed. That is very formal[…]

A. Yes, so there is some kind of policy there on how to conduct the meeting. There is even*[…]

That’s a meeting you are legally obliged to organise. So the form of that meeting and the reporting afterwards has been defined some time ago not even inside the company but government wise. So of course that’s a formal meeting but most of our other meetings are not up to that level.

A. And have you ever taken courses on negotiation or meeting skills.

B. Negotiations yes, in terms of sales skills. I never had a training before on negotiations or meeting skills. I had never had a training before on how to make meetings more efficient. I did however organise that training for other people in the company[…]

A. So you’ve done a lot of research about it?

B. I have done some research on available trainings on meetings. I have not been doing research on the concept of meeting. That’s for the trainer, who gave that training.

A. Ah, so you hired the trainer? You mean you hired the trainer and you did not take these courses yourself?

B. No I don’t need these courses.

A. So I think that’s about all I have of questions. But I could ask you a lot more. Thank you very much for your cooperation . It was very interesting in getting to know your point of view on meetings. Thank you and have a nice evening.

B. Thank you, goodnight

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8.2 Notes

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8. List of References19

PSA Antwerp. “About PSA Antwerp” PSA-antwerp.be. PSA, 2015. Web. 30.11.2015. (http://www.psa-antwerp.be/en/content/about-psa-antwerp)

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