STRATEGIC POSITIONING &

JIT APPLICATIONPRESENTED BY:Subhasish Das Asia Graduate School Of BusinessSUPERVISOR:Dr. Sanjay BhavnaniCOO,MMS India Pvt Ltd

MMS Maritime ( India) Pvt Ltd affiliate of Meiji Shipping Group, Japan

OPERATION:Sourcing & deployment of quality Indian officers

Vessels:Japanese built, young fleet of tankers

CREW MANAGEMENT PROCESS

•MMSI believes in :-Quality sourcing and follows a strict assessment procedure to deploy quality talent on its good vessels-Training and developing its talent pool and follows a competence management system to monitor the development

•Unlike other manning companies decision on new recruit and on promotion involves assessment by owners , managers and local manning office

• Source & Retain quality pool of seafarers

• Keep the owners interested in Indian seafarers with

effective training programs ,competence

management system &cost effective operations

SOURCING &

RETAININIG

•Indian seafarer market is huge and competitive•Indian seafarer with different talent ,competence and personality are still in high demand•There is a huge supply of junior officers whereas there is shortage of quality officers specially for tanker operators•Companies are continuously advertising ,screening and assessing to develop a talent pipeline, which adds on to the operations cost, in order to reduce the uncertainty •Companies are continuously developing the best possible mix of benefits & financial gains to attract seafarers.•Seafarers scrutinize every aspect of the company before committing

STAGE 1OBJECTIVE: To identify existing factors that companies capitalize on to attract seafarers & identify present positioning of MMSI

TYPE OF RESEARCH: secondary & primary (Exploratory)

SOURCES :•Shipping journals•Shipping jobsites•Telephonic interviews•Own experience

•The following are the factors which the companies use to devise package to attract seafarers:1)Internet connectivity2)Fast promotions3)Working conditions4)Cuisines5)Shorter contracts6)Onboard facilities

7)Joining/repatriation 8)Wages9)Bonus10)Seniority11)Examination allowancesThe above factors are clustered into 2 following dimensions to identify present positioning of MMSI through perceptual mapping1) Value Added Benefits 2) Financial gains

wages

Add. Financial gain

connectivity

food OC

Sign on/off

promotions

management

Work/safety culture

awareness

mmsi 3 2 0 3 4 3 3 3 4 2

genmar 5 0 0 2 2 3 3 2 2 3

Tank.pac

4 0 0 2 2 2 3 2 2 3

BW 4 3 4 3 4 4 3 3 3 5

BP 3 2 4 3 3 3 2 3 3 5

Shell 3 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 3 5

Chevron

3 3 4 3 4 4 2 3 4 5

Teekay 3 2 2 2 4 3 2 3 4 5

Valles 3 1 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3

AET 3 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4

Low financialgain

high financialgain

Low Benefits

High benefits

Genmar

Bw

tankpac

BPShell

Chevron

Valles

MMSI

AET

•The positioning of MMSI in the perceptual mapping based on various financial & benefits factors clearly indicates its position in RED OCEAN, raising the uncertainty level in the process of achieving its strategic goals, further adds on the operations cost.

UNCERTAINITIES Quality of seafarer

Seafarer’s decision to join Loyalty

RESULT:•Continuous screening and assessment , adds cost

•Expensive round the year advertisement & intervention

•Added hiring and training cost for new recruits

STAGE 2OBJECTIVE: To Study and analyze seafarer perceptionTYPE OF RESEARCH: PrimaryRESPONDENTS: Junior officers : 28 no’s (includes MMSI officers)Senior officers: 11 no’sManagers : 3 no’s(MMSI,VALLES,GENERAL MARITIME)METHODOLOGY:•One – one interview•Telephonic interview

•MMSI ,though rated high in most of the benefits factors have missed out to capitalize on some of the factors which are very significant for attracting new seafarers .•MMSI is rated average for financial gains, which is again very significant for attracting new talent and retaining old trained talent.•The general awareness about MMSI is very low within the seafarer’s community which is again a significant element to attract new seafarers.•MMSI do not have any onboard training and monitoring program for its junior officers to support the efficiency of Competence Management System.•The existing computer based training modules are less engaging and does not contribute largely to CMS.

•MMSI needs to reposition itself by devising the best possible mix( cost effective) of the benefits & financial factors ,based on the significance , differently for Junior and senior officers to attract the right pool of seafarers around it.

•MMSI needs to advertise its positioning in such a way that a seafarer not only read the upcoming vacancies but also understand the culture and can relate his/her requirements.

•MMSI should share maximum information with its senior officers to establish a transparent relationship.

MARKETING:•MMSI should encourage its seafarers & managers to attend /participate in seminars and events to make its values visible in the market•A web link be developed and attached with its electronic Add banners which give information about the company , Its onboard environment ,pictures , testimonials by shore and offshore staffs and articles to transmit the message across to right seafarers•Edutaining Events be organized each year with an idea to engage each and every foot fall through out the event, something very unlikely with the present shipping events.BENEFIT FACTORS:•In the world of social connectivity & stressful sailing , MMSI should get 24 hrs broadband connectivity for its seafarers to connect to home , to be socially active even when onboard, with some careful monitoring and regulations.

FINANCIAL BENEFITS:Wages:•Based on the research data and Maslow’s theory, MMSI should devise different wage plans for senior and junior officers

•During wage rise ,the percentage of increment should be more for junior officers than senior officers

•Senior officers be given better seniority increment and the seniority factor be waived off for junior officers, as junior officers tend to grow faster and don’t much care about seniority.

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL BENEFITS:•Seafarers look for long term benefit plans like yearly bonus , loyalty bonus which is a added cost to company.•Generation Y seafarer’s are keen on investing their hard earned money for future financial stability.•Examination expenses are major concern for any seafarer MMSI investment planMethod 1:Every corporate today invest their surplus amount in the free global market to gain profits .Under the MMSI investment plan, every MMSI seafarer be encouraged to invest some part of their wages during sailing period under a common account managed by MMSI(international office) in the free global market , which will yield much higher return and tax free. This will benefit both the seafarer’s and the company.

Method 2:MMSI (Mumbai) should open an SIP account with any of the stable asset management company , either registering itself as a broker or through a registered broker.MMSI seafarers be allowed & encouraged to invest certain portion of their wages under the common account to get the best possible returns .MMSI can manage , monitor and track the account and give regular status updates to its employees , making it easier for them to track their investment even when sailing.Outcome•Considering the benefits, seafarer will stick longer with the company•The return per seafarer is much higher than what other companies offer as bonuses•Adds no cost to the company•Junior officers can manage their examination cost from the returns•Helps in building trust between management & seafarers

Just In Time Application:Forecasting: •Two year slots forecasting be prepared for the entire fleet and each seafarer be given their tentative joining / sign off ,vessel details for the next 2 years.•The same be put up on the link with access to seafarers at home and onboard to deploy an efficient supply chain of information to actively update the forecast.•The periods of uncertainties be identified for each year in advance and MMSI should advertise only during the period of uncertainty, added with new positioning, branding and pull strategy for the right seafarers to be available just during the time an external candidate is required.Outcome:•Develops trust•Reduce documentation•MMSI saves advertisement and intervention cost which amounts to 14 lakh annually•Training cost & resources could be optimized as most of the new recruits can be trained at one go.

COMPETENCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM:•MMSI should deploy edutainment(interactive) based CBT modules so that the seafarer engagement is high and gives a effective result which can be in line with the Competence Management System•The modules should also include some angle of the MMD examination so that junior officers engage themselves voluntarily.•The CBT programs should be easily accessible to seafarer onboard and at home and the topics be divided rank wise on yearly basis , so that one can finish the topic without visiting the office.•Appraisal based on ‘point system’ be implemented for fair and effective promotions system -Points be assigned for every critical operations and jobs-Minimum no. of points be specified to qualify for promotions -The same points each seafarer can be used to monitor the competence level

SUMMARY:

•The recommendations are purely based on research analysis and if executed can streamline the crew management process and would make it easier to monitor the process , to identify bottle necks and waste.

•Further research would be required to quantify the results of the recommendations

•MMSI can clearly stand out and create a benchmark in the industry.

THANK YOU