Article - 35 Week 44 Indian Shipping Industry Deserves A Highway To Move On:

• Article - 35 Week 44 
• Indian Shipping Industry Deserves A Highway To Move On:

Descartes said "I think. Therefore I am." 

Indian shipping industry has proved him wrong by the mantra of "We do not think. Therefore, we are." 

From a global as well as to a large Indian perspective, 80% of indian cargo is carried on foreign bottoms. Indian shipping tonnage is nothing more than statistics & doctored graphs. Coastal shipping is barely a support to the needed transport infrastructure. Ship management companies are exceptions rather than rules. Shipping finance is conspicuous by more of its absence. Ship building is almost a forgotten & a marginal thing. Pollution prevention & controls are primitive. Ports are notoriously reputed for inefficiency & shoddy management. The self serving & corrupt Customs department seems no less than the oppressive regime of Cuba or Myanmar. Most regulations & policies are arcane & myopically reactive. 

We understand that there are reformed & buoyant industries in India like Telecom, IT, Automobiles, and Biotech etc. However, there is a large pool of potential industries like shipping, who are still mired in mediocrity to almost stagnation & decay. Wonder why Automobile industry took off, while Shipping got stunted? 

Is it because we have stopped thinking about the wrongs in our industry? If Sanjay Gandhi thought about automobiles after his apprenticeship in Rolls-Royce, the subsequent governments thought more about Maruti's growth, because it was linked to the Gandhi family legacy (though undesired & vulgar side effect) The key thing is people thought. And in shipping, we had no one thinking! Even today ! Shipping Ministry is perceived as a portfolio of the political rejects & dim wits. The people like us in the industry, celebrate their dim vision of Indian shipping industry, that hardly touches on any thing more than the one billion-tons-mark of cargo handling per annum - no matter who carries, who handles it, and how it is handled.

Paradoxically, we have the best brains in shipping who excel outside India. We have ample amount of captive cargo to be carried. We have a huge stock of engineers and workers to build ships. We have the the best geographical position to serve as transshipment and bunkering hub. And we have begun to attract Capital in a big way, that finds its easy way into the stock markets and undesired places pushing inflation & Rupee strength higher. If we really thought, our shipping could soak up billions in investment. This would strengthen our internal economy in place of creating currency & inflation hardships, because you need not buy Rupees to buy ships or shipyards.

We have forgotten to think. Therefore, we stand small in a world of tall shipping nations! Let's think & make our elected governments think in unison.

Brgds

Capt Rath

Econship Marine

704:5:6 Maithili's Signets 7th Floor,
Sector 30A  Vashi Navi Mumbai 400 703.

Dir No : 6457 2316

Tel : +91 22 6457 2316 Fax: 27814294

Sales : 645723  18 to 19 Trade : 645723 29 to 31

Acc Adm Hr : 645723  20 to 23 IT : 6457 2324 

Export & Customer Service : 645723 25 to 27

www.econshipping.com + www.econarmy.blogspot.com

MSN : psrath@hotmail.com Skype : psrath

Article - 34 Week 43 Organisational Policies Need To Be Pointed Right:

Freedom is natural to humans & even animals. When you take the freedom away the 'will' withers away and along with that any drive for creativity. Animals in zoo live short lives of boredom & anxiety, even with the best of food, security from predators, and medical aids - because of the lack of one thing called 'freedom'. We humans are no different. However, we pay a heavy price for being civilised by way of curtailing & blunting our freedom. Any law, rule, norm, guideline, or policy is a direct affront on our personal 'freedom'. We need to get up at specified times and be in the office at designated times, walk on the left side of the road, or stop at a red light and so on. The more civilised we become, the more sacrifices shall be asked for on our personal freedom, to the point where we would not be much different from a caged tiger. 

Then comes the big question - 'Are we not really caged & tamed tigers in our offices or organisations we work for?'  With mountains of rule books, manuals, policies, norms, traditions, and hierarchies most of our freedom is in a suspended cold storage. They even grossly transgress beyond the physical & time boundaries of the organisation we work for. If so, then are we stunting our creativities? 

Fortunately no. Humans have an uncanny and unfathomable capacity to surrender to innumerable rules & restrictions so long as they are fully convinced of its good purpose - either for them directly or for their folks. They even don't mind severe limitations to their unfettered freedom if this means a greater good for the community. But the key is the conviction & willingness part. Once convinced, the bondage is perceived as freedom. Religious fanaticism is an extreme example of this. Therefore, the organisational policies need to be truly convergent to the greater good of all its employee's first and other stake-holders next. That's not easy. The dominant stake holders are the share holders & the government. And many new policies and procedures are forced on the organisation keeping only profits & taxes in view and may miss the conviction part. About the government - less said the better. The vision, mission, and policies need to be congruent with practices and procedures. However, that may not be enough, if it does not sink into the conviction of the people it is meant for. We don't mind sacrificing our short-term freedom so long as this assures us bigger freedom in the future. Any new policy or procedure is basically binding and demands a sacrifice by the people. Therefore, a perception of a bigger 'take away' in the future for all the participants should be the key ingredient in all the organisational dreams and the defined paths to such dreams. Unlike the animal world, we can keep a man tamed & bonded to even extreme states of confinement, as long as we can convince him of a larger 'take away'  in the future, even in a very distant one.  And the truth is if the 'take away' is real, & tangible you need no hard efforts to convince. Any obscure, veiled , or hidden agenda mostly fails to be convincing and therefore the need for expensive & time consuming workshops, alignment programmes, & pep talks.

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Article - 34 Week 43 Organisational Policies Need To Be Pointed Right

Article - 34 Week 43 

Organisational Policies Need To Be Pointed Right:

Freedom is natural to humans & even animals. When you take the freedom away the 'will' withers away and along with that any drive for creativity. Animals in zoo live short lives of boredom & anxiety, even with the best of food, security from predators, and medical aids - because of the lack of one thing called 'freedom'. We humans are no different. However, we pay a heavy price for being civilised by way of curtailing & blunting our freedom. Any law, rule, norm, guideline, or policy is a direct affront on our personal 'freedom'. We need to get up at specified times and be in the office at designated times, walk on the left side of the road, or stop at a red light and so on. The more civilised we become, the more sacrifices shall be asked for on our personal freedom, to the point where we would not be much different from a caged tiger. 

Article - 33 Week 42 Professionalism is evolutionary & needs a kick-start:

Article - 33 Week 42 

Professionalism is evolutionary & needs a kick-start:

An American comes to Dubai for the first time on employment. The AC breaks down in his home, in the middle of an unbearable desert heat. The technician, along with two assistants, who incidentally happen to be Indians, comes in and repairs the set in 5 minutes and charges an exorbitant fee. And 2 hours later the machine breaks down again. The technician is called in, who lands up a couple of hours after the appointed time, to announce that the AC is working fine - except that it is not cool enough. The American has a hard time understanding the complexity of the situation, before being affronted by the technician for his visiting fees. There goes another usual story in Singapore. You call the technician to repair your ailing AC. The technician asks you a full set of questionnaire. Then asks your appointment to the precision of a minute. Gives you a scope of work with the estimated bill. Lands up precisely on the appointed time. Inspects the electrical ducts and switches first before looking at the AC. Completes the repair with a few spare parts he has brought with him. Puts the machine on and waits patiently on you, till you are happy with the functioning of the set. He cleans up your place of all the dirt & debris resulting from the mending work. Then he writes the  invoice. Calls up after two days to ask if the set is working fine and assures you that in case of any immediate problem, he would fix it for free.

Having closely seen & experienced both the technicians, you would surprisingly observe that the Indian is technically more sound & experienced than his Singaporean counterpart. But when it comes to his performance, he is far too shoddy, wasteful, and irksome. Professionalism is not all about knowledge & experience. It is more about application & a pride in the jobs we undertake.