Leadership onboard - How it is and how it ought to be

The purpose of this study has been to state how the masters are carrying out their leadership onboard the Swedish merchant navy 2015. How are the captains leading their crews, and how ought the job to be done? How are the shipping companies leading their captains, and how should the captains be lead? In the business industry, sports world and military schools, leadership is put under constant surveillance and development. Whatever the question, leadership is the answer. But what place does the shipping industry take today? Through its traditions, geographic isolation and male dominance, shipping has in many ways involved different conditions than other organisations have ashore. The shipping industry is also an international one, and crews are mainly a mix between different nationalities. So how are the captains leading their crew and how should they lead them? How are the shipping companies leading their captains, and how should they lead them? These questions are illuminated through seven semi-structured interviews with captains, deck officers and people in charge within the shipping companies. In what manner is today’s leadership transactional or transformal? Do the various professional groups have different ideas of the same reality? Is there a difference between how it is and how it ought to be? This report has concluded that there is a clear distinction between how the shipping companies and the seamen experience the onboard leadership. Furthermore there is also a clear distinction between how the seamen experience the leadership today, and how they think it should be performed