MBA in Shipping

The overall objective of the course is to help us develop business and financial ethics leadership praxis and actionable knowledge, i.e., action that creates wealth in such a way that makes ourselves, our organizations, and the world better. This course takes a management methods approach to business and financial ethics and social responsibility. The course focuses on methods managers can use individually and together in addressing ethics and social responsibility issues and in helping to build and maintain ethical and socially responsible organizations in various types of environments and realities. Methods considered include ethics leadership, change, reasoning, dialogue, persuasion, governance, due process, negotiating, incentive, training, social movement, alternative institution building, top-down and bottom-up compliance code and win-lose forcing methods, and ethics crisis management and turnaround methods. In addition to learning about the methods, students are invited to reflect upon what types of institutional citizens we would like to be and what types of ethical and socially responsible organizations we would like to help create in our various types of environments and realities. Case studies from Europe, Asia, and North America are considered.

This course aims to enhance business problem modelling and solving skills by integrating concepts and frameworks from Statistics and Decision Science with modern Information Technology. Emphasis is placed on evaluating risks and using the theory of normative decision making to compare decision alternatives under uncertainty. Participants will learn how to structure complex management problems and combine quantitative analysis with judgment and critical thinking.  Topics covered include forecasting, decision analysis, Monte-Carlo simulation and business optimization. It is a practical course that uses case studies and spreadsheets to illustrate how to apply the methodologies introduced.

The purpose of this course is to build critical reading, writing and presentation skills to enable participants communicate effectively. After completing this course, its participants will be able to prepare different types of documents, searching and evaluating evidence adopting a critical approach in reading and writing. Moreover, this course provides students with the presentation skills to build presence, authority, and a newfound ability to captivate the audience. They will empower the content and their stage presence by discovering different presentation styles but most importantly identifying their own. A special feature of this course is that participants will have the opportunity to experience the tools presented through an interactive methodology.

The aim of the workshop is to provide participants with a fulfilling and lively event, in order to introduce them to the importance of teamwork.  By taking part in planned outdoor activities and exercises and through mutual support, the team enables itself to overcome difficulties and built strong bonds.  Furthermore, this process will result into the formation of the groups that participants are going to work with during their studies.

Sea transportation has been an important catalyst of world trade and economic growth. Globalization of the world economy, increased competition and rapid technological change has resulted in lowered transport costs. High volatility in prices, uncertainty, capital concentration and global competition of the shipping markets, have made effective economic skills a requirement for shipping organizations. The aim of this course is to provide the maritime economic principles and theory required for the effective management of a shipping company, which operates in the global competitive shipping environment, under the appropriate policy perspectives. The students will be able to understand the economic organization of the shipping market, to analyse the shipping market cycle and the shipping markets, as well as the supply and demand conditions and the trade patterns in seaborne transportation.

The course explores the ‘art’ of financial accounting / financial reporting.  In particular, the goal of the course is to provide the knowledge and skills required for the understanding and use of financial accounting information for decision making.  Some of the topics covered during the course include: the role and importance of financial reporting, the role of the main players in the accounting communication process, including the management, auditors and stakeholders, the effects of the use of different accounting methods and estimates on the financial statements and the subsequent impact on decision making, ways of analysing, interpreting and evaluating financial statements.  During the course, extensive reference is made to the annual reports of various companies, as well as to accounting scandals (e.g. ENRON), for the facilitation of knowledge and understanding.

The course outlines general ship characteristics as well as the statutory and commercial rules and guidelines associated with the design and operational profile of ship types. Statutory and class regulations are presented in association to the flag and design criteria related to safe construction of ships. Furthermore, most common ship types and their commercial characteristics are presented. Guidelines associated with the design and operational profile of ship types are mentioned. Technical and vessel voyage elements are presented analytically, with reference to individual vessel types and operation. Ship repair Management and the principles of ship valuation are discussed and analyzed in the class

Management consists of a set of universal skills that are well understood and trainable. Leadership consists of how each one of us makes a unique difference to the challenges we face with people and projects. It is not about wasting our energy trying to make ourselves more effective by changing our characters. Instead, it is more effective to find new and better ways of ‘being ourselves’ through enhanced insight and skill.  The purpose of this course is twofold: (a) to assess and improve your readiness to function well as a leader by making your time at Alba Graduate Business School a self-directed journey of learning and development; the specific objectives are to develop an awareness of the knowledge and skills that underlie leadership effectiveness; to obtain individual-level feedback utilizing some of the best existing assessment instruments; to share feedback on your own and others’ skills; and to craft a personal leadership development action plan; (b) to help you acquire actionable knowledge about leadership styles, leading with power, and influence processes by exposing you to both classical perspectives on and contemporary trends in leadership theory and practice through a series of stimulating readings, discussions, exercises, and case studies. 

The course provides an overview of the core areas of organizational theory and organizational behavior with a special emphasis on topics related to organizational structures, culture and values, employee motivation, teamwork, and the management of change in organizations. It will help participants understand the complex relations between individuals, organizations, and the external environment. Particular emphasis is placed on the effective functioning of organizations in dynamic environments, where strategic and operational agility have emerged as essential capabilities for organizations to survive and prosper. Through case studies, videos, discussion, and a simulation game, students will have the opportunity to exercise their critical thinking and develop management skills by applying related concepts and theories to a broad range of challenges relevant to the everyday life in organizations.

The maritime labor industry is a highly competitive and regulated sector, while the management of multinational crew and the transferability of seafarers from ship to office positions require for advanced human resource management practices. The aim of this course is to provide the principles of managing maritime human resources, both the seagoing and shore-based personnel, considering the today’s market conditions. The course will provide an overview of key concepts related to Crew and Human Resource Management, including Human resource planning in shipping; Recruitment and selection of ship’s and shore- based personnel; Performance evaluation of maritime human resources; Compensation and rewards of seagoing labor and Management of multicultural crews. Further, the course will discuss the profile of the world maritime labor market, selection criteria of the seafarer’s profession that affect retention, outsourcing of manning and the new Maritime Labor Convention (MLC2006).

The course enables students to understand the basic concepts of the law relating to shipping, so as to bolster their prospects of professional, commercial or business employment. Notions such as the ship, admiralty jurisdiction, arrest, ship mortgage, maritime lien, marine insurance shall be examined and analysed. Furthermore, it is opted to enhance students’ interpretational skills when examining legal instruments. Finally, students are expected to develop other skills, such as problem solving, legal research, independent study and critical evaluation. Successful students shall demonstrate a satisfactory knowledge of various concepts of shipping law. They should be in a position to apply the relevant law to hypothetical problems, to evaluate critically legal situations and reach reasoned conclusions.

The highly volatile (risky) business environment, in which companies in the shipping industry operate, makes it imperative for them to identify the sources of risk that they face, but also to know how to deal with them effectively. Implementing risk management strategies in the increasingly sophisticated and competitive environment that companies operate nowadays, can often make the difference between being able to stay in business or not. It can give these companies a comparative advantage over the intense competition that they face in the sector. The aim of this course is to provide the needed knowledge in the areas of derivatives and risk management in shipping. Both traditional methods of risk management and more recent derivatives instruments are extended to the shipping industry through this course.

Due to the fact that the shipping industry is a capital intensive and volatile industry, the course focuses on the critical evaluation of the various financial methods under risky and uncertain situations. The course focuses on the general principles of financial management by ship owning and ship operating companies and the impact economic variables on the financial operations of shipping business organizations. The aim of this course is to give students an appreciation of the problems, issues and alternative methods involved in shipping finance. The end goal is to provide students with the tools necessary to conduct accurate financial analysis for investment purposes in the shipping industry. At the end of the course, the students will be able to develop, appraise, negotiate and choose among alternative investment proposals in shipping.

In this course students learn how the design of productive systems, strategic planning, and operations planning and control can help them increase productivity and customer service as a springboard for increased profitability. The course is intended to anyone interested in operations, strategic planning and valuation. In general, a working knowledge of operations, which typically employs the greatest number of employees and requires the largest investment in assets, is indispensable for general managers and entrepreneurs.

The first part of the course is to introduce students to the issues involved in insuring the various interests that may arise in vessels and their cargoes. The course examines the types of policy available, the legal issues that arise in the placement and claims processes and the risks covered by the standard form of marine insurance wordings available. The second part of the course is to provide the principles of law governing the carriage of goods by sea and admiralty jurisdiction. It further focuses on liability in terms of the cargo transported and claim implications. The aim of the course is to enable students to understand, analyse and critically evaluate the processes which affect a shipping company in relation to marine insurance issues and to the law of carriage of goods by sea.

The latest technological developments have created unprecedented demand for people that can lead interdisciplinary teams. At the same time, managerial soft skills including critical thinking, comprehensive decision making, and creativity are becoming increasingly important, as many of today’s mundane and repetitive tasks will soon become obsolete. Analysis of Business Problems is more than anything a methodology course where students are exposed to a method for dealing with such unstructured problems. Using active learning methods—including business cases, workshops, and simulations— participants will be prepared to tackle complex and unstructured problems. Unstructured problems do not have a unique, correct solution, and are precisely where managers should thrive. Solving such unstructured problems is much of what managers do, and the ability to solve them is often what sets apart great managers from the pack. In this course, participants will be exposed to a method for dealing with unstructured problems that has been successfully used by the leading consulting companies, C-level executives, as well as top MBA graduates around the world.

Approximately 90% of non-bulk cargo worldwide is moved by containers stacked on transport ships.  Containerization has brought a big change in the way trade is done. It has greatly reduced the expense of international trade and has increased its speed, especially of consumer goods and commodities. Liner shipping is the service of transporting goods by means of high-capacity, ocean-going ships that transit regular routes on fixed schedules. Meanwhile, seaports play a tremendous role in the transportation chain. This course intends to give an insight of the liner shipping industry and the way that seaports operate.

The aim of this course is to provide in-depth and holistic understanding of charter markets, chartering practice and charter party analysis in dry cargo and tanker shipping. Content includes the procedures and practices in chartering merchant ships in the dry cargo and tanker markets, their commercial employment under various forms of chartering and the detailed calculation of financial (freight) performance, voyage planning and lay time estimations. The module provides an in-depth analysis of charter party forms and adopts a legal and commercial perspective to analyze significant clauses and to explain various specialized terms in dry cargo and chartering contracts. The market structure of dry cargo and tanker industries are also analyzed and an overview of the practitioners involved (brokers, owners, charterers) is provided as are the sources of data and information required to initiate, negotiate, agree, execute and assess a successful charter party contract in the dry bulk and tanker markets.

The effective and daily strategic management of companies operating in the shipping service sector is of the most paramount importance. Managers, thus, are in need of strategic making skills as ever. Strategy is the set of objectives and policies that set to define how a shipping service provider positions itself to gain competitive advantage and increase returns for its owner and stakeholders. Two questions are of importance, then: “What business should we participate in” and “How should we compete?” In answering these questions, the external environment and the internal company resources and capabilities take a central role. Through case studies and assignments, participants learn to use tools for analyzing, creating and, communicating strategies in the shipping industry.