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International Journal of Accounting & Business Management

www.ftms.edu.my/journals/index.php/journals/ijabm

Vol. 7(No.2), Nov, 2019

ISSN: 2289-4519 DOI: 10. 24924/ijabm/2019.11/v7.iss2/114.141

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Research Paper

FACTORS INFLUENCING INDIAN SEAFARING OFFICER’S MOTIVATION

Capt. Atul Wadhwa Lord Ashcroft International Business School

Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK wadhwatul@yahoo.com

Ananthlakshmi Mahadevan School of Accounting & Business Management,

FTMS College, Persiaran Semarak Api, Cyber 4, Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia

lakshmi@ftms.edu.my

Abstract

The ability to motivate and retain Indian seafaring officers is a critical manpower issue in global shipping industry. The intention of this paper is to analyse the impact of Salary and fringe benefits, Psychosocial stress, Work-Life balance and Blame culture on the motivation of Indian seafaring officers. The study examined Indian seafaring officers´ views on motivational factors. The analytical research methodology of this study was quantitative and concluded by administering objective questionnaire to 235 licensed Indian seafaring officers. Completed data from 221 respondents was analysed using structural equation modelling to draw conclusions. The questionnaire was designed for the evaluation of impact of psychosocial stress, on their motivation. According to the results of this study, the most demotivating factors were salary and fringe benefits and blame culture. Reliability test was performed to check on the interrelatedness between the variables, and apart from work-life balance the remaining three variables showed a strong relationship with motivation. Similarly, a higher mean value in descriptive analysis showed a strong relation between blame culture and work-life balance on motivation of Indian Seafaring officers. Finally, regression analysis concluded that all four independent variables had a positive impact on dependent variable however salary and fringe benefits and blame culture had higher impact as compared to other two namely work-life balance and psychosocial stress. The paper was summarized by providing recommendations to address the motivational issues of Indian seafaring officers related to Salary and fringe benefits and blame culture.

Keywords: Motivation, Stress, Work-Life Balance, Blame Culture 1.0 Introduction

Seaborne trade forms about 90% of the total world trade, and there are close to 90,715 merchant ships plying on the high sea transporting goods between places, keeping the world economy rolling with precision and diligence. The people behind the scene

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working 24x7 to reach the goods on time are non-other than the seafaring officers. It is the result of their hard work and sacrifice that the World trade goes on seamlessly. Just like any other industry, people in terms of skilled seafaring officers become the most critical component of this dynamic industry and remain in primary focus due to high attrition rates attributed to motivation. The shortage of seafaring officers is already a global issue which needs to be addressed immediately to ensure stabile the flow of skilled labor to the global shipping industry. It is proven fact that seafaring is one of the most physically and mentally challenging professions in one of the most threatening work environments – “the high seas”. Seafaring profession is associated with mental, psychosocial, and physical stressors. Negligible social life, harsh working conditions, long and irregular working hours due to reduced manning levels, sleep deprivation, limited recreational activities are some of the stressors for Psychosocial stress amongst modern day seafarers. Fast growing economies of developing nations are making the seafaring profession less attractive for youngsters. As compared to past when the seafarers were paid better than their peers working ashore, for the modern-day seafaring officers this gap has reduced thus making it far less lucrative for them to take up this profession or even quit after few years in service. Moreover, safer, better and higher paying career options like Information Technology etc are now easily available in developing nations. A work-life balance is synonym to carrier success and one of the most important factor of job motivation. However, for a seafaring officer his professional life and his personal life is resolutely unbalanced. This is another demotivating factor for graduates to take to carrier at sea as the time spent onboard the ship, away from families and friends can be emotionally taxing for both the seafarers and their families. Every seafarer realizes the importance of “Family Life” and does not want to miss spending time with his wife or see his son or daughter grow old without him being around. Separated for months from his job and family at any given time makes it difficult for a seafaring officer to maintain a balanced view of life, relationships and his job. Adding to above demotivating factors is a more complex and serious issue of blame culture. While diligent seafaring officers take all care and precautions in their day to day operations, any incident which has an impact on the people, environment or property whether intentional or by accident, can lead to officers taking the blame and being criminalized and imprisoned. The above demotivating factors are threatening the very existence and future sustainability of merchant shipping by damaging the image and ability to attract and retain qualified seafaring officers.

In 2015, the BIMCO/International Chamber of Shipping Manpower Report estimated a shortfall of 16,500 officers. By 2020, the officer shortfall is expected to intensify to 92,000, and by 2025 a staggering 147,500 officers (BIMCO/ICS, 2015). Unless measures are taken to address the concerns with the motivation factors of qualified officers, the overall quality of seafarers would be compromised thus posing serious threats to safety and jeopardizing the environment. Recognizing the threat to the very future of the shipping industry imposed by the global shortage of seafarers, especially officers, IMO in 2008 launched the ‘Go to Sea!’ campaign with the intention of promoting seafaring as an attractive career option (IMO,2010). World seaborne trade gathered momentum in 2017, with volumes expanding at 4 per cent, the fastest growth in five years. Further, world seaborne trade is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 3.8 per cent between 2018 and 2023. (UNCTAD/RMT,2018). However, for shipping

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industry to continually expand to meet the demands of globalization, the relevant stakeholders would need to make concerted efforts to address poor human resource practices and operation induced pressures else existing shortages are likely to intensify over the next decade. On 1st January 2018, the world commercial fleet consisted of 94,171 vessels, with a combined tonnage of 1.92 billion dwt. After five years of decelerating growth, in 2017, there was a slight rebound in the rate of increase. The dead-weight tonnage of the commercial shipping fleet grew by 3.31 per cent in the 12 months to 1 January 2017, up from 3.15 per cent in 2016. (UNCTAD/RMT,2018). India with 12 per cent of the world’s population has just 7 per cent of the seafarers’ market whilst Philippines with just 2 per cent of the world’s population has grabbed about 20 per cent global share (Noel, 2017) A severe shortfall of trained seafarers has hit the Indian shipping industry, forcing ship operators to hire captains and chief engineers with less experience, thus jeopardising the safety of the vessel and its crew. As per industry norm, it usually takes 10 years of sailing experience for a deck cadet to qualify for the rank of a captain but ship owners are increasingly handing over the command to first officers with less than seven years of sea time. This inexperience is raiding serious concerns on rising maintenance costs and also the safety (Ruchika 2014). There is a substantial surge in the demand for Indian officers in the specialized trades of Gas and Product Tankers, probably attributing to the fact that Indian officers are generally able to cope well in 3rd Party inspections. A number of foreign operators have recently set up their offices in India to cope up with officers shortage on these specialized tankers and this in turn has resulted in driving the wages higher and leading to ‘poaching’ wars amongst the manning companies (Pradeep, 2007). Considering the ongoing economy boom in India and the various career options available, not many graduates are motivated to take the hardships of unsettled life as a seafaring officer. To increase the recruitment and retention rate of Indian Seafaring officers’ a research is required to address their motivational factors before it becomes a major human capital crisis not only for Indian Shipping Industry but globally. Thesis by Priscilla Leong reflects a changing pattern of labour demand whereby more expensive labour from traditional maritime nations such as countries of European Union and Scandinavia are being substituted with the relatively affordable work force from developing nations such as, India, China, Philippines, Russia and Poland (Priscilla, 2012). A research shows that whilst there will be a decline in number of economically active seafarers from traditional maritime states the supply from Asian seafarers from India, China and Philippines is expected to meet the future demands (Jabeth Sena, 2003). However, this may potentially be hindered by its lower retention rate. Conventionally, India has played a major role in supplying of trained seafarers to global fleet. Even now Indians account for nearly 7 per cent of the seafarers manning the global fleet. Even though the market share of Indian seafarers has dropped in the recent past, attributing to their skills and training, they are still few of the most preferred seafarers in the world. The shortage of officers has forced the Indian ship operators and owners to make its crew work more hours, often violating the ILO and MLC Work/ Rest requirements. (Cristina, Ghiorghe, Corina, Felicia, 2008). The international shipping industry is facing a difficult problem of acute officer shortage due various retention issues (Silva et al., 2011). Low employment and high attrition rates of seafarers have put a heavy onus on the ship operators and increased the ship

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operating costs. Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) also known as the seafarers’ Bill of Rights came into force in 2013 and sets minimum requirements for nearly every aspect of working and living conditions for seafarers including recruitment and placement practices, conditions of employment, hours of work and rest, repatriation, annual leave, payment of wages, accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering, health protection, occupational safety and health, medical care, onshore welfare services and social protection (ILO,2011). Despite these IMO initiatives, the number of Indian officers in the industry continues to drop as not many graduates are attracted to the sea due to the hazardous nature of the industry and poor working conditions coupled with the hardship of being separated from the family and being deprived of a private life. Concerned with declining market of Indian seafarers industry , representatives of leading shipping associations in the country – such as National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI), Maritime Union of India (MUI), Maritime Association of Shipowners, Shipowners and Agents (MASSA) and others – have joined a ‘task force’ or committee formed by Directorate General of Shipping of India to primarily increase the global share of Indian seafarers’ market to over 9 per cent from 7 per cent at present. (Marine Insight, 2017)

Motivation acts as a catalyst for a seafarer to excel at work and stay with the organization for a longer period of time. Many studies have shown a positive correlation between motivation and employee retention. One such study reveals job satisfaction and motivation is an aspect that all employees seek and is an important factor of employee retention which is possible only by making the employee feel comfortable physically and mentally. (Sandhya, Pradeep, 2011; Mahadevan & Liew, 2016). Furthermore, study conducted in Ghana on different sectors has revealed a positive significant relation between the human resources practices’motivation, loyalty and commitment (Dastane and Lee, 2016; Lady Nadia, Frempong, Peter Adjei, 2018). Therefore, carefully considering the motivational factors of the seafarer can be an important factor to alleviate the current human resource crisis within the Indian shipping industry. This thesis investigates the main factors contributing to a higher motivation of Indian seafaring officers, which in turn improves the employment and retention rates to cope up with both national and international demands. It also aims to highlight the causes which make seafaring unattractive, thus offering the best solutions to motivate the graduates to take to seafaring as a career. The main objective of this thesis is to explore and describe the motivational profiles of the Indian seafaring officers by identifying the aspects of the seafaring profession which generally motivate them to join the merchant navy and stay on in their jobs and those which make the profession unattractive, i.e. to differentiate perceived benefits and rewards of seafaring from perceived disadvantages and disincentives of the profession. Corresponding research questions are does “Psychosocial Stress” affect Indian seafaring officers’ motivation? Does “Salary and fringe benefits” affect Indian seafaring officers’ motivation? Does “Work-life balance” affect seafaring Indian officers’ motivation? Does “Blame culture” affect seafaring Indian officers’ motivation?

2.0 Literature Review

“Hierarchy of Needs Theory” of Motivation: American psychologist Abraham Maslow (1943) pioneered a five-tier model of human needs popularly known as “Hierarchy of Needs” theory of human motivation. The theory advocates that all humans have a

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certain number of needs, and that these needs are arranged in a hierarchy, with some needs being more essential than the others. The five fundamental needs which are arranged in a ranking of relative prepotency as follows: physiological needs, safety, belongingness /love, esteem, and self-actualization. This model is often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. Furthermore, the theory suggests that the lower needs i.e safety and Love/ belonging must be satisfied before moving our attention to higher or more complex needs i.e self-esteem and self-actualization. Maslow further divided the 5 fundamental needs into “Deficiency needs” and “Growth needs”. Bottom four levels are termed as deficiency needs whereas the top level is referred to as growth or being needs. Deficiency needs comprising of bottom four levels are pre-requisite for human existence and includes physiological needs such as eating, drinking, and sleeping, safety needs, social needs such as friendship and sexual intimacy, and ego needs such as self-esteem and recognition. These needs arise due to deprivation and a person does not feel anything if they are met. On the contrary a person gets apprehensive if these basic needs are not met and this motivates him to achieve these needs at the earliest. Longer a person is denied harder he tries to achieve these needs to avoid unpleasantness. Once these lower-level needs are accomplished a person sets his priority to achieve the highest need i.e self-actualization or growth needs. This need does not arise from scarcity but rather from a desire to grow as a person and reach his fullest potential. As per the theory every human has the desire, ability and intent to fulfil his self-actualization needs, unfortunately, progress is often rattled by hurdles to meet deficiency needs. Unfortunate incidences and experiences in life i.e. divorce; loss of a job etc does not allow a person to move in a uni-directional manner and instead cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy. Critics opine that it is difficult to substantiate assumption that the lower needs must be satisfied before realizing self-actualization needs. This is not always the case as because of cultural and individual differences people may experience these needs in different order. In today’s world, Psychologists refer to motivation as a pluralistic behaviour as human needs can operate on higher growth needs and lower level deficiency needs simultaneously. Furthermore, it is difficult to measure how satisfied a person be with his lower level need before he starts chasing the next level of needs.

“Two-Factor Theory” of Motivation: Frederick Herzberg (1959) developed “Two-Factor Theory” of motivation which is also called as Motivation-Hygiene Theory or the dual-factor theory. According to this theory people’s job satisfaction depends on two kinds of factors. The theory promulgates that motivators/ satisfiers factor would motivate the workers to deliver and perform. On the other hand, hygiene/ dissatisfiers factor if not provided would surely de-motivate the workers but per se won’t motivate them to work harder. In other words, ‘Motivating’ factors like salary structure and fringe benefits, appreciation/ reward for accomplishments, promotion and growth, opportunity for extra responsibility etc must be offered to satisfy the employee at work. On the other hand, ‘hygiene’ factors which 'surround the job' rather than the job such as, clean and hygienic work environment, administrative policies and procedures, job security, interpersonal relations with peers and colleagues are linked with job dissatisfaction. Motivating factors include: Achievement, Recognition, The work itself, Responsibility, Advancement, Growth. Hygiene factors include: Company policies, Supervision, Relationships, Work conditions, Salary, Status, Security. This theory postulates while motivator and hygiene factors both influence motivation, they appeared to work completely independently of each other. Moreover, it states that for an employee to be satisfied all his motivator factors should be met because when the hygiene factors are low the employee is dissatisfied, but when these factors are high it means the employee

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is not dissatisfied (or neutral), but not necessarily satisfied. As per the theory four different scenarios exist in the office: The theory has some drawbacks as it is applicable to only white-collar jobs. Moreover, it does not take into consideration an individual’s situation or perception It is wrong for the theory to assumes that job satisfaction equals higher productivity as productivity is also influenced by external factors.

“Expectancy Theory” of Motivation: Whereas the above two theories look at the correlation between internal needs/ desires and the resulting struggle to fulfil them, Vroom's expectancy theory separates effort (which arises from motivation), performance, and outcomes. Victor Vroom (1964) came up with “Expectancy Theory” which advocates that people will choose their behaviour depending on expected result of the selected behavior. Furthermore, the process by which a people decides their behaviours is also influenced by how likely they perceive those rewards to be. To account for this the theory proposes three variables namely Expectancy, Instrumentality and Valence. In simpler words the theory assumes that effort, performance and motivation are corelated and that each individual has alternatives and the resultant behaviour what he chooses is his conscious decision to maximize pleasure and to minimize pain. Motivation of people go up if they have the assurance that they will be adequately rewarded if they perform well and achieve the set objectives and targets. They are least motivated if they don’t want the reward or they don’t believe that their efforts will result in the reward. One employee might perceive the company atmosphere conducive to boost his morale, the other may feel demotivated as he may not find processes working form. For the theory to be successful, and considering each employee has different expectations, skill set and confidence levels, management must provide required training and supervision and ensure assured rewards are given to the employees and the same is well communicated to them prior starting the job. The following drawbacks have been associated with the theory. The model postulates that Motivation is equal to Expectancy multiplied by Instrumentality multiplied by Valance. Therefore, if any of the factors i.e. Expectancy, Instrumentality, Valance are zero the employee will be unmotivated. However, in the real world, employees work hard at times even if they're not sure they will be adequately rewarded. As assumed by the theory, employees always act in their own self-interest and desire for reward, this may not be true always as the employee may be motivated by other factors and perform for the team. Moreover, it is very difficult for a manager to exactly figure out the instrumentality and valance factors of each employee. Without knowing exactly what employees desire and how badly they need it, it becomes very hard to anticipate the reward which may attract them to take on the task.

“Goal setting Theory” of Motivation: Edwin Locke (1968) found that workers who set distinct, clear cut and challenging targets for themselves performed exceptional than those who set broad and easily achievable targets. As per the theory One of the most effective ways to stay motivated is to set goals for yourself. However, for the goals to work they should be clear and well defined. It works on the principle that set goals which are specific and challenging give direction to the employee on how to achieve it and the effort involved. Goals should be supplemented with proper feedback. Clear, particular, realistic and difficult goals motivate the employees to perform better whereas easy, general and vague goals do not attract their attention. To achieve this. “Goal setting Theory” further proposes five basic principles of goal-setting: clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback, and task complexity. Clarity - Goal must be specific, clear, having a timeline and more importantly measurable. Once the goal has been set and the process for achieving it has been defined, the employee will follow to reach it. Challenge. Even though the goal should be realistic and achievable, it must have some

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level of difficulty in order to motivate the employee to achieve it. Commitment – To buy in team commitment and emotional involvement, the employees should be involved in goal setting. It is paramount for each and every member of the team to understand and agree to the goals so that he takes personal interest in achieving the same. Feedback. Once the goals have been set a mechanism to receive feedback on the progress should be put in place. This will help in gauging the team effort and more importantly adjusting the difficulty level of the goals. Task complexity. If a goal is especially complex, give the team enough time to accomplish the goals and succeed. Set deadlines which exert the right pressure, while still being achievable. Reassess and adjust the goals time to time as necessary. Many studies criticise this theory as it tends to create a tunnel vision whereby the employees are focussed on achieving the set goals and ignoring more mundane, but still necessary, tasks. This theory may backfire in organizations which set stretch targets as in a desire to earn the reward, an employee may resort to unethical behaviour to reach the targets. Additionally, failure to achieve the unrealistic targets set by an organization may demotivate the employees resulting in decline in their performance. For many people, the fear of failure is a more potent de-motivator than the desire for gain is a motivator.

2.1 Empirical Review

In this section a total of 10 significant academic research papers on factors impaction the motivation and retention of seafarers globally have reviewed critically. Gaps, variations and limitations associated with each of these studies have also been identified and listed. A research was done by Kum Fai Yuena, Hui Shan Lohb, Qingji Zhouc and Yiik Diew Wongc (2018) on “Determinants of job satisfaction and performance of seafarers”. Recognizing that seafaring is a global career spread far and wide with seafarers always on the move, a web-based survey was designed in which 6 ship management companies based in Singapore agreed to participate, out of 75 ship management companies to whom the invitation was electronically mailed. The study considered 22 sub-variables categorized under 6 main variables namely Rewards, Job Stress, Job characteristics, Dispositional affect, Overall job satisfaction and Job performance. The paper revealed that work-related stress and compensation have a direct impact on the job satisfaction and performance of the seafarers. Comparatively, the mental and emotional outlook of seafarers and the design of their jobs have smaller impact on both the above variables (Kum Fai, Hui Shan, Qingji, Qingji, Yiik Diew, 2018). Gaps: This research was carried on entire population of seafarers including ratings without particularly focusing on officers from where the shortage has been reported and who due to their education advantage have ample options to choose a different career or step ashore after a brief sailing experience on board.

A research was done by Margareta Ljung and Gill Widell (2014) - “Seafarers´ working career in a life cycle perspective - driving forces and turning points”. Researchers chose to interview 14 Masters and Chief Engineers of different age groups and sex. The interviews lasted from 45 minutes to 3 hours and examined 4 variables namely Work and motivation, Career progression and turning points, Competence development and learning and About the future. The study concluded that cost rationalization and reduced manning levels were the contributory factors that had impacted the the profession´s fascination adversely. It also highlighted that young people today value social life and want to be close to the loved ones (Margareta, Widell, 2014; Mahadevan & Mohamed, 2014). Gaps: Research method adopted was interviews which was conducted on a small sample size focusing only on European seafarers. Interview guide

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was developed from earlier studies. Considering varying economies, available career options, difference in the salary scales, regional bias in terms of culture and different motivational needs, this study may not hold good for Indian Seafaring officers.

In 2015 a research on employee engagement and its relationship with seafarer safety, performance and retention was conducted by Yogendra Bhattacharya. The research was based on Indian seafarers and studied the following variables Quality of Shipboard Life, Feeling Valued, Recognition & Career, Remuneration, No Blame Culture and Job Security. The study endorsed the fact that the retention levels were indeed low and much was desired from the ship owners in terms of creating a better working environment with no blame culture, providing job security by changing over to permanent employment system, and amplifying pay packages by giving additional benefits (Yogendra, 2015). Gaps: Even though the research was conducted on Indian seafaring officers and considered important variables such as Quality of Shipboard Life, Feeling Valued, Recognition & Career Remuneration, No Blame Culture and, Job Security it ignored the impact of personal, occupational and psychological factors like Work Life Balance and Psychosocial Stress.

Similarly, a research was carried out in 2007 by Inderveer Solanki on Empowering the seafarer. The research concentrated on influencing factors such as Pay and Conditions, Family influence, Adventure, Good carrier prospects, Foreign Travel, Independence and Flexibility. Research utilized three sets of questionnaires to collect data from 397 respondents from 22 different countries. Keeping in line with other research findings, the study concluded that a shortage was visible and even the main pulling factor, high salary had lost much of its leverage due to better paying terms ashore. Family separation was pointed as the influential factor seafarers to move ashore (Inderveer Solanki, 2007). Gap: The research was conducted 11 years back and since then many motivational factors have changed and may not hold good for today’s generation of seafaring officers i.e. available career options, salary structure, technological advancement in ship design etc. Furthermore, the scope of the research is humongous as it compares career at sea to different needs as listed by Maslow in his Hierarchy of Needs Theory. Scope becomes even larger as the study is based on seafarers of 11 different countries namely the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, China, India, Sweden, Egypt, Algeria, Japan, Germany and the Netherlands. To pinpoint the motivational factors impacting the recruitment and retention rate of Indian Seafaring officers a more focussed research is required.

Dr. Rengamani and M. Patchiappane (2018) carried out a research – “A Study on the job satisfaction and performance on Indian seafarers”. The study analysed the influence of nature of the job, its benefits, work environment, ship specific factors, managerial / organizational culture, and social factors that impact the seafarers’ to accomplishing the allocated tasks on board the ships. The survey targeted 150 Indian seafarers working in different capacities in the engine and deck department. Research revealed that facilities, poor work environment, long time away from the family, conflict, mental stress of accomplishing the assigned job, Lack of accolade for completing the task, lack of self-confidence to work, feeling of threat, physical dampness, mental oppressiveness, poor work conditions, absence of encouragement, blaming cultures, sense of responsibility negatively affect the morale of the seafarers and will result in seafarers’ performances and their productivity. Gap: The main objective of the research was to determine the factors impacting the performance of the Indian seafarers and hence the variables chosen were more of operational. As highlighted previously the study did not focus on

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Indian officers who by virtue of being educated and financially sound are in a better position to choose and alternate profession.

Angelo U. Panganiban and Olympio B. Garcia (2017) did a study on stress and job burn out of Filipino seafarers. The research was descriptive in design and consisted of 205 respondents from Filipino seafaring community working in offshore and seagoing ships. The study concluded that that Filipino seafarers find factors contributory to stress and fatigue to be moderately stressful to which the physical factors prevail over emotional, environmental and psychological. On the other hand, there is a significant difference of responses on the environmental, emotional, physical and psychological factors contributory to stress and fatigue of Filipino seafarers when grouped according to profile. Gap: The research was based on Filipino seafarers working in different category on Coastal, Offshore and Ocean-going ships. Factors contributing to stress and fatigue were corelated to nature of trade i.e. Coastal, Offshore and Ocean-going ships, type of ship, rank and age. As the scope of the research is different, contrary to other studies, the results from this research show that Filipino seafarers find factors contributory to stress and fatigue to be moderately stressful.

Trong Thanh Nguyen, Hadi Ghaderi, Livingstone Divine Caesar and Stephen Cahoon (2014) carried out a study on Vietnam seafarers titled “Current Challenges in the Recruitment and Retention of Seafarers: An Industry Perspective from Vietnam”. The study adopted a combination of convenience and purposive sampling strategies and concentrated on 38 seafarers (junior and senior officers) in leadership positions of VOSCO a state-owned enterprise of Vietnam. On the recruitment issues, the study highlighted issues related to low quality of training and competency both in fresh graduates and onshore crew executives whereas on retention issues poor working and living conditions on-board ships was identified as key factor. Gap: The research was based on Vietnamese seafarers and not only had a small sampling size but also a very narrow scope as it concentrated only on one employer. To get to the bottom of the problem and remove one particular employer bias it is necessary to increase the sample size by expanding the employers to gauge the different salary and fringe benefits, manning levels policies, promotion criteria, offered contract periods etc. Dr.J.Rengamani, Dr.S.Poongavanam, Dr.A.Shameem (2017) did a study on Indian seafarers using the job demand control model titled “Assessing the job stress of Indian seafarers based on job demand control model”. The study considered 385 Indian seafarers working as officers and ratings on merchant vessels to examines the influence of factors responsible for seafarer’s job stress based on Job Demand-Control model. The study revealed that the physical nature of the seafaring job made it more stressful for the seafarers. The study also revealed that the deck officers by virtue of focussing on the navigational aspects of the ship had higher psychological stress levels as compared to the engine side seafarers. This study concluded that the long working hours, heat in work places, family separation, hectic routine, and poor qualifications of subordinate crew members are the most important stressors on board the ship. Gap: The study was based on job demand control model and was more of a comparison between deck and engine officers in terms of psychological demand and stress factors. Manuel Joaquin Fernandez Gonzalez, Dmitrijs Semjonovs, Aleksejs Bogdanecs, Sandra Ozola (2014) did a paper targeting the young college students in Latvia who were interested in pursuing the career at sea. The paper was titled “Youngsters motivation and difficulties for choosing seafarer career – The case of Latvia”. The study involved

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200 respondents and had a sequential mixed-method design, combining qualitative and quantitative methods. All the questions were categorized under two broad elements namely “Reason for choosing seafarer profession” and “dissuading factor”. Salary and traveling were the main factors in favour of seafarer career and long term away from family and working in confined space were against it. Gap: The study was restricted to Latvian students who had never sailed but had an interest or intention to adopt seafaring as a career. Predominantly due to the nature of the study the respondents chosen had actually never experienced the life at sea and therefore were not in a position to reflect on the life at sea and motivators to keep it going. Asadolah Mehrara, Sadegh Rezvanian (2018) did a research on the Iranian seafarer – “Identifying Factors Affecting Professional Motivation of Iranian Seafarers Onboard Ocean-Going Merchant Vessels”. A total of 224 Iranian seafarers comprising of Senior, Junior Officers and Ratings working on National Iranian Tanker Company participated in the research. The research adopted the methodology of "applied” and “descriptive survey" and considered variables such as Work environment, salary and wages, job identification special needs, welfare facilities, organizational factors, advancement and growth factors, leadership style and supervision. Top three motivational factors for Iranian seafarers were conditions of work, welfare facilities and specific needs of job nature. Gap: The research focussed on Iranian seafarers and included ratings. As highlighted earlier the motivational factors of ratings can be different due to career choices available to them. Furthermore, the study chose too many variables which may have skewed the results.

Even though a lot of research has been done on seafarers, none focus specifically on the motivational factors of Indian seafaring officers parse. The culture and ethnic background of a person itself has a significant role in deciding the motivational factors which may influence a person and therefore it is important to focus on the nationality for a more conclusive and holistic study (Dastane and Eshegbe, 2015). Another noticeable difference is on the sample and the respondents involved. While most of the listed studies considered both Officers and Ratings, this study will focus on officers only as again the motivational factors of an educated officer who has ample career opportunity ashore may differ from a rating who may not have an equal opportunity. Furthermore, the published studies have taken a different perspective by focusing on different dependent variables such as Job satisfaction, job retention, job stress, job burn out, job performance etc. which is different to this study where I focus solely on motivational factors. Moreover, its worthwhile mentioning that the theories and models listed above may not be effective in capturing the motivational factors of Indian seafaring officers and provide a satisfactory clarification on their motivational needs. Empirical review in section 2.4 had been thoroughly evaluated on the findings and gaps. Significant gaps and limitations are summarised and further amplified in below Table for ease of reference.

2.2 Conceptual Framework

The framework for this research has been developed considering the gaps identified in the numerous empirical studies critically reviewed above. The model framework chosen for this study will try to reveal both the underlying causes and detrimental factors of seafarer’s motivation, few of which have been omitted in the previous studies. Based on the objective of this study to determine the factors that motivate Indian seafaring officers, a dynamic conceptual framework has been carefully developed which not only

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considers the identified gaps in the past studies but also the recommendations given in these studies for additional research. The research will focus on one dependent variable namely motivation and four independent variables namely Psychosocial stress, Salary and fringe benefits, Work-life balance and Blame culture.

Figure 1. Conceptual framework

2. Hypothesis

H1: Psychological stress has a negative impact on seafaring officers’ motivation H2: Salary & fringe benefits has a positive impact on seafaring officers’ motivation H3: Work-life balance has a positive impact on seafaring officers’ motivation H4: Blame culture has a negative impact on seafaring officers; motivation

3.0 Research Methodology

Considering the remote location of the survey participants (Seafaring Indian Officers) and difficulties in accessing them onboard the ships, a questionnaire is used to gather their preference, which suggests that the quantitative approach is more suitable for this study. Furthermore, carrying interviews directly with respondents randomly will not be feasible, as it will take a lot of time, effort and money. The positivist paradigm asserts that real events can be observed empirically and explained with logical analysis (Fadhel,2008). The positivist relates to facts or causes of social phenomena and attempts to explain causal relationships by means of objective facts. Positivist research

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thoughts are governed by explicitly stated theories and hypotheses and concentrates on description and explanation. Researchers remain detached by maintaining a distance between themselves and the object of research. Statistical and mathematical techniques for quantitative processing of data are central to the research methods adopted (Deborah, 2015). Since we will be carrying out a research on the impact of predefined variables - Psychosocial stress, Salary and Fringe benefits, Work-life balance and Blame Culture on motivation, explanatory research design has been adopted. Explanatory Research is conducted for a problem which was not well researched before, demands priorities, generates operational definitions and provides a better-researched model. It is actually a type of research design which focuses on explaining the aspects of your study in a detailed manner. (Muhammad Yousaf, 2018). Among the benefits of explanatory research is that it expands from a selected issue and work on to establish literature reviews through the study of frameworks, theories, empirical data and hypothesis testing (Neuman,2014). Sarantakos defined research method as “the theory of methods” (Sarantakos 2012; p. 465), or the way through which a researcher makes sense of the object of inquiry. And therefore, quantitative analysis will be validating the relationship between the variables by collecting and converting the measurable data from large sample of population and converting it into usable statistics. Since longitudinal studies extend beyond a single moment in time, we have used cross-sectional study design as it can conveniently compare different population groups and different variables and can be completed in much shorter period. Cross sectional study has been chosen for screening hypothesis as it requires relatively shorter time and fewer resources and successfully estimate the ubiquity of the outcome of the sample. This research will use the primary data collection method as it is more current and accurate. Since the study involves seafaring officers who may be working on the high seas at the time of the study, a survey using questionnaire was found to be more appropriate for gathering data. Questionnaire as an instrument for collecting data is inexpensive, allows to gather information from a large audience, allow easy analysis of results, maintain their anonymity and does not impose time constraint. Surveys can be conducted in different settings, and different questionnaire methods involve either paper and pencil, electronic (computer mouse/keyboard) or telephone key pad vehicles for collecting the data. These modes differ in several ways at different levels (Ann, 2005). The questionnaires were distributed both by email and online depending on the location of the seafarers. Most of the secondary data used for referencing and supporting research questions were collected from journals, case studies, online articles, business research studies, text books, e-library and database available online.

The population for the survey consisted of all licensed Indian Merchant Naval Officers, who are actively sailing on seagoing ships in different capacities and working ashore in shipping companies. The questionnaire was designed for the evaluation of impact of Psychosocial stress, Salary and fringe benefits, Work-Life balance, Blame culture on there motivation. The questionnaire was administered via email and electronic means to 261 seafarer respondents and the completed responses were obtained from 235 respondents, of which 221 respondents were considered for further study after scrutiny. The sample population consists of various demographic such as age group, department, rank and sea experience. Sampling methods consists of probability and non-probability sampling. Probability sampling means that every item in the population

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has an equal chance of being included in sample. One way to undertake random sampling would be if researcher was to construct a sampling frame first and then used a random number generation computer program to pick a sample from the sampling frame (Zikmund, 2002). While non-probability sampling is not on random selection and relies on human choice as well the population selected for research is not through statistical approach. (Schmidt and Hollensen,2006). Non-probability sampling is based on no fixed pattern or randomized selection process and therefore respondents do not have a proportionate chance of being chosen for the survey. One of the categories under Non-probability sampling is the “Convenience” Sampling. Convenience sampling (also known as Haphazard Sampling or Accidental Sampling) is a type of nonprobability or nonrandom sampling where members of the target population that meet certain practical criteria, such as easy accessibility, geographical proximity, availability at a given time, or the willingness to participate are included for the purpose of the study (Dornyei, 2007). Convenience Sampling is affordable, easy and the subjects are readily available. The main assumption associated with convenience sampling is that the members of the target population are homogeneous. That is, that there would be no difference in the research results obtained from a random sample, a nearby sample, a co-operative sample, or a sample gathered in some inaccessible part of the population (Ilker, Sulaiman, Rukayya, 2016). In this study Non-probability along with Convenience sampling technique shall be used as the procedures for inclusion of units in the sample is much simpler, faster and economical as compared to probability sampling. A 5-point Likert scale, which has a range from 1 (“strongly agree”) to 5 (“strongly disagree”) will be used as a tool to obtain the responses from the seafarers. The questionnaire is divided into two parts. Part 1 addresses the demographic profile of the respondent. Examples of this are rank, department, years with the current employer, years at sea and age. Part 2 of the questionnaire is further divided into the variable categories. Section B is designed specifically to examine how the Indian seafaring officer’s motivation is impacted by the four variables namely psychosocial stress, salary and fringe benefits, work-life balance, blame culture. The options are given numbers as per below: The researcher has made all efforts to ensure the statements are fabricated in plain English language so that the questions are clear, concise and easy to understand and answer by the seafarers and at the same time simple for the researcher to analyse and interpreting the data. As per Thomas & Brubaker (2000), data ought to be presented logically and be understandable for the reader. Data are mainly the recapitulation of the image. When data are presented systematically, they give clear information to the reader. Therefore, the ways of presenting data are based on the way data are collected or based on the research questions. (Mohammad Ali, Barliana, 2017). In the statistical field data analysis is divided into three types. They are exploratory data analysis (EDA), descriptive statistics and confirmatory data analysis (CDA). Quantitative data collection focuses on surveys, statistics and measurement, pre-existing data and questionnaires (Anupama, 2017). The use of statistical data for the research descriptions and analysis reduces the time and effort which the researcher would have invested in describing his result. As Christensen and Johnson (2012) write in their book, in testing hypotheses, quantitative researchers try to look at cause and effect relationships which perhaps enable them to predict and generalize their findings to a relevant larger population. This is not possible

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with qualitative researchers who view human behavior as being dynamic, and as such, tries to understand the beliefs and values with respect to the research being conducted (Eyisi, 2016). This research will adopt a quantitative data analysis method, to understand the impact of four variables on Indian seafaring officer’s motivation. The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) tool and Microsoft Excel 2010 software were used to carry out the Demographic Analysis, Normality Tests, Reliability Tests, Data Distribution graphs – Histograms, P-Plot graphs, Scatter Plot graphs, and other descriptive statistic tables, Correlation Analysis, Regression Analysis.

4.0 Results & Discussion

4.1 Demographic Analysis

Research participant characteristics also known as demographic information as it provides statistics regarding respondents and is essential to ascertain whether the individuals in a particular research are a representative sample of the target population. Demographic variables are independent variables by definition because they cannot be influenced. The research obtained 235 responses out of which 221 were considered for final analysis as remaining 14 were incomplete. Demographic analysis has been appended below for reference. Summary of the demographic analysis of participating population:

180 (81.5%) respondents were still involved in active sailing whereas 41 (18.5%) respondents had quit sailing and working ashore in shipping companies in various capacities. Out of the sailing population 140 (77.7% of active seafarers) respondents were Management Level Senior Officers i.e. Captains, Chief Engineers, Ch. Officers and 2nd Engineers. 166 (75.1%) respondents were deck officers while 55 (24.9%) respondents were Engineers. 79 (25.7%) of the respondents were sailing with the employer for more than 10 years. 184 (83.2%) respondents had sailed for more than 10 years at sea. 125 (56%) of the respondents were above the age of 40 years.

4.2 Normality Test

Skewness characterizes the degree of asymmetry of a given distribution around its mean. If the distribution of the data is symmetric then skewness will be close to 0. Kurtosis characterizes the relative peakedness or flatness of a distribution compared with the normal distribution. For normally distributed data the kurtosis is 0. As with skewness, if the value of kurtosis is too big or too small, there is concern about the normality of the distribution. (Čisar, Petar, Čisar, Maravić, Sanja, 2010). We cautiously suggest that if your skewness statistics is less than 1, there should be little problem. If the skewness is greater than 1 but less than 2 you should be aware that it might be having an effect on your parameter estimates, but that it is probably ok. Finally, if the skewness sample is greater than 2, you should begin to be concerned. Each of these values depend on your sample size – the larger the sample size, the less departures from normality matter (Jeremy, Mark, 2000).

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Table 1. Descriptive Statistics

N Mean Std. Deviation Skewness Kurtosis

Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Error Statistic

Std. Error

PS1 221 3.516 .9224 -.362 .164 -.335 .326 PS2 221 3.240 1.0538 -.564 .164 -.640 .326 PS3 221 2.367 1.0899 .421 .164 -.743 .326 PS4 221 3.199 1.0252 -.408 .164 -.619 .326 PS5 221 3.054 1.0858 -.044 .164 -.843 .326 SB1 221 3.195 1.1132 -.471 .164 -.726 .326 SB2 221 3.520 .9797 -.848 .164 .414 .326 SB3 221 3.009 1.0745 -.240 .164 -.882 .326 SB4 221 2.950 1.0712 -.303 .164 -1.023 .326 SB5 221 3.326 .9967 -.525 .164 -.277 .326 WL1 221 3.362 1.0682 -.674 .164 -.451 .326 WL2 221 3.643 .9014 -.997 .164 .827 .326 WL3 221 3.864 .8419 -.753 .164 .692 .326 WL4 221 2.520 1.0426 .164 .164 -.899 .326 WL5 221 3.484 .9419 -.481 .164 -.205 .326 BC1 221 3.412 1.1272 -.614 .164 -.489 .326 BC2 221 3.326 1.0714 -.569 .164 -.449 .326 BC3 221 4.081 .7463 -.795 .164 1.274 .326 BC4 221 3.814 1.0942 -.697 .164 -.354 .326 M1 221 3.611 .9875 -.784 .164 .240 .326 M2 221 3.733 .9077 -1.065 .164 .957 .326 M3 221 3.887 .8262 -1.104 .164 1.971 .326 M4 221 3.796 .9041 -1.001 .164 1.073 .326 Valid N (listwise)

221

According to the above table, it can be safely concluded that both Kurtosis and Skewness figures fall between the normality rule of -1 to +1. However, questions SB4, BC3, M2, M3 and M4 show a very minor deviation from Skewness and Kurtosis rule appended above. Considering the variation and sample size, this violation will not have any significant impact on parameter estimates and is safe to be used in the study after reliability test.

4.3 Reliability Test

Cronbach’s alpha is a popular statistical tool commonly used to measure reliability in the social sciences (Douglas, Thomas, 2014). The main use of Cronbach alpha is to ascertain that the tests and scales chosen for the study are consistent and fit for purpose. As pointed out earlier, the number of test items, item interrelatedness and dimensionality affect the value of alpha. There are different reports about the acceptable values of alpha, ranging from 0.70 to 0.95. A low value of alpha could be due to a low number of questions, poor interrelatedness between items or heterogeneous constructs (Mohsen, Reg, 2011).

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Table 2. Reliability Test

As can be seen from table above apart from Work Life Balance, all other variable are in good category and reliable.

4.4 Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics are numbers that summarize the data with the purpose of describing what occurred in the sample. Descriptive statistics also help researchers detect sample characteristics that may influence their conclusions (Cheryl, 2015). The intention of this method is to simplify a huge amount of data and attain a sensible and cleat way which gives an image of the overall population (Malhotra, 2004). From the below table, it is evident that the higher mean values on the independent variables indicates existence of strong relationship. Hence, there is significant relationship between blame culture and work-life balance on motivation of Indian Seafaring officers.

Table 3. Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive Statistics

N Minimum

Maximum Mean

Std. Deviation

Psychosocial stress

221 1.2 4.8 3.075 .7213

Salary and benefit

221 1.2 5.0 3.200 .7711

Work life balance

221 2.0 4.6 3.375 .4282

Blame culture 221 2.50 5.00 3.6584 .52313 Motivation 221 1.00 5.00 3.7568 .71387 Valid N (listwise)

221

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4.5 Correlation Analysis

Correlation may be described as the degree of association between two variables, whereas regression expresses the form of the relationship between specified values of one (the independent, exogenous, explanatory, regressor, carrier or predictor) variable and the means of all corresponding values of the second (the dependent, outcome, response variable, the variable being explained) variable (Asuero, Sayago, Gonzalez, 2015). The end result of a correlation analysis is a Correlation coefficient whose values range from -1 to +1. A correlation coefficient of +1 indicates that the two variables are perfectly related in a positive [linear ] manner, a correlation coefficient of -1 indicates that two variables are perfectly related in a negative [linear ] manner, while a correlation coefficient of zero indicates that there is no linear relationship between the two variables being studied (Gogtay, and Thatte, 2017).

Table 4. Correlation Analysis

As can be seen from above Correlation analysis table all independent variables (Salary and fringe benefits, Psychosocial stress, Work Life Balance and Blame Culture) have a relation with dependent variable Motivation. However, both salary and fringe benefits and Blame culture has a moderate impact on motivation of Indian seafaring officers as compared to other two independent variables namely Psychosocial stress and Work-Life balance.

4.6 Regression Analysis

Regression analysis is one of the most frequently used tools in market research. In its simplest form, regression analysis allows market researchers to analyze relationships between one independent and one dependent variable. It is difficult to provide rules of thumb regarding what R2 is appropriate, as this varies from research area to research area. In scholarly research that focuses on marketing issues, R2 values of 0.75, 0.50, or 0.25 can, as a rough rule of thumb, be respectively described as substantial, moderate, or weak.

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Table 5. Regression Analysis

In the above analysis results the R Square value is 0.252 which depicts that 25.2 % of the dependent variable (Motivation) can be forecasted by all the independent variables (Psychosocial Stress, Salary and Fringe benefit, Work-Life balance and Blame Culture). However, the adjusted R Square value of 0.238 reflects that the model is not a good fit as it’s below the statistical limit of 0.60 (Zygmont, Mario, 2014). A rule of thumb is that test statistic values in the range of 1.5 to 2.5 are relatively normal. Values outside of this range could be cause for concern. Values under 1 or more than 3 are a definite cause for concern. (Field, 2009)

Table 5 Coefficient

Other than the R Square value, the regression beta coefficient values need to be analysed. The beta coefficients can be negative or positive, and have a t-value and significance of the t-value associated with each. The beta coefficient is the degree of change in the outcome variable for every 1-unit of change in the predictor variable. As can be evaluated from above, the Beta Coefficient numbers of all 4 independent variables is positive and therefore they have a positive impact on Motivation of Indian Seafarers. Furthermore, Considering the positive values of all four variable, it can be concluded that Salary & fringe benefits and Blame culture with a Beta Coefficient of 0.241 & 0.230 have a greater significant impact on motivation as compared to Psychosocial stress and Work-Life balance which have a Beta Coefficient of 0.137 & 0.091. A lower P value thus suggests stronger evidence for rejecting the null hypothesis. A P value near 0.05 simply indicates that the result is worth another look. It’s not until you get down near 0.001 until you have a fairly low chance of a false positive. A higher than expected rate of false positives can be a problem because if you implement the “findings” from a false positive study, you won’t get the expected benefits. (The Minitab Blog, 2015). Considering the P-Value in the above table, both Salary and fringe benefits

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and Blame Culture have a significant impact on the Motivation of Indian seafaring officers as “P” Value is 0.00 which is less than 0.0001. The “P” value of Psychosocial stress stands at 0.046 and therefore can be considered to having an impact on the motivation of the motivation of Indian Seafaring Officers. 4.7 Summary of Key Findings

The hypothesis test results are summarized below for ease of reference: Table 7. Summary of Key Findings

5.0 Conclusion

The challenges confronting a stable and sustainable supply of Indian seafaring officers are numerous and multidimensional. The study shows that from the view point of the Indian seafaring officers the most appealing factors affecting their motivation is Salary & fringe benefits and Blame culture. In order to motivate the Indian seafaring Officers, we need to augment pay packages by adding benefits which can give better results and also create a work environment where blame is not apportioned.

The study reveals that hygiene motivational factors of Indian officers is low as they don’t find salary and fringe benefits conducive and appealing for a sustained career at sea. It is needless to say that salary is always one of the most compelling criteria for any employee to reflect his competency and skills in achieving the overall organizational goals, Indian Officers are no different. Due to financial liberalization in India, the wage growth of Indian seafaring officers is significantly trailing the country’s economic growth in recent years. Rising standard of living and inflation along with sluggish wage growth in stagnant shipping industry reeling under global meltdown has made this profession less attractive for Indian seafaring officers. Majority of the shipping companies opt for fixed contracts periods and therefore no salary is paid once the officer has completed his contract and is on leave. Considering that an officer sails for 6

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months in a year, his salary practically averages out to 50% of the actual monthly salary. Unlike the developed countries, due to fiscal challenges, no pension system or social security system prevails in India for private sector employees and this leaves Indian seafaring officers with no option but to create provision for his post retirement financial needs from his current salary. To make matters worse, majority of the Indian officer’s work on foreign flag ships and therefore they are not even entitled to “Seamen’s Provident Fund”. Its also worth mentioning that to earn higher salaries, just like any other profession, an officer needs to gain experience and rise in ranks with all competency exams at his own expenses. Furthermore, unlike the shore industries where personnel cost in terms of salary is more or less a standardized expense established by national labour regulations and industrial custom, in shipping the case can be much different as Non-national seafarers can be regarded as labour migrants and paid less. Motivation through rewards is of crucial importance as it leads to enhanced employees’ performance. Monetary incentives play an important role in every work environment and therefore it is important that salaries must maintain equity, competitiveness and matching employee expectations.

Organizational learning is an essential part of safety culture effectiveness, and refers to the ability of all affected by safety to learn from past mistakes and improve themselves and the systems that support their activities. This state can only be fully reached when there is a ‘No Blame Culture’ (IMO, 2003). Major intervention strategies are required from the shipping companies to eliminate blame culture in shipping as it is not only a de-motivator but also challenges to a positive maritime safety culture. A lot of Indian Seafarers have been criminalized and imprisoned for accidents in the past and this has had an adverse impact on the seafarers who are now afraid to speak out and live in a state of mistrust, conscious of their precarious position. The main objective of maritime investigations should be to list down major causes including a human element to address human factors issues, but in a no-blame manner so as to promote learning. To create an environment where a seafarer has no reason to conceal a safety related issue, it is essential he/she should never be blamed for an honest mistake or error in judgement. This will not only raise their confidence in the management but also motivate them to work safely. In order to motivate the seafarer’s organizations, need to shift from blame culture to a just culture as this would create an atmosphere of trust. The shipping companies should migrate from compliance to external rules to culture of self-regulation (Want to attitude) by encouraging and rewarding the crew for providing essential safety-related information. To sum it up, the mere existence of any ship owner depends on its most important resource “Seafarers” and therefore it is imperative that a company does not operate in isolation and relates to the motivational needs of its sailing fraternity by acting in a more proactive rather than reactive manner. On the basis of motivational factors revealed in this study, efforts must be made to address the issues related to salary/ fringe benefits and blame culture to not only attract new talent but also stop the migration of existing Indian officers ashore or to different career options. This can only be achieved by offering them salaries and benefits which not only meet today’s needs but also their long-term retirement needs. It is a known fact that Seafaring is a hazardous profession and therefore to improve safety it is important for the management to create a blame-free environment where individuals are able to report errors or near misses without fear of reprimand or punishment. As evident a no blame culture improves safety by focusing on the ‘why’ instead of ‘who’.

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