A New Breed of Port Managers: Is There a Role for IAMU Institutions?

Shashi N. KUMAR, Ph.D.

Loeb-Sullivan School of IBL Maine Maritime Academy

Abstract

Seaports are an unavoidable node in global supply chains. Besides their fundamental role of facilitating seaborne commerce, they have played a remarkable role in the history of humankind through such varied functions such as being centers of economic activity to being gateways for new opportunities. The port sector has received considerable attention in recent years for a number of reasons. New research raises several questions related to ports and their operations, organization, and management. Many ports are privatizing some or all of their traditional functions, and private terminal operators are becoming huge multinational entities. Ports are re-thinking their own operations and future planning, primarily driven by the carriers' operational strategies that are also in a constant state of flux. These are further complicated by the introduction of new mandates such as the recently adopted Maritime Transportation Security Act (in the U.S.) and the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code amendment to the SOLAS Convention.

The changing dynamics in port operations and management mandates a new breed of port managers as well. Accordingly, contemporary port managers should build a skill set far superior to that of traditional port managers, and it should encompass non-traditional areas such as information technology, port security, and real estate and coastal zone management. The old approach based on learning fundamental business functions supplemented by maritime operations knowledge is no longer sufficient to meet these added functions and responsibilities. Furthermore, there is significant turnover in the port sector especially among top executives. There is an urgent need for restructuring the education of future port managers and for radical reengineering of existing curricula. A case can be made that high caliber maritime universities, such as IAMU member institutions, are ideally suited to provide leadership for educating better prepared port managers. Accordingly, the paper will highlight new research in port operations and management. It will also advocate IAMU institutions broadening their mission and embarking on a reengineered curriculum for preparing contemporary port managers. Indeed this might be a growth opportunity for maritime universities because of seafarers' increasing proclivity toward life-long learning and pursuing alternative career options.