Knowledge management in the shipping industry

While knowledge management principles have been applied to many industries, the shipping industry in general has been slow in adopting knowledge management. Since the industry is very capital intensive, attention has always been on managing the tangible assets of shipping companies. Due to the lasting skill shortage problem and concerns about shipping safety associated with the human factor, many efforts have been made to improve both the quantity and quality of the workforce of the industry. The very high level of personnel mobility and difficulties in attracting new personnel faced by the industry challenges the effectiveness of some conventional human resource management practices. Knowledge management may provide the industry with an opportunity to address the skill shortage problem from a new perspective. For example, the proposed knowledge retention goes beyond conventional human resources management practices to seek new ways of maintaining and developing a competent and sustainable workforce given the prevailing industry-level competition for talent. This chapter discusses what knowledge management is; why it is important to the shipping industry; and how it may be applied. A brief discussion of the differences and linkages between human resource management and knowledge management is also provided.