Description of the business company's structure

DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESSTHE COMPANY’S STRUCTURE

According to the book “ Management, an introduction” written by David Boddy (Boddy, 2014), the structure of a company is the way a group is organized, such as the roles that are specified. In this case, the structure is clear and defined. An employee has specific task and is not doing someone’s else job. Each sector has specific responsibilities and goal. For instance, the operations department’s goal is to manage correctly the vessels to have smooth, fast and effective operations between the different ports but also when they are sailing. As Mintzberg affirmed in 1979, the structure of an organization is all the ways in which it divides its labor into distinct tasks and then achieves co-ordination among them. I would like to present an organization chart, of the Dubai office only, that will show the positions of each members and their relations: We can say that the organization follows a functional structure because the staff is divided according to the profession and the function (operations, marketing, finance…) (Boddy, 2014).

THE MANAGEMENT STYLE

Different studies were made by House (1974; 1996) and Mitchell (1974) concerning the behavioral styles of leader. They distinguished four styles in the House’s path-goal model: directive, supportive, achievement oriented and participative (Boddy, 2014). I think that this organization has a management style which is achievement oriented. Indeed, the CEO challenges his employees to perform at their highest level. He is putting high standards, motivating them and expecting a lot. In this type of settings, the employees need some pressure to achieve the goal. The business of oil and bunkering is challenging and stressful because of the high number of competitors and the uncertainty of the climate. Each instruction must be given clearly and fast and there must always be a control on everything that is done. The CEO is always making sure that the achievements are reached but at the same time is controlling. Moreover, the CEO of this company can be described as a transformational leader (Boddy, 2014) because he is using his skills and charisma as a matter of motivation and commitment. As most of the employees are coming from European Countries as well as the CEO, the management style is occidental. The employees coming from South of Asia are also following this European style of management. It is convenient for new employees coming from Europe to adapt easily in such type of environment. Most of the other companies in the UAE and Middle East are a management style different and it could be difficult at first to understand and to fit in the team.

THE COMPANY’S CULTURE

The notion of culture had been defined by several researchers, like Deal and Kennedy (1982) who defined culture as “ the way we do things around here” or also by Hofstede (1991) “ collective programming of the mind”. As far as I am concerned, I would define the culture of Al Maasa Ships Fuel Supply as role oriented. Charles Handy in 1993 defined this type of culture in which “ the people’s activities are influenced by clear and detailed job description” and I think it is the most appropriate for this organization (Boddy, 2014). In the department I was working in, the Operations, the instructions of the job were precise and regulated. There is little place for creativity in this industry and the operations must follow strict steps.

THE SWOT ANALYSIS

Doing a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) would help to understand the internal and external environment of the association and to know what is helpful and harmful. Furthermore, it shows the positive and negative features of the organization (Boddy, 2014). Helpful HarmfulInternal Strengths- Small organization and each employee has a specialization-Strategic location compared to other competitors that are not based in the region, close to the port of Fujairah (World’s second largest bunkering port) (S&P Global Platts, 2017)-European management style, this strength can attract future employees-Many trainings are done within and outside the company-The communication is very effective between each department and employee-The trust and ethics are the most important values between the employee Weaknesses-The small number of employees can also be a weakness. -No Arabic speaker employee-The cultural background between some employee can lead to some misunderstanding External Opportunities-Going more on sustainable energies like solar energy. Threats-Bigger companies have more power to influence the market and pricesThe company is very successful thanks to its management style internally, the achievements of the employees and they understand well the market and the business. In addition, Al Maasa Ships Fuel Supply has strong relationships with their partners and is able to negotiate prices and offer attractive services. As far as I am concerned, the employees should be more helpful together and the frontier between the different departments should be less rigid.

THE COMPANY STRATEGY

Al Maasa Ships Fuel Supply is following a strategy, how the organization allocates its major resources to increase the performance (Boddy, 2014), of cost leadership. Porter identified (1985) three strategies: cost leadership, differentiation and focus. The firm is able to offer products and services with lower prices compared to its competitors. This strategy is what makes the organization successful because they propose very high-quality services with good prices. F)

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF THE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT OF THE BUSINESS PORTER FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

The model was published first in Porter’s book “ Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors” in 1980 (Porter, 1980). The Five Forces are used to analyze the forces to measure competition intensity, attractiveness and profitability of the industry. Competition in the industryThere are a lot of competition in the oil and bunkering industry. Indeed, only in the Emirate of Fujairah there are a high proportion of companies specialized in bunkering or are related to that business. The direct competitors, the one offering the same services as Al Maasa Ships Fuel Supply, are numerous in Dubai but also in the Middle East as there are a lot of countries rich in oil like Saudi Arabia or also Kuwait (Carpenter, 2018). All the companies dealing with oil but also selling other type of energies are considered to be indirect competitors. The field of energies and operations is huge and very competitive. The sector is expected to expand by 30% between 2017 and 2040 (International Energy Agency, 2017). The biggest competitors are the big international organizations such as BP in the United Kingdom, Total in France or also Petrobras in Brazil but also the national oil companies like Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia and Rosneft in Russia (Pitatzis, 2016). To sum up, the competition in this industry is very intensive. Potential of new entrants into the industryThe competition is high however it is difficult to penetrate the market as a lot of resources, knowledge and relationships are needed. Trading or supplying oil requires knowledge in physics to understand the products but also in logistics. New entrants would rather specialize in new types of energies and they will be new competitors. Power of suppliersThe suppliers are usually the ones that are extracting crude oil but also transporting it, storing it and doing the refining. They are highly involved in the oil chain, so they have high power to influence the prices. The countries that produce oil and the members of OPEC (the UAE are member of the OPEC) have also a significant bargaining power (OPEC, 2018). Countries member of OPEC own more than 70% of the World’s oil reserves. Power of buyersThe main buyers of oil products are distribution companies, trades, countries and refineries. Their power is small because the prices are determined by a benchmark. The main benchmarks are Brent Blend (North Sea), Dubai Crude and West Texas Intermediate. The only customers that can influence the price are important client like countries: Japan, India or also the USA (Pitatzis, 2016). Nonetheless they can influence the quality they will buy because different quality characteristics exit in crude oil. Two important quality attributes are the density and the sulfur quantity (US Energy Information Administration, 2012). Threat of substitute productsThe main alternative sources of energy besides oil are nuclear energy, goal, hydrogen, biofuel and other renewable energies like solar and wind energies (Pitatzis, 2016). The costs of renewable energies are important as R&D is needed.

ORGANIZATION’S OVERALL MARKET PERFORMANCE

The market of oil is competitive, and a lot of firms exist in the market. We can qualify this market as oligopolistic because even if there are a lot of firms offering the same products and services, especially in the UAE, this market has not many companies competing, in the contrary of the market of wheat for instance. According to Oxford dictionaries, there are a limited number of competitors in this type of market (Oxford Dictionaries, 2018). Al Maasa Ships Fuel Supply has therefore a limited power because they do not have a monopoly and they have to stick on the prices given by the market. TARGET MARKETSAl Maasa Ships Fuel Supply is targeting clients, in a geographical basis, the whole world, who have an interest in buying oil, looking for high end logistics services or looking for bunkering. This market is broad but focused on the market of oil. DIRECT COMPETITIONThe direct competitors are companies offering the same services and products. There are relatively a lot of direct competitors in the UAE and more precisely in the Emirate of Fujairah. INDIRECT COMPETITIONThe sector of energies is wide and present worldwide. According to the World Bank, only the oil sector contributes by almost 4% of the world GDP. The oil is still the dominant energy produced but all the companies producing all kind of energies are considered as indirect competitors against Al Maasa Ships Fuel Supply.

ANALYZE HOW SUSTAINABLE, GREEN AND ETHICAL IS THE BUSINESS

The UAE were relating a lot on the oil industry since the 1950’s, when crude oil sources was discovered (ADNOC, 2017). Since then, Abu Dhabi economy increased considerably. Today, the UAE and especially the Emirate of Abu Dhabi managed approximatively three million barrels of oil per day. In 2016, crude oil business contributed by 16. 7% of the total national GDP (UAE Ministry of Economy, 2017). In fact, the government is diversifying its economy and is pushing other industries to develop to count less on the oil. The country is considered by the World Bank to be one of the most polluting country in the World (Iyengar, 2015). Indeed, the exploitation of the natural resources but also the rapid population growth which increases the demand in energy have a negative impact on the environment. This negative image is trying to be modified. Indeed, in 2012, Sheikh Mohammed announced during the World Future Energy Summit 2012 the launch of an initiative for a green economy (Unknown, 2012). The aim of this project is to place the UAE as the leaders in sustainable development and to show their innovations regarding the ecological field. It will cover six major field like the production of renewable energies, investments and exchange of green products, legislation to preserve environment, promotion of organic agriculture and biodiversity (Government UAE, 2018)…

Al Maasa Ships Fuel supply is not involved in this project yet, as the main business is a polluting product. However, the business development department is working on this aspect to be prepared to change the vision and to be sustainable in the long run. In the shipping industry, there are many codes and rules that must be followed by the charters. One of them will be mentioned in the next section. Preventing pollution and security are very important when chartering a vessel. After the 9/11 attacks. The IMO (International Maritime Organization) realized that what happened in the air could also happen on the sea or via the sea. Thus, the IMO decided to develop, recommend and implement a set of security measures, applicable to ships and port facilities around the world (BARRIOS, 2017). In the office, the employees are encouraged to use less water and electricity. Moreover, the company is using recycled papers and is encouraged to use public transportations instead of their private cars. Concerning ethics, it is defined by Collins dictionary as “ the philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and of the rules and principles that ought to govern it” (Mark Forsyth, 2014). Business ethics is how the business is dealing with ethics internally and externally. The company is engaged in CSR and values ethical aspects in its employees. Respect, fairness, trust and honesty are some values very present inside the team. If I can make a recommendation, as this business is risky, the company should write a chart of ethics that the coworkers can rely on when they have to make a difficult decision in terms of ethics. As the main philanthropical activity, the company is sponsoring the Dutch national team of fencing. To conclude, it is hard for a company specialized in such business to switch to another one more ecological rapidly. Nonetheless the law is changing and there will be a need coming from the society and the regulations to use more ecological energies as a daily use. H)

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF STUDENT’S JOB AND HONEST EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCEDESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF THE JOB

At the beginning, as the assistant of Operations, I had a training of a couple of weeks in order to get the necessary knowledge for this type of business and company. My internship supervisor was very helpful, and I had several exercises and tests to monitor my skills. I saw how we construct contracts for chartering vessels, how to calculate the bunker levels needed, how to count the demurrage of a vessel (when we rent the vessels for a longer period of time), the regulations in this field. For instance, there is a code called ISM and its purpose it to prevent pollution coming from the tankers. During the whole internship, I was writing a glossary to write the new words I have learned. When I understood the way of functioning; a lot of responsibilities and challenges were given to me. At first it was difficult to manage everything at the same time and to apply what I have learned for the past few weeks. However, I managed to do my work correctly and even to anticipate the needs and the next operations to always respect the deadlines and even to be in advance. Moreover, I asked a lot for feedback in order for me to be sure I could continue what I was doing and the way I was working. Many skills learned in Public Speaking class and Marketing were very useful especially when communicating with different clients and partners as I was in charge of the mailboxes and the phone calls regarding our vessels. Furthermore, many indicators needed to be looked at and to report them in the files. In Al Maasa Ships Fuel Supply, we had software to classify all the word and excel documents. On a daily basis I had the responsibility to check these documents and to report all the progressions. Business relations are very important in B2B and I had the opportunity to go to several meetings, even overseas, to meet clients and to participate in the discussions. The job was very hard, with a lot of responsibilities and deadlines to respect, nonetheless it was a rich experience. Indeed, I had an overview on logistics and into the oil industry which is difficult and risky.

HONEST EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE

I started as a shy person because I had not the specific knowledge in this domain. My attitude was always professional, and I always asked questions to be sure I understood what I had to do. Like it is mentioned in my internship evaluation form, my supervisor stated that I was flexible, dedicated and able to apply my theoretical knowledge into practice. To my mind, one very important aspect, in this industry, is to be flexible and to be able to adapt because the circumstances can change every often. Not being stressful and have a clear mind helped me to find solutions and to solve problems when they happened. I think I was able to assist the Operations Executive and to anticipate her questions and her needs. I can say that before this internship I was not used to write all the things to do on a notebook and I kept everything in my mind. When I saw the large amount of information I was hearing and the tasks I had to do, I started to write down everything to be sure to not forget anything. I will use this technique for my studies and other job experiences.

FORMAL JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON SPECIFICATION FOR THE JOB

Job title: Operations AssistantReporting to: Operations ExecutiveDepartment: Operations DepartmentPurpose: Support the Operations Executive and the CEO in the operations processMain responsibilities:-Handle the communication with the different parties-Update and create files in order to help classify the information and to follow the operationsThe main values needed for this job are to be attentive, attention of details, organized, available, focused, trustworthy.

STUDENT’S REFLECTIONS ON THE BEHAVIOURAL PATTERNS AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE LABOR FORCE

The labor force at Al Maasa Ships Fuel Supply is coming from different horizons and this represents a positive aspect for the company because the employees bring their ideas and creativity. The employees in this company are engaged and they enjoy they work. Before an interview, the CEO is consulting all the other employees to know their opinion and he is making sure that the new employee will be integrated in the team. We enjoyed spending time together and organize several events to create solid relationships. As it is common in the North European countries such as Sweden or Denmark, we also have a “ Happiness Manager” in the team. The Happiness Manager is paying attention that all the people working for Al Maasa Ships Fuel Supply are feeling well so they can be effective during the working hours. The company is employee centered and means that it is easy to grow in the company and to increase position if the employee is engaged, showing motivation and if they succeed in the earliest challenges.

CONCLUSION

In a nutshell, this report is presenting various analyses and indicators of the business, the oil market and the company Al Maasa Ships Fuel Supply. We understand better how this company operates and it was an opportunity for me to use all the information and knowledge I have received during my studies and this internship. During this summer I learned the functioning of the oil market, how to give instructions and manage boats. Being in a multicultural firm brought new skills that will be useful for my academical and professional carrier.