The Relationship Between Leadership Style and Safety Climate Perception and the Dimensions Affecting This Relationship: A Holistic Research on Seafarers
Project no. 29630 · Status: Kapanmış · 2023
Summary
<p>Approximately 80% of world trade consists of ship transportation. Although many factors that make up maritime transportation, which is a socio-technical system, have a direct or indirect impact on maritime accidents, research shows that the main cause of ship accidents is the "human element". In this context; the starting point of this project is the prediction that the effective leadership of shipmasters, who have an important role in shipping, will be a pioneer in creating safety awareness and therefore a safety climate and will play a key role in solving many relevant problems that may arise.</p><p> </p><p>Thus, the main purpose of this research project is to reveal the relationship between the leadership style of shipmasters and the safety climate perceptions of seafarers other than the shipmasters as well as the dynamics that may affect this relationship. In line with this purpose, a mixed-method research design has been preferred. Within the scope of the quantitative research design, a survey was conducted with maritime officers (Chief Officer, Watch Officer, Electrical-Electronic Officer, Chief Engineer, Second Engineer, Watch Engineer) who have long-distance competency, excluding the ship captain. The data obtained from 198 participants were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0 software.</p><p> </p><p>When national and international literature was reviewed, no exploratory study had been found, in which the relationship between safety climate and leadership was discussed together. Due to the complex structure of the sector, it was thought that more effective results could be achieved with the support of an exploratory research.Thus, in the context of qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 shipmasters, possessing long-distance competency, and the data obtained from in-depth interviews were subjected to qualitative content analysis using MAXQDA 2022 software.</p><p> </p><p>In the quantitative research section, the correlation analysis conducted on the survey findings obtained from maritime personnel other than the shipmasters revealed a moderate, positive, and significant relationship between transformational leadership style and safety climate perception (r=0.374, p<0.05). Weak, positive, and significant relationships were found between transactional leadership style and safety climate perception (r=0.235, p<0.05). However, a weak, negative, and significant relationship was identified between laissez-faire leadership style and safety climate perception (r=-0.196, p<0.05).</p><p> </p><p>Based on the representative comments of shipmasters, it was found out that they mostly show transformational leadership characteristics. Furthermore, the dynamics of safety climate perception were revealed at both individual and organizational levels based on the perspectives of shipmasters. Recommendations for relevant sector managers, educational institutions, and researchers have been proposed based on the research findings.</p>