Process Management as a Means to Analyze the Effectiveness of a Company in Global Markets

Abstract

Companies need to ensure the effectiveness of all their processes. The case of the shipbuilding sector is exactly the same. From a management perspective, two important points should be highlighted. In order to face the continuous demand fluctuations, many shipyards, especially the smaller ones, have reduced their staff. This fact allows shipyards to be more flexible and to reduce their fixed costs in order to survive in low activity periods. On the other side, when there are peaks of workload, they outsource many activities. In fact, outsourcing has become one of the main and most important processes in shipyards. The level of outsourced activities is so high that shipyards are considered to be synthesis industries. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that the outsourcing process is correctly managed. Thus, the aim of this study is to show how process management can be used as a means to guarantee the effectiveness of a process. Specifically, the case of a small shipyard applying process management in its outsourcing process will be described.