by Irene Rosberg, Programme Director, Executive MBA in Shipping and Logistics (The Blue MBA), Programme Director, Blue Board Leadership Programme (BBLP), Copenhagen Business School.
Black swans – unforeseen, high-impact events exemplified by the Baltimore bridge disaster – are unforgiving. They have a stark effect upon swathes of the shipping industry. In March 2024, that one momentary incident temporarily diverted attention from the challenges of the century: the overarching climate emergency, the wars that are rerouting shipping, the disruptive effects of new technology, and the surge in artificial intelligence.
The clamour for a decisive energy transition has not gone away, though. The need to face up to that and other fundamental concerns sends a strong message to all involved in shipping: that the industry needs people of world-class leadership skills with strategic insights able to react to the issues of the day, not to mention issues of the hour (the Baltimore episode showed how instantly vulnerable supply chains can be for a whole range of essential cargoes including LNG and other fuels).
With the big transformation to the renewable energy era well underway, it is crucial to understand the driving forces, the market implications, the practicalities of fuel choices, the emerging risks, and the momentous necessity for sustainability in energy production and consumption. Entire business models will be constantly reassessed even in currently thriving sectors such as LNG.
The countdown to change is accelerating after the IMO’s decarbonisation targets were stepped up in 2023, aiming for a 20% reduction in emissions by 2030, 70% by 2040, and net zero by 2050. The COP28 summit rubbed in the urgency by calling for a tripling of the use of renewable energy and a doubling of energy efficiency by industries such as shipping.
To repeat: the present and upcoming generation of leaders must be empowered with the intellectual resources and holistic approach to tackle – and predict – the ramifications of the fast-moving changes.
It is on that premise that the Executive MBA in Shipping and Logistics (the Blue MBA) at Copenhagen Business School is based and has led in its field for more than 20 years. The proposition of the energy transition underlies much of the work of this 24-month-long part-time course for executives at senior and mid-ranking level who study while continuing to pursue their day jobs.
The eight one-week modules of the MBA programme deal with leadership skills and personal development, with grounding in supply chain management and logistics, market analysis, the maritime legal framework, ship design, information technology, investment analysis, risk management, finance and more. The high point of the course for each candidate is a final thesis based on their sector speciality, under the title Integrated Strategy Project.
Highly experienced industry experts and coaches guiding the Blue MBA courses imbue candidates with a spirit of inquiry, and critically, an entry to a knowledgeable global network of alumni who are familiar with many of the toughest management quandaries.
The importance of strategic planning embedded in the ethos of the Blue MBA has been vindicated by the appearance of “unicorns from another planet”: the Russia-Ukraine conflict, dwindling Panama Canal water levels, and the Red Sea attacks on vessels. These have radically changed the seaborne map.
Shipping and logistics are fast-moving endeavours, not just physically at sea or on the highways. Operators of ships and providers of infrastructure need to integrate environmental rules and social responsibility into their business plans and prioritise scrutiny of the regulations and requirements that are constantly changing, sometimes month by month. Senior management is confronted with increasing complexity and unpredictability as shipping seeks to minimise its carbon footprint, and the Blue MBA stands to the fore in directly addressing the needs of the industry and its practitioners.
*first published in April/May edition of Tanker Shipping & Trade.
