Speaker: Per Olaf Brett
Title: The rise of systems thinking in the management of ship design – recent advances made in industry
Abstract: This key note presentation addresses the challenges of improving the systems based ship design approach by suggesting how current systems thinking can conceptually and in practice be successfully applied to inventive ship design by means of alternative and enhanced design methodologies. Recent experiences by the author shows that too little focus and time are spent on the new building phases upstream and downstream in a new building project to achieve overall project effectiveness. Upstream, a proper dialogue with the decision-makers and project stakeholders more generally, about their preferences and objectives must be facilitated and catered for. Downstream, it is paramount that better focus is set on where to spend time, use expertise and introduce or save costs and time to secure a successful realization of the new building project. Not only a significant vessel must appear, but the timely delivery of it at agreed upon quality and price and its goodness of fit for purpose and market are paramount.
It is suggested that advances and significant improvements can be made to existing ship design approaches in applying multi-disciplinary theory and systems thinking approaches and social science research contributions. It is argued that more effective ship design solutions and the process complementing it can emerge out of systemic-based ship design methodology and critical systems thinking. A discussion of the early application of state-of-the-art systems’ thinking and systemic-based design methodology and their resulting advances are shared. Limitations and suggestions for further advances of the methodology and its practice are discussed.
Biography: Dr Per Olaf Brett is currently the Deputy Managing Director in Ulstein International AS. As a Deputy Managing Director he is responsible for business development, market analysis, strategic products and services research & innovation and coaching and mentoring.
Dr Per Olaf Brett received his Doctor of Business Administration (Ph.D./D.B.A/Dr.Oecon) from Brunel University, Henley Management College, UK. He has a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A) from HMC, UK and an Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Management Consultancy (ADipC). He is a Military Academy Graduate – Special Duties, the Royal Norwegian Navy Bergen. He also has a Bachelor of Science w/Honours (B.Sc.) from the Kings College University of Newcastle upon Tyne. From 1977 to 2007 he worked in Det Norske Veritas AS (DNV) Norway with Management positions and international assignments. He has been President (CEO) of the International Loss Control Institute Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from 1991 to 1994 and Managing Director of Computas Expert Systems AS in Oslo from 1989 to 1991. Dr Brett is also holding a Professorship in Shipping at the Norwegian School of Management (BI), Institute for Strategy and Logistics Oslo and a Professorship in Management of Marine Design at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Faculty of Marine Science and Technology Trondheim.
