Shipbuilding & Ship Repair Business Management (PORT 618)
Why a business course in Shipbuilding
& Ship Repair?
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America remains an island nation in
an international economy – we are
connected to the rest of the world via
the oceans
Shipping and shipbuilding has been
part of the Hampton Roads economy
for 400 years
Shipbuilding and ship repair employ
40,000 people in Hampton Roads –
the second largest industry in the area
The regional shipbuilding and ship
repair industry is a $6B, “primary
sector” industry that supports many
local businesses.
It is an industry characterized by
complex economic and political
challenges, and needs constant
revitalization to remain strong.
Course overview: The objective of this
course is to teach the student to think like
a chief executive of a shipbuilding or ship
repair firm. Thus, this is a “systems” or
“capstone” course that applies and
incorporates many principles from the
business field, and takes a broad, holistic
view of the industry. While no
prerequisites apply in this course, it will
integrate principles of business and
market strategy, macro-economic effects,
industry micro-economics, government
roles, corporate relationships, financial
decision making, management controls,
operations management, and contracting
techniques. Even if you don’t desire a
career in shipbuilding, this course will
teach you to think like a business executive
in any company.
Course Framework for Analysis: This
course begins with broad reviews of the
factors that shape a nation’s engagement
in shipbuilding and ship repair: history,
geography, geo-politics. These contexts
lead to macro-economic considerations of
how a nation enters shipbuilding, and
then microeconomic insights into specific
industry dynamics. The roles and effects
of government intervention in the
industry are studied. This frames the
“external industry environment”. The
second half of the course shifts from
broad industry analysis to a narrower
one, looking inside a typical shipbuilding
concern, and considers corporate
ownership and relations, management
controls and systems. Finally, the course
(over)
Shipbuilding & Ship Repair Business Management (PORT 618)
analyzes the process of ship acquisition,
from customer requirements to design
process to ship production and delivery.
graduate level education, and can also be
taken as a stand-alone continuing
education course. As an interdisciplinary
graduate course, the class also includes
students from the Public Administration
Program, Engineering Management
Program, or Mechanical Engineering
Program. Historically, 60% of the
students have been MBA/MPA
candidates.
Student reviews:
Course Themes
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Systems relationships & functional
inter-relationships
Politics & economics
Influence of technology
Timing of decisions and market
dynamics
Investor relations
Process variation
Business stability & volume
Decision making & risk management
Course delivery and technique:
“Professional education tenor”; concept
lectures, field trips, guest lecturers from
industry leaders, case studies, mid-term
and final exam. Each student is also
assigned a “host” nation, and will become
the class expert in that nation’s
shipbuilding industry, and contribute
presentation material accordingly.
Course Logistics: PORT-618; no
prerequisites required. Class commences
on Thursday 14 January 2016, and meets
each Thursday 7:10~9:50 until 28 April.
This course provides 3 credit hours of
“Very practical course – it helped me pull
a lot of MBA classes together….”
“Very interesting – I never realized the
complexities in the business world until I
took this class.”
“The instructor pulled-off this defacto
“capstone course” as well as, if not better
than, the actual capstone course required
in the MBA program.”
“I don’t plan on pursuing a career in this
industry, but this course made me
understand the business world dynamics
better than any other at ODU.”
“Fun class; experienced, energetic and
enthusiastic instructor keeps it fresh and
interesting.”
“The adjunct instructor is not a formal
faculty professor – he actually works in
the business world, which brings a level
of experience and pragmatism not usually
seen in college academics. It was
refreshing.”