The Changing Maritime Industry Sector in Poland

Agnieszka Kołodziej-Durnaś

doi:10.31217/p.33.2.15

Abstract

This article outlines the transformations in the maritime industry sector in Poland from the perspective of organizational sociology and maritime sociology. The author attempts to analyze the main tendencies of changes occurring in the Polish maritime economy in the recent decades, and special attention is paid to the phenomena of organizational field and organizational culture. The research results are based on the analysis of documents, literature, and interviews (IDIs). Whereas the situation of the Polish maritime industry during the communist regime is briefly described as the background for further considerations, the author focuses more on the last thirty years of Polish transformation (triggered by the Round Table talks in 1989) and the fifteen years of Poland’s membership in the European Union.

Highlights

After the Second World War, the maritime industry became a significant sector of a new national economy
As described in an article on the origins and development of maritime sociology [5], seaside communities and sea professionals were exposed to major changes in the maritime industry after the collapse of the communist system in this part of Europe at the threshold of the nineties, which are as follows:
All the statements cited in the following parts devoted to organizational field and organizational culture come from this research project

Summary

Introduction

After the Second World War, the maritime industry became a significant sector of a new national economy. Using the two concepts of organizational sociology as well as using the perspective of maritime sociology, the author shows how the maritime industry sector underwent transformation through almost half a century of communism, three decades of democracy and free-market economy as well as over fifteen years after joining the European Union. Polish maritime sociology has been developed since over half a century [23] The changing conditions of the maritime economy workers have been increasingly frequently analyzed by logisticians, safety specialists (in terms of both individual safety and the protection of maritime interests [25]), and economists [2], [4], [12] and by sociologists [13], [15], [16]

Historical Background

Changes within the Maritime Industry

Organizational Field

Organizational Culture

Findings

Conclusion