Computerizing Safety Management System in Syrian Shipping Company

The author has approached the subject matter from the standpoint of an experience sea captain on board commercial ships attempting to investigates the process of integrating information technology within the ship safety management system for enhancing compliance with the International Safety Management (ISM) Code. Two case studies of Syrian ship management companies have been selected to analyze the process of IT integration, its environment and its impact on ship safety procedures. The importance of this integration is based on the need of ship management companies for properly managing safety information within real time scope and across boundaries of geographical space ¿ namely, between the head office ashore and the ships at sea. This research contributes to the institutional theory and practice of e-management and IT adoption research by providing empirical evidence from practice The findings of the study show that external institutions such as governments, regulators and international organizations have played a pivotal role in institutionalizing organization for the adoption of information technology.