Perceived Usefulness of Maritime Cross-Border Collaboration Exercises

Abstract

The aim of this quantitative, non-experimental, survey-based study was to examine to what extent there was a statistically significant relationship between participation in a cross-border collaboration crisis exercise and experiencing perceived levels of learning and usefulness. This study reports on the data collected from a joint Norwegian–Swedish maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) collaboration exercise in April 2017. The instrument used was the Collaboration, Learning and Utility (CLU) Scale. The study showed that the inclusion of collaborative elements in the exercises contributed to perceived learning (R=0.47), and that learning, in turn, contributed to perceived usefulness (R=0.62).This study recommends a further focus on collaboration developing elements during exercises, including preparing for the unexpected and providing even clearer collaborative instructions.