No account of the imperial system would be complete without some discussion of maritime activity. Voyages of discovery played a crucial role in the foundation of the Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Dutch empires, whilst a combination of the search for a northern passage to the Orient and organized piracy created the early momentum for the British Empire. Before the Industrial Revolution the maritime sector was instrumental in developing a consumer society in Europe, based on the conspicuous consumption of imported luxuries, whilst later on during the years of the scramble for Africa, for example it brought the raw materials to feed the heavy industries of Europe (Cohen & O’Connor 2004). Instead of having a few shipping companies with substantial fleets, each ship was typically organized as a separate company in order to control the financial risks involved. It neutralized the domino effect which the loss of one ship could have on the finances of other ships in the owners' fleet. Ships have always been amongst the largest, most indivisible, and most risky assets in which people can invest. Merchant ships are floating containers, and economies of scale encourage them to be built as large as possible compatible with access to port facilities. Financial risks are great not only because of the risks of loss at sea, but because charter rates are highly volatile on account of the durable nature of the fleet and sensitivity of international trade to the state of business confidence, particularly where raw material shipments are concerned (Schröter & Wilkins, 1998).
With many small shipping companies, each owning a single vessel, it became quite common for the owners of a ship to vest the management of it with an agent. The agent, for example, could arrange to charter out the ship on their behalf. The agent would be rewarded by some combination of salary and commission. The agent had to enjoy a good reputation for competence and integrity, however, because he personally carried only a very small proportion of the financial risks associated with the vessel's operations (Jamieson & Starkey 1998). To make efficient use of a specialized ship agent's time, it was necessary for an agent to manage several ships. This, of course, allowed agents to accumulate enormous expertise. To capitalize on this, to exploit the economies of scope afforded by their general knowledge of the shipping trade-they could take on junior partners to expand their agency. This provided an inducement for reputable agents to promote the building of ships, incorporating a new company for each additional ship, and inviting wealthy speculators to subscribe equity. The intelligence gathered by the captains of these ships would inform the managing agents of business opportunities overseas. Individual shipping routes tended to be highly competitive because, unless they were controlled by a charter monopoly that was effectively policed, vessels could easily be switched onto routes where existing operators were enjoying profits higher than elsewhere. Vertical integration into the procurement of export cargoes made little sense, therefore, when the arrival of ships to collect the cargoes could not be accurately predicted, where the export products were difficult to store. It was far better to ship the exports on the first available ship than to try to coordinate production and sailings within the constraints of using only vessels from a particular owner's fleet (Johnman & Murphy 2002). Shipping companies require their personnel to be productive and efficient. This paper will take a look at how absenteeism affects White star line’s productivity.
0 comments:
Post a Comment