On time... - Lloyd's List

introduction
Every generation looks to the last for direction and lessons
learned. Our latest batch of industry leaders has more than
enough to chew on as it deliberates what went wrong and
forges its own path ahead.
It is difficult to characterise generational traits amid a diverse
array of individuals and companies that we have picked for
this report, but it seem fair to conclude that our crop of young
leaders has become more sophisticated than its predecessors.
They appear more risk aware, although it should be noted
that is very different from being risk averse. This generation
has seen the extremes that a shipping cycle has to offer and
risk management is high on the agenda, even as it searches
for the opportunities that history tells it must be waiting at the
bottom.
They are more concerned with corporate governance and
are certainly more transparent than the last generation who
gave up information as if it were their market share.
Many in our list cite the need to focus on low leverage, strong
cash flows and the ability to survive downturns. Ironically it
is the impatient young upstarts that are taking that long-term
outlook.
While the fundamentals of shipping remain, our next
generation will lead an entirely different market that is driven
by new political realities and a rapidly changing global
economic and regulatory agenda.
Perhaps even more significantly they enter an industry on
the cusp of a technical generational shift driven by fuel costs
6 next generation 2012
“the next generation
is often left waiting
for the previous
generation to
loosen its grip a
little. retirement is
apparently something
that happens in other
industries, but not in
shipping”
and the need to rethink much of the global supply chain in
search of efficiencies.
But for all their attempts to differentiate themselves from the
previous generation, many of those we have spoken to cite the
old values of hard work, integrity and loyalty as the guiding
principles for any modern business.
In a highly cyclical industry, it pays to have a tangible
reminder of what has worked and what has not. Family
businesses tend to have long memories, a fact that can be an
advantage just as it can weigh heavily on those who inherit it.
There is something special about shipping that only insiders
can understand. People have a genuine passion for it that you
do not tend to see in quite the same way elsewhere. For the
shipping dynasties, that feeling is intensified.
While the weight of expectation can be unreasonably
high for some, the power that a family business wields can
be highly advantageous. When successfully pulling in the
same direction, families are more nimble in their decisionmaking
than companies that have to convince shareholders
and boards. They can also make long-term decisions without
concern for quarterly dividends, bound in the knowledge that
eventually they will come out ahead.
But for all their advantages, the continued success of the
shipping dynasties is by no means guaranteed. While success
can often breed success, business skills are not genetic. Sound
succession planning is as much about finding the right talent
in family businesses as it is anywhere else.