TITLE:
Managing Shipping Companies, the Way Their Pioneers Did: The Case-Studies of Vafias N Family and Aristotelis S. Onassis
AUTHORS:
Alexandros M. Goulielmos
KEYWORDS:
Onassis Business Life (Part I), Vafias H Business Life, Management by 4 Functions & 5 Targets, Management by Attractors (new) Buying 107 Liberty Ships in 1946
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.11 No.12,
December
31,
2020
ABSTRACT: We thought that the best method to teach is by example.
The business life of 2 Greek shipowners is presented: of Harry Vafias, a young
educated shipowner in the niche market of small LPG carriers (≤26,000 cbm), and of the legendary
shipowner Aristotelis S. Onassis. Onassis dominated by building gigantic crude
oil tankers, from 1938 to 1975. These cover the modern and the old.
To be listed in NASDAQ was uncommon at the time of Onassis as well the institution
of 3rd party
management. For Greeks, ship-owning is a way of life; modern
shipowners consider it as a business to profit… Comparison between the 2 above worlds shows the
developments occurred in ship management the last 90 years or so. Certain
principles, however, are present no matter the time passed: economies of scale; maximization
of tonnage owned using particular strategy; minimization of cost; creation
of competitive advantages. We presented also our theory “to manage by
Attractors”. Finally, a reference is made to the legendary acquisition by
Greeks of 107 Liberty ships from USA in 1946.