
Why not to Taal Volcano?
It could be exciting.
Just do not forget your bottled water.
It will be more exciting without this.
Happy trip.
Philippine Merchant Marine Academy, Graduate School
Product level
At the product level business development means developing a new product or technology. Although the level of development can differ from firm to firm. The level of development can be divided into two categories: disruptive and incremental.
Incremental developments are a development which increases the functionality of an existing platform or technology, while disruptive or discontinuous developments are completely new things developed from scratch.
E.g. of an incremental continuous development are extension to already existing products like a new odour for shampoo, a digital camera with 5MIO pixels for your mobile phone, ... In both cases the platform, shampoo and mobile phone remains the same. Discontinue developments are e.g. public key infrastructure (PKI). PKI is discontinuing because it will change the way people do business and authenticate themselves in the future. The technology doesn't have a form yet, nor does it have mature value chains. PKI currently is still at the beginning of the TALC curve. It will take years before it will have a fixed recognizable form. Today PKI is mainly used in ID cards (e.g. Belgium, Malaysia), although its application is certainly not limited to it.
Commercial level
In its simplest form business development at the commercial level means prospection pure et dûr. It means hunting new customers in new segments or markets by, mostly, cold contact. The work requires a highly driven psychologically strong individual capable of handling lots of turn downs. It's certainly not suited for the faint of heart.
The next level of commercial business development is channel or sales organization setup. The channel or sales organization can consist of partners, like agents, distributors, licensees, franchisees, or your own national or international branches. Agent is the legal term used in Belgium law to denote somebody who is representing a principal in exchange for a commission on forwarded customers. In most cases these agents are called resellers, value added resellers, dealers, the latter being the functional position in your channel network.
And last we have commercial business development at the value chain level. At the value chain level business development is about developing the whole product offering. You'll find this type of business development in technology firms that have developed a platform that has to be integrated or combined with other technologies or platforms to form a whole product.
A whole product is generally composed of multiple technologies in order to make it come alive. Those technologies are generally not developed by one firm but sourced from others to save time a.o.
Corporate level
When organizations have to decide whether to make or to buy certain organizational competencies we enter the realm of corporate business development. The focus is not at the product nor the commercial level but the business, financial and legal level.
This level of business development is about mergers & acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures (JV), direct equity investment (DEI) and strategic alliances. It deals with business portfolio analysis, corporate finance, contract law, fiscal law, social law , anti- trust law, change management, culture management...
Organizations can have multiple motives to buy organizational competencies. Examples are: time to market market entry barriers, patent protection, legal constraints, business or proposal complementation, cash flow and profit diversification, ...
Conclusion
From the descriptions above it becomes very obvious that there is not one single meaning of business development. Each level has its own focus and requires different competencies, skills and backgrounds.
The ever-changing environment of ship management is becoming increasingly complex. Latest Ship Management report examines the principal components of the market and the implications of third party management.
The nature of ship ownership
The implications for ship management
The market for third party ship managers
Commercial management
Technical management
Administration Training
Product Description
Manpower availability and costs Management issues relating to crew matters The R&M regime Management issues relating to R&M or ship equipment matters Procurement regimes and management issues relating to the stores and supplies budget Management issues relating to insurance Regulatory issues Risks and proactive approaches.
Move towards third party ship management
The Ship Management report provides key insights into the industry and the future growth of the market. Its data and analysis include:
Ship owners and concepts of risk management
Commercial and technical management - the options for outsourcing
Third party ship management and questions of liability - including the ISM Code, ISPS and Marpol as well as growing levels of national or regional legislation. The market for third party ship managers - management quality and difficulties of product differentiation.
Main findings
Ship Management report provides an independent and detailed assessment of the ship management market, analyzing the main areas of management, how it aligns with the overall risk management evaluation and the options for outsourcing. Focusing on the implications of ship management and the market for third-party ship managers, the report assesses the nature of ship ownership, commercial management, technical management, administration and training.Describing the various ship owner types and multiplicity of the shipping business, it identifies the areas of risk management. Providing an overview of both commercial and technical management, it reports the options for third party management and questions of liability.
Commercial management
This section examines the shipping market and its economic cycles, the impact on ship chartering and differences across industrial sectors. It also monitors and measures the fundamentals of the freight market and rates. The report also analyses key ship running costs and the influence of the forward market, the new building market and the demolition market.
Technical management
Focuses on the availability and costs of manpower and key management issues relating to the crew alongside an evaluation of the ship repair and maintenance regime - including classification requirements, equipment recommendations and policy choices and fuel-related issues. Technical management also has a remit covering areas such as procurement policy and the stores and supplies budget, insurance, regulatory requirements and response planning.
Administration
An analysis of the key activities associated with shipping companies covering the unavoidable and the optional as well as the core administrative needs within a ship management company.
NAIROBI: Africa is moving towards a harmonized maritime transport charter that will apart from building trade capacity see a united approach to industry threats such as piracy.
This follows the adoption of the African Maritime Transport Charter at the Second African Union Conference of Ministers Responsible for Maritime Transport, under the theme "Creation of a safe, secure and clean maritime transport industry", held in Durban, South Africa.
Director General of the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) Nancy Karigithu said in a statement issued in Nairobi on Sunday that the adoption of the charter would boost the maritime sector in Africa and propel the continent towards world class shipping and maritime trade standards.
"As a continent we must take the firm view that we cannot talk maritime transport outside of economic development and growth of the sector. The maritime transport sector in Africa is a giant that is waking up. African maritime transport has the capacity to grow our economies and create millions of jobs," said Karigithu.