Present, and future, managers of shipping companies
have a lot to learn from their past colleagues. Students of the shipping
industry always ask: How did Niarchos build such a fortune so as to leave $400
m upon his death? This is a third paper, presenting the business life of the
late shipowner Stavros Niarchos, another “golden” Greek. He conceived the value
of vertical integration in business, first applied by the Japanese. He
established a ship-owning company, a shipyard, and a steel mill. In 1974,
Niarchos owned 64 ships of 4.4 m GRT. This not only made him a top shipowner,
but also master of an entire business environment, focusing on the tanker
market. Shipping, being an international industry, was the victim of many major
political events, and Niarchos, born in 1909, was a victim of the same events.
Niarchos pursued economies of scale. Niarchos did not come from an Aegean
Islands, which were the birthplace of many shipowners. Fifty Greek shipowners
came from Chios and Aignouses. While Onassis failed as a father, Niarchos
failed as a husband, marrying six wives, five women, and his tankers making the
sixth.
References
[1]
Besanko, D., Dranove, D., Shanley, M., & Schaefer, S. (2013). Economics of Strategy (6th ed.). International Student Version, Singapore: Wiley.
[2]
Bilas, R. A. (1967). Microeconomic Theory: A Graphical Analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.
[3]
Couper, A. D. (1999). Voyages of Abuse: Seafarers Human Rights & International Shipping, with Others. London: Pluto Press.
[4]
Frangoulis, G. K. (2001). Stavros Niarchos: My Experience from Working with Him. Athens: Fereniki Editions.
[5]
Goulielmos, A. M. (1974). A Vintage Model Approach to Some Problems of Shipping Economics. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Uxbridge: Brunel University.
[6]
Goulielmos, A. M. (2009). Is History Repeated? Cycles and Recessions in Shipping Markets, 1929 and 2008. Shipping & Transport Logistics, 1, 329-360.
https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSTL.2009.027679
[7]
Goulielmos, A. M. (2018). The Nature of Economic Turbulence: The Power Destructing Economies, with Application to Shipping. Modern Economy, 9, 5.
[8]
Goulielmos, A. M. (2020). The Investment Strategy and the Growth Policy of the Greek Shipowners Revealed, 1946-2020. Modern Economy, 11, 1858-1886.
https://doi.org/10.4236/me.2020.1111125
[9]
Goulielmos, A. M. (2021a). Managing Shipping Companies, the Way Their Pioneers Did: The Case-Studies of Vafias N Family and Aristotelis S. Onassis. Modern Economy, 11, 2156-2182. https://doi.org/10.4236/me.2021.121013
[10]
Goulielmos, A. M. (2021b). Managing Shipping Companies, the Way Their Pioneers Do: The Case-Studies Aristotelis S. Onassis II and Angeliki Frangou. Modern Economy, 12, 247-273. https://doi.org/10.4236/me.2021.121013
[11]
Henderson, J. M., & Quandt, R. E. (1958). Microeconomic Theory: A Mathematical Approach. Int. Student Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co, Inc.
[12]
Kapsis, N. (2005). Shipping Capital in Mainland of Greece. Athens: Kerkyra Editions.
[13]
Kavussanos, M. G., & Visvikis, I. D. (2006). Shipping Freight Derivatives: A Survey of Recent Evidence. Maritime Policy & Management, 33, 233-255.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03088830600783152
[14]
La Rocco, L. A. (2012). Dynasties of the Sea: The Shipowners and Financiers Who Expanded the Era of Free Trade. Stamford, CT: Marine Money, Inc.
[15]
Lorange, P. (2020). Innovations in Shipping. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108347945
[16]
Lun, V. Y. H., Hilmola, O.-P., Goulielmos, A. M., Lai, K.-H., & Cheng, T. C. E. (2013). Oil Transport Management. Berlin: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2921-9
[17]
McCleery, M. (2013). The Shipping Man: Adventures in Ship Finance (2nd ed.). Singapore: Marine Money.
[18]
Mpatis, E. (1999). Portraits in Blue Background: Persons Who Wrote History in the Shipping of the 20th Century. FINATEC S.A. Editions. (In Greek)
[19]
Stopford, M. (1992). Shipping Cycles and Ship Finance, a Special Overview. International Financial Law Review, Special Supplement, August.
[20]
Stopford, M. (2009). Maritime Economics (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203891742
[21]
Theotokas, I., & Harlaftis, G. (2009). Leadership in World Shipping. Greek Family Firms in International Shipping. London: McMillan Editions.
https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230233539
[22]
Zannetos, Z. S. (1966). The Theory of Oil Tankship Rates. Product of His Doctoral Thesis, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
