 |
Global Shipbroking – New Challenges to Established
By Wee Beng Geok & Yvonne Chong |
| Publisher Ref No: | ABCC-2009-009 | Pub/Rev Date: | 2010 |
| Industry: | Maritime Services | Case Length: | 14 pages |
| Teaching Note Ref: | - | Teaching Note: | - |
| Organisation: | - | Period Covered: | 2009 |
| Country: | China | Level: | Undergraduate/ Postgraduate |
| Additional: | Case supplement available |
| Publisher: | The Asian Business Case Centre, Nanyang Technological University |
Abstract
This case describes the emergence of the global shipbroking community from its origins in London 200 years ago, and how shipbrokers were able to evolve and stay relevant, despite the threat to their traditional middlemen role resulting from disintermediation due to advances in information communication technologies. It examines developments in the international shipping environment including the role of the Baltic Exchange, London as a leading maritime centre, as well as key broking clusters in Oslo, Piraeus, New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore.
As shipbrokers diversified into offering research and financial services, the initiation of freight derivatives trading and the shipping boom in 2004-2008 attracted new market players into the industry – financial institutions such as investment banks and hedge funds. How would their entry impact the future role of shipbrokers as dealmakers in the shipping industry? In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, which culminated in the collapse of freight rates at end-2008, would these changes reshape the communities of practice that shipbrokers had so effectively cultivated over the generations?
A supplement to this case is available titled "Freight Derivatives: An Introduction".
This case was commissioned by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
View other cases in the MPA series ››
Issues: International shipping; Maritime industry; Global shipbroking; Organisational learning; Financial derivatives; Communities of practice
About the Authors
