Celebrated in the novels of Joseph Conrad and vintage films, tramp ships - the precursor of bulk carriers - are not well understood today. Yet, these vessels transported in bulk essential minerals and ores, grains, timber, and other commodities and played a vital role in creating the modern global economy. While the histories of some individual tramp firms have been written, this book uses personal correspondence and surviving company records to chart the development of the entire industry - the largest in the world- during a period of transformational technical change. Who were the bold, risk-takers who founded tramp firms? How did they mobilise the resources needed to enter this dynamic sector, build immense companies, and accumulate vast fortunes? Why did others fail? This study reveals how executives learned ‘the art’ of managing tramps and developed strategic networking skills. Tramp shipping resonates with many of today’s high-growth industries: it was an information intensive, high stress operation that required rapid - sometimes instinctive - decision-making within a turbulent market. Building business networks was supported by a distinctive culture that streamlined communication. This innovative study places information, knowledge, learning, culture, and communication at the centre of the analysis in order to transport readers into the minds of those fascinating entrepreneurs who helped build the modern world.

This book, first published in 1985, presents a comprehensive overview of the world shipbuilding industry. It contrasts the conditions which foster its development in newly-industrialised countries such as Japan, South Korea and Brazil with the problems leading to its decline in Western Europe and North America. The book discusses the supply and demand factors peculiar to shipbuilding and notes the inherent instability of the industry due to the conditions placed upon it by the economic environment. Reactions to this instability are examined from the point of view of both shipbuilding enterprises and governments. The book concludes by assessing current trends and discussing likely future developments. It is shown that much will depend on shipping costs, industrial organisation and the level of state support.

This volume tackles the history of Shipbuilding in the United Kingdom in the Nineteenth Century by breaking it down into six regions:- Northeast England; Southeast England; Southwest England; Northwest England; Scotland; and Ireland. The intent is to determine the different economic, social, and geographic factors that contribute to the varied rates of rise and decline of Shipbuilding across the United Kingdom, rather than view the nation’s shipbuilding history as a singular narrative, which risks omitting the complexity of each region. Each region has been ascribed an author, and each author seeks to establish the quantitative and qualitative nature of output in their region, assessing individual factors of production, the character of the enterprises, and the nature of the market.

This work aims to facilitate the study of the shipbuilding industry by making available information on the present location of shipbuilding archives. The brief histories of about 200 businesses are offered.

The authors use a long-wave framework to examine the historical evolution of British industrial capitalism since the late-18th century, and present a challenging and distinctive economic history of modern and contemporary Britain. The book is intended for undergraduate courses on the economic history of modern Britain within history, economic and social history, economic history and economic degree schemes, and economic theory courses.