STRATEGY FOR MARITIME RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT

The malaise in the U.S. maritime industry is perhaps symptomatic of the general stagnation in the national economy. Both must adjust very quickly to a peacetime strategy, to expanded global markets and to reordered business priorities. The author proposes the creation of a quasi-industrial organization, MARITIME AG (MAG), composed of companies in the maritime industry, along with representatives of research institutions and the Federal Government. The consortium will develop a comprehensive R&D program, jointly funded by government and the private sector, to focus on needs which are no longer defense-related. The consortium will also develop business plans and strategies for industry segments, based on the philosophy that the company is actually a social system, not just a profit-making machine. Thus, government and industry will actually be cooperating with the goal of improving the quality of life for every citizen. The corporate plan is known as a Performance Improvement Strategy (PIS) and has been proven effective at over 300 plants in the mid-western US. The author outlines the structural skeleton of MAG, explains how various systems and processes interrelate, and recommends that the U.S. must seize immediately the opportunity to join the dynamic forces at work today in the international seafaring trade.