It was about 20 years ago somewhere in Asia that two individuals, Chuck and Bright, were working in different areas of a cruise ship. Chuck had many years of experience in managing bigger ships in another Asian country along with other government posts in a western country, but has retired and wanted to spend his retirement years in the slower-paced world of the same cruise ship industry. Bright was experienced in another field, but since there were no other options for him when he came to the country he also applied and got his current job. The two met and became friends. The owner of this ship, Mr. Hans, knew Chuck’s background in the cruise ship business and convinced him to launch his own. Mr. Hans promised to help him with all his resources and connections until he becomes self-reliant. Chuck agreed and invited Bright to join him and they searched where to start their business.
At that time a cruise ship company in another area expanded but had to abandon their ship that was still in running condition with just minor repairs in its dockyard as they were able to construct a larger one in another location. A few years earlier, the owner of the dockyard, Mr. Bravo, saw the potential of the cruise ship business and started his own version. He made use of an existing idle property to establish his own dockyard, then built his own cruise ship. When the company that was renting his property left, he was not interested in taking over the abandoned ship.
Chuck and his partners saw this and decided to use it. They reasoned that there were still remaining captured market of this company along with new ones that will come along as they moved on, they decided to refurbish the ship and continued renting the dockyard facility from Mr. Bravo.
They hired new staff and administrators who will help in running the business. Bright was appointed as the top administrative officer and a new captain, Mr. Bloom, was hired to oversee the overall operation while Chuck served as the CEO. They named their cruise ship Eastern Star Island Bridge (ESIB).
As all businesses have to struggle at the early stage of their existence, so was ESIB. But as the years went by, Chuck and his family were able to pull it through. Mr. Bloom did his job well in his department and he created a system that was appropriate to the situation and worked well with their clients. They also continued hiring people who will be handling strategic positions in the company and one of them was Craft who did a good job on setting up decorations on the different parts of the ship making it more attractive to would-be clients. Chuck’s wife was also active in beautifying the ship as well as on other affairs of the business. Since the business was owned by a foreigner, and in this type of business a locally qualified administrator in this particular field should also be added to the administration team. They found one who was also an administrator of a locally owned similar business entity. Her husband, Barry, was also brought in to work along with Bloom in fixing and maintaining the engine and rudder of the ship.
As the number of clients increased, more staff were hired to handle the different functions of, and on, the ship. In this country, clients of this type of business usually stay in the ship for a few days. Some clients stay for a few months to a year. In some cases, the clients leave after a few days or weeks and then come back. This scenario needed additional skills to create a system that works for the benefits of the clients and staff alike. Bright was good in attracting new clients but was not so good in human relations with the ship’s staff. The full involvement of Chuck’s wife in the daily operations of the business also caused a friction between her and Bright as well as Barry that after more than a year, a heated argument erupted between Chuck and Bright prompting the latter to leave the company.
Bright’s absence for more than a year was felt by Chuck who eventually entreated him to come back which he did with a few conditions that were granted. Some of Bright’s demand was that if Chuck trusted him, then he should be the one who will make decisions and that Mrs. Chuck’s involvement should be limited. Bright also had issues with Barry’s involvement which eventually prompted the latter to leave and just let his wife be part of the company, but won’t be involved in the day-to-day affairs of the business, but will just be the official and legal signatory and representative of the company when transactions with any government agencies are needed.
Later, one of those hired member of the staff to care for clients’ needs was Mr. Byrd. Since he did not possess the needed qualifications to handle major responsibilities in the ship, he was given some minor tasks. Although some of clients expressed their disappointments with him, the company decided to keep him, even when he did not show any improvements in the following years.