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Teamwork Concept Seen to Accelerate Success |
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Archives -
2007 Archive
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Written by B. Tyril
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Monday, 21 May 2007 |
Faroe Fish Market passed its second year in operation with revenues up almost 20 percent although traded quantities decreased slightly during 2006 — an impressive performance that may owe much to the auction’s special emphasis on teamwork.
It may be argued that most successful businesses will pride themselves on good teamwork, yet exactly good teamwork appears to be one of the very key factors behind the increasingly upbeat outlook for the newly restructured Faroe Fish Market (FMF). During a second year in operation under its reformed shape, the fish auction’s annual turnover increased by a fifth in twelve months, from 540m to 637m dkk (from 72.5m to 85.5m eur).
Not that this business growth was due to any leap in landed quantities, quite the contrary: traded volumes slid from approximately 45,500 metric tons in 2005 to 43,500 mt in 2006. That said, international market prices, notably the price of cod and haddock, did soar.
In fact, pretty much everything indicates that the launch of the new FMF has been nothing short of a rampant success. “The whole process of setting up a new trading system has turned out much smoother than we’d imagined,” said FMF managing director Jens C. Olsen. “Effective coordination and good teamwork are crucial,” he added.
Basically, three different groups, each with its own special interests, together form the cooperative component system of which the FMF’s business framework consists: sellers i.e. fishing vessels; purchasers i.e. processors/traders; and an intermediary i.e. the fish auction itself. “Ensuring the best possible communication, coordination and cooperation between the three parties that make up the market has been a priority from day one,” Mr Olsen said.
“To achieve this we have had a number of briefings and exercises to make sure every FMF employee got a good grip on their own part as well as a comprehensive understanding of how this system is put together. From the beginning, we have stressed the importance of not merely keeping good working relations between management and staff but beyond that, really working together as professionals in a spirit of partnership, service and responsibility. With regard to the linkage between fish harvesters and their purchasing counterparts in this context, we have stressed the importance of collaboration in the form of effective communication at all levels.”
Information and communication technology (ICT) is playing a pivotal role in the trading infrastructure of the auction and in the way participants communicate. Along with email and SMS technologies for timely and effective delivery of data to all relevant parties whether situated at sea or on land, the FMF.fo website is used as a platform for the exchange of information. Likewise, FMF recently invested in a new ledger software that enables purchasers and sellers to log into the bookkeeping system to view their balance and print their invoices or landing specifications.
Meanwhile, a digital system for chain traceability in the Faroese fishing industry is about to be implemented on a national level, involving both the FMF, the catching and processing/trading sectors, and other vital links such as transport and logistics providers, fisheries authorities and research institutes.
“A number of routines have been streamlined in order to strengthen the foundations of the auction,” Mr Olsen said.
The establishment of the FMF just over two years ago was the result of a reform of the national fish auction known as Fiskamarknaður Föroya. The overhaul was undertaken at the same time as legislative changes took place, paving the way for foreign trading in the market.
Likewise, the relationship between the fish auction itself and its sea landing stations was changed, freeing the auction from the operation of fish landings and the ownership of assets attached to such activities. Hence, Faroe Fish Market (FMF) was formed as a new company while Fiskamarknaður Föroya was renamed Landingarmiðstöð Föroya; it operates two fish landing stations, the one at Toftir and the other in Klaksvík, and is owned by local labor unions and the Faroe Fishermen’s Union (FF) together with a seafood processing company.
As to the ownership of the FMF, this is split 50/50 between the Landingarmiðstöð Föroya and the Association of Faroese Fish Producers (Föroya Ráfiskaseljarafelag). “The auction was originally designed to secure fair price for the fish on the one hand and equal opportunity for fish purchasers on the other.
“It worked well during the first years but it became necessary to restore the original idea, which is why the structure was reformed. I think most people agree that the new system is not just working according to the plans, it’s actually working better than many of us were expecting for the first period of time.”
Link to pdf presentation...
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