Reading Room

Canal Mania

Current concerns about how to reduce carbon emissions, combined with worries about how to ensure that the Olympic park is ready for London 2012 without bringing the capital to a standstill have led to a renewed interest in Britain’s waterways.

Canals fuelled the industrial revolution, transporting goods around the country quickly and cheaply compared to road transport with horse and cart.  Then the railway came and devastated the business model.  Then the roads took freight back and we see lorries transporting goods around the country.

It takes some creativity to look backwards to come up with innovative solutions to modern problems, but Tesco is dipping an early toe into the canal network by transporting wine across the country by barge, reducing emissions and boosting green credentials.

Canal Mania puts you in the role of canal magnate, hiring engineers like Telford and Brindley to help you build canals.  You’ll need to secure government contracts to build your canals, and create a network that allows you to ship goods without having to pay your competitors. 

Canal Mania players need to ensure they get the most out of their investments before the coming of the railway.  Continuing to build a more elegant network may be appealing, but if the railway is coming you’ll need to ensure that you’re sweating your assets rather than investing for a canal future which you know isn’t there.

Today’s business players don’t have the advantage of a Stephenson’s Rocket marker telling them when expansion is no longer the most effective winning strategy.  Identifying changes in your marketplace and your employee landscape is just as important as reacting to them when they arrive.

If you’d like to talk about how you cope with changes in your organisation, whether they are known or unknown contact:

Claudine McClean
T: +44 (0) 1789 734333
E: claudinem@predaptive.com