懂经济的索马里海盗

2014-10-10 17:33:44来源：网络

　　For starters, know your customer. One of the keys to understanding the modern multinationalis to realise it hates embarrassment. Bear in mind that when faced with any challenge,whether from a lobby group, government or nerdy teenager on Twitter, its instinctiveresponse is to crumple. Then imagine what it will do when confronted with poor people withguns: give in without a fight. Sure enough, most shipping companies don't even allow theirguards to bear weapons. It is not the kind of thing Human Resources wants to get involved in.All the pirates have to do is take a ship, steer it to harbour, then ask for a few million dollars forits return. So long as they don't hurt anyone and usually they have understood that a modernmultinational will always pay up, to make the problem go away.

　　首先，要了解客户。了解现代跨国公司的关键点是要明白他们不喜欢难堪。要记住，当面临任何挑战时，无论是面对峙说团体、政府还是Twitter上的某个小宅男，他们的本能反应都是屈服。再设想一下他们面对端着枪的穷人时会怎么做:不战而降。当然，多数航运公司甚至不允许他们的保安携带武器，那可不是人力资源部门愿意静足的事。海盗们需要做的只是劫一艘船理开回港，口，放出话来说收到数百万美元的赎金后才放行。只要不伤害任何人，他们通常不会伤害人，他们明白一家现代跨国公司总是愿意为了息事宁人而掏钱的。

　　Second, as the economy changes, stay flexible and be ready to reinvent yourself. Somalia wasnot always a hotbed of piracy. Its main industryin the Puntland region where the pirates havetheir hub, was fishing. After the government collapsed, however, its territorial waters could notbe enforced, and other fleets came and stole the stock. But, as the saying has it, there arealways other fish in the sea. At the same time, the mighty Chinese export machine wascranking into action, sending quantities of material to Europe. The most economical route wasup through the Suez Canal, which meant that Puntland's ex-fishermen had billions of dollars ofstuff sailing right past them. All they needed to do was ask for a fraction of that what bondtraders would call a quarter of a basis point. And, hey presto, they'd become toll collectorsrather than fishermen.

　　其次，随着经济的变化，保持灵活，随时准备转型。索马里并非一直是海盗的温床，在海盗集中的邦特兰地区，植业曾是支柱产业。然而政府垮台后，由于无法保护其领悔，别国船只进入其领海，盗捕植业资源。但是，正如一句老话所说，海里总有别的鱼。同一时期，中国强大的出口机器开始运转，将大量物资运往欧洲。最经济的航路局通过苏伊士运河，这就意味着巨额货物在邦特兰的前渔民们面前经过。他们需要做的只是从中索取极小的一部分，也就是债券交易者所说的四分之一个基点。于是这些渔民摇身一变，当上了收费员。

　　Three, equip yourself with the right kit. You never want to let your IT department get behindthe curve. Piracy is, just like everything, fundamentally an information business. You are notgoing to get much of a ransom for a ship full of wheat or cement. What you want is aboatload of snazzy Samsung 3D TVs, or, even better， iPhones. Fortunately, ships are nowfitted with the Automatic Identification System, a computer system that logs details of everyship, its crew and cargo. It is great for customs, and ship management: unfortunately, thepirates are smart enough to hack into it. They know precisely which vessels are worthtargeting. When that fails, they use spotters in Dubai and Oman to make note of valuableboats. As anyone in the City of London will tell you, the only trades worth doing are the insideones. The pirates have learnt that lesson.

　　第三，用精良的工具装备自己。千万不要让IT部门落后于潮流。海盗像其他行业一样，从根本上说是一种信息业务。要是挟持了一船小麦或水泥囊恐怕敲诈不到多少赎金。最好挟持的是一船时髦的三星3D电视，要是一船iPhone就更好了。幸运的是，如今船舶上都装配了船舶自动就别系统，这种电脑系统记录下每鲤船以及船上船员和货物的详细数据。这对海关和船舶管理者无疑很有帮助，但不幸的是，精明的海盗也能侵入其中。他们清楚地知道哪些船值得下手。如果黑客人侵失败，他们还能让守候在迪拜和阿曼的"侦察员"摸清哪些船舶值得下手。伦敦金融城的任何内行都会告诉你，只有内幕交易才值得做。海盗们早已领悟了这一点。

本文关键字: 懂经济的索马里海盗