Entrepreneurship and the Management of Innovation in the Global Marketplace: The Incat Story

In 1999, entrepreneur Bob Clifford entered the Business Review Weekly’s ‘Richest 200 Australians’ for the first time. Clifford is the founder and Chairperson of Incat Tasmania, an internationally competitive catamaran manufacturer located in Hobart. His far sightedness as a shipbuilder, alongside his ability to manage innovation in an uncertain environment, enabled his small ferry-building business (and river-ferry operation) to become a world force in the high-speed catamarans market, exporting to Europe, Asia, and the Americas. So successful has the Incat operation been, that between 1996 and 1999 it directly employed over 1000 people and accounted for approximately 25% of Tasmania’s manufacturing export earnings. Just two years later however, Incat’s major creditor placed the company into temporary receivership management, citing cash-flow issues and fears that it may not be able to honour its interest payment obligations. (The receivership management was lifted in 2003, when the company was able to sell its first vessel for some three years). The following case highlights Bob Clifford’s flair for ship design and construction, and management issues he faced internationalising his entrepreneurial activities.