PROUD OF STENA!
I'm proud when I take the ferry from Styrsö en route to Stena. Many in Gothenburg's southern archipelago have their livelihoods in fishing and shipping, and this is also where Stena has its roots. I am proud to be part of an organization that has a local history and global organization. I am also proud that we have “care” as one of our key words. But I am perhaps most proud of our long-term approach and our genuine commitment in everything we do.
In December of 1831, the Swedish Crown began planting oaks on the island of Visingsö to provide for future shipbuilding for the Swedish fleet. In 1975, the oaks were ready to be felled, but the Secretary of the Navy declined. As we all know, oak is no longer much in demand for building ships. But now we can enjoy Swedish whiskey, for example, stored in oak barrels from these oaks, while we always plant new oaks for the future.
There are two aspects to the story that are so wonderful. The long-term approach combined with the ability to change and do something better as new knowledge and technology become available. At Stena, we make decisions with a time perspective that extends several decades into the future. Few organizations, or even countries, are presently capable of thinking that far ahead. At the same time, Stena is at the forefront in quickly adopting new technologies and new business models.
At Stena, we’ve started to use the term Business Technology, rather than the too narrow term IT. Business Technology works well both in gathering information and in creating data for decision-making, but also when we transform organizations using the new tools. For example, we have shown in our Fuel Pilot that Business Technology can be used to reduce fuel consumption through AI, and it can also reduce our dependence on brokers in the tanker industry with the help of Orbit. I don’t think we have any operations at present that do not have a change agenda with technology content.
One thing I’m really sure about. No one knows which opportunities the new technology will give us over the next 10 years. But I do know that we at Stena have an organization and a culture that can think both long-term and take advantage of the new opportunities created by Business Technology!
