Role, scope and operation of a captive insurance company in large technology-based multinationals: A case comparison
The boom of the so-called captive (re-) insurers which has taken place over the recent years is linked directly to the need to respond to the demands of firms for more advanced and sophisticated risk financing instruments which help them to become more efficient and effective in meeting their goals. The real needs and possibilities which each firm has for the utilization of this instrument must be specifically evaluated within the firm's global strategy. When dealing with the decision process leading to the establishment of an insurance captive, it is important to consider experiences and not models, given that these latter are not easily or automatically transferable to the reality of the firm, which is conditioned to an economic, political and legal environment which will not be exactly the same for any two firms. For this reason, a comparison is made of the experiences of two large technology-based multinationals in the establishment of a captive company, including differences in the role assigned to t...
Captive insurance companies : a theoretical and empirical study
Much research has been done on risk coverage within the field of the traditional insurance market, but the concept of alternative risk transfer is fairly new to the world of risk management. The need for more innovative, multi-faceted approaches to meet possible losses, together with the growing resistance to the cross-subsidisation inherent in traditional insurance, has initiated the development of the captive insurance industry as an alternative risk transfer mechanism. The objective of this research was to study the application of captive insurance as a risk management mechanism for managers. The objective comprised a modelling approach for managers to handle the strategic implications of establishing and operating a captive insurer. The tasks that were required for this assignment were as follows: • The completion of a literature study of the basic theory available on captive insurance as an internal risk financing mechanism for management; • The collection of relevant empirical information on the subject by means of questionnaires, which had to be based on the literature study; • The critical analysis of the collected data; and • The development of a decision-making model based on the outcome of the available information, that could provide a practical guideline for management to decide on the establishment and operation of a captive insurer. Twenty-five questionnaires were sent out during February 2003 to cover all the registered onshore and cell captive insurance companies in South Africa. Offshore insurance companies could not be included in this study due to article 33 of the Reserve Bank's Act no. 90 of 1989 regarding confidential information. Of the 25 captive insurance companies, 21 companies completed the questionnaires, and three respondents declared that they did not perform captive insurance activities anymore. A response rate of over 95 per cent is therefore achieved. The information obtained from the questionnaires was summarised on a SPSS spreadsheet and subjected to a statistical analysis to form the bases for the empirical investigation. The results of the empirical study for onshore and cell captive insurers leads to conclusions Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Capitalising on Subjectivity: The ‘New Model Worker’ and the Importance of Being Useful
The ever-new buzz words for the ideal worker, such as ‘intrapreneur’ or ‘self-manager’, can be seen as management rhetoric and fashions without major consequences for the labour process. But it can also be maintained that these notions and images shed light on the processes of social construction of the ‘model worker’, that is, the historically variable ideal of workers’ subjectivity and behaviour. It is, for example, quite surprising that few demands are evident for the traditional virtues of work, such as reliability, performance of one’s duties or obedience, in current managerial discourses, although these have been the cornerstones of the work ethic in capitalist societies. Instead, ‘responsible decision makers’, ‘intrapreneurs’, ‘self-managers’ and ‘self-developers’ have entered the scene. In contrast to conventional wisdom, such labels are not reserved for managers or workers in financial services and the like. The discourse embraces virtually every industry and occupation, blurring the differences, in socio-psychological terms, between the board of directors and the shop floor.