Good Management Circa 1812
There is no question that the Napoleonic wars in Europe in the early 1800s stressed the community of states at the time. Great Britain, for instance, needed to crew their ships with experienced sailors. She had a problem, however, called the cat-o-nine tails. Do something wrong (sleep late, curse at the wrong time, etc.) and, on many royal ships, you could expect a whipping that might be life threatening. Once a crew realized that it served a captain capable of whipping for simple offenses, the ship's population was likely to abandon ship at the next port. Can't blame sailors when you think about it. The navy had a plan, however. Whenever they came upon an American ship, especially a freighter, they'd stop the ship and take back anyone they suspected of deserting. Then the cycle would begin again. Yes, Parliament realized they had a problem in the Navy. They debated it in depth. A famous captain, Thomas Cochrane (Daughn, 17), even testified in Parliament to the brutality of the navy. It didn't do much good. The brutality continued.
Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey novels popularize Thomas Cochrane. Aubrey runs his ship sternly, yes, but equitably. A special captain who loves the heat of battle, his crew admired him for his fairness and his agressiveness against the enemy. A captured ship was worth a fortune when sold, a fortune the crew shared in. Aggression was good. So was fairness. Aubrey, Lucky Jack Aubrey in the novels, was skilled at sailing, aggressive against the enemy (America in some of the story, and France in other parts), and successful at capturing bountiful prizes.
In modern business parlance, we might say that Aubrey had experience and talent. He was able to apply his skills successfully against his competition. His team won, the Navy won, and so did his country. Not a bad combination.
References
Daughn, George C. 1812. The Navy's War. Basic Books. 2011.
O'Brian, Patrick. Master and Commander. W. W. Norton & Company. 1970.