Malaysian Airlines - what's going on?

As Malaysia Airline lunches from one disaster to another, their latest fiasco not carrying checked-in luggage pretty much summed up their management process. Their decision to not allow checked-in baggage to Europe citing strong headwinds jeopardising the aircraft's ability to reach European cities - even with a full fuel load.

In the past two years, Malaysian Airlines lost one aircraft with 239 passengers and crew on board disappearing possibly in the Indian Ocean, previously shot down by a missile over Ukraine killing all 298 people on board. Furthermore, Malaysian Airlines had its website hacked, pulled an advertising campaign that was seen as insensitive and filed the wrong flight plan on a journey from New Zealand.

Malaysia Airlines once again made headlines in December when a flight departing Auckland flying to Kuala Lumpur took-off in the wrong direction because air traffic control due to an incorrect flight plan being logged. Malaysian Airlines has a credibility issue, making such dumb decisions does not increase their ability to attract customers - it turns them away.

Bombay Sapphire East

Ever since the introduction of Bombay Sapphire gin, I have been a big fan of this brand. I was recently surprised walking through a bottle shop to come across a bottle of the latest reincarnation of Bombay Sapphire East with two added ingredients of black peppercorn and lemongrass.

Etched into the left side of the bottle is the ten key ingredients of juniper berries, grains of paradise, lemon peel, cubeb berries, corriander, cassia bark, angelica, almonds, orris root and liquorice. The right side etching has Thai lemongrass and Vietnamese black peppercorn, the exotic flavours giving the extra bite to the eastern variance of this excellent gin. I enjoy Bombay Sapphire East mixed with Schweppes Indian tonic water in a simple gin & tonic with a slice of lime on the highball glass.

A modern day millionaire

Is a million dollars a big deal anymore? A millionaire is considered a person with net assets exceeding a million dollars in their own currency. However, owing to the vagaries of international currency exchange; being a millionaire could be a little less attractive in Indonesian Rupiah, Philippine Peso, Malaysian Ringgit or even worse; the hyper-inflation of the Zimbabwean dollar. 

This doesn't necessarily make you rich by international standards. Measuring wealth against a reserve currency such as the US dollar or the Euro establishes a common base. I have read that ten million US households have a net worth of one million or more, these households have been coined everyday millionaires. These days, to be considered rich, you need a net value of seven and a half million dollars - ouch. 

Yet these families don't tend to live the lavish lifestyles associated with the classic millionaire jetset. One could argue they are everyday millionaires living in your neighbourhood or across the road; they could be your neighbour and keep their wealth well concealed. 

For many, they derived their wealth from higher than average salaries, prudent investment strategies, hyper-saving or frugal spending habits. They tend to have worked hard to gain financial security and tend to not lead a life of indulgence as they feel they have worked hard for their money and don't want to blow it on frivolous and outrageous spending. 

That is usually the domain of the nouveau rich, often viewed by old money as prudish, vulgar and outlandish. I tend to disagree, this derogatory term is in itself an arrogant view held by the privileged few engaging in conspicuous consumption, they earned their money - they didn't inherit it.

Further acts of cowardice in Brussels

Following the Paris terrorist attack in November, cowardly Islamic State terrorists have struck again in the Belgium capital of Brussels - the defacto capital of the EU. The bombs, loaded with ball bearings, nails and bolts to cause maximum damage to human life did exactly that. What I don't understand is why? I understand that certain factions of the Muslim world are unhappy with the Western world After all, the Western world has flourished whilst many nations of Islam are mired in infighting and depression.

The two suicide bombers are seen walking along side the bomb-maker in the airport just before the blast. They look calm and relaxed before detonating their vests; the bomb-maker makes his escape whilst innocent people are maimed and murdered - there is no doubt he was there to witness the destruction first-hand.

Ok, so you feel solidarity with the Muslim world, instead of fighting and further destroying this earth, why not do something constructive and work to build the nations of the middle east to restore the past glories of the Islamic world. Instead these pathetic weak-minded and disaffected losers work to destroy the civilization that opened itself for them - useless.  

Getting into Amway

As a young guy, I got involved in Amway. I was an apprentice diesel mechanic who became involved through my friend's through work. They were older than me and wanted to achieve their financial goals so I was happy hanging with an older crowd motivated to their family and getting ahead. 

I wasn't successful in the Amway world, I couldn't sign anyone up as nobody was interested in taking business advice from a seventeen year old who had achieved nothing. That didn't matter to me, I went to all their meetings, conferences and symposiums, yet I was unable to sign anyone to increase my distributorship channels.

What I learnt about motivation, business and goal setting still helps me today. I started reading books like The Magic of Thinking Big, The Richest Man in Babylon and How to Win Friends and Influence People - not a bad reading list for a seventeen year old. Whilst I never succeeded in the Amway world, what I learnt helped me in life to not only set and achieve goals. 

I wanted to be involved in a small business and this helped me reach my financial goals. I learned about generating a passive income, to build personal relationships and business structures. What I learnt through interacting with Amway helped me to succeed in other areas - this was a great learning experience.   

Hiring a PADI Course Director

You own or manage a dive centre and you want to offer the widest possible experiences for your divers. Since you want to offer the full spectrum of courses, that means running at least a couple of instructor development courses per year. So you have a decision to make and you decide to go out and hire a contract course director, do you hire a contract only basis or recruit a full time course director on staff?

Contract course directors can be unreliable, discourteous and may not work in the best interests of the business - that is contracting their services to provide customer value. So, you make a decision to hire a course director on salary as a valued staff member. As they are usually the most experienced instructor and highest ranking instructor on the team, they normally take the role of training manager to coordinate dive training activities.

The first attribute of a course director you will encounter will be one of arrogance; they don't want to conduct open water courses, fill tanks or wash and assemble equipment. Well I have shock for staff course directors; if you are not conducting instructor development courses then you are an open water instructor and you are expected to work in a manner consistent of an open water instructor.

Likewise, the course director is paid accordingly; consistent with their greater experience and knowledge - I expect exceptional equipment knowledge and sales. Continuing education sales is a skill all course directors should process and their potential to drive continuing education sales must begin with entry-level divers, that means conducting open water courses. 

Now, many course directors see entry-level courses as beneath them, but this is exactly where you need your most experienced instructors. Less experienced instructors can be tasked with advanced and rescue courses, these are already your customers and an advanced course, despite the name, it is less skill intensive.

I believe you pay a course director a similar base rate as an open water instructor: however, you offer sales performance incentives for equipment and continuing education. That doesn't mean the exact same rate as a new instructor they have just taught, it can be a sliding scale based on experience and skills but a similar rate. When they run an instructor development course, the course director is paid the course fee, that is their incentive rewarding their commitment to progressing their skills and qualifications. 

The provision is the candidates purchase all their course materials through the shop, this is the shop's cut. Costs such as airfills, pool fees or boat hire are a cost that come out of the course fee and reduce the course director's profit; these are general fixed and variable costs. I don't believe in charging the course director a facility fee for classrooms, although that is a legitimate fee; you do expect to make this up on equipment sales, naturally, the course director receives their commission on these sales too.  

You need to be clear, they are only a course director when conducting instructor development courses - any other times, they are an open water instructor and are paid accordingly. I would never hire a full-time course director again, I would only hire via contract to conduct two instructor development courses per year and keep a trusted instructor on staff lacking the course director attitude. 

Why Britz is an unethical organisation

Britz camper vans have serious ethical issues - in short, they represent all that is wrong with contemporary capitalism. It is, by most measures - crony capitalism. 

As a consumer, I was dismayed at my treatment from both Britz management and frontline staff. The organisational incompetence is appalling; from the moment I entered this poorly managed business, I should have recognised this is not the way a client focused client organisation operates. They are arseholes, you can't describe them any other way - they really do have no boundaries. 

What really annoys me is I stopped an employee from putting out an electrical fire with a water hose on the direct orders of the duty manager, I forced them to call the fire brigade instead. The same manager then charged my credit card for excess insurance under the guise of a purchase authorisation. 

I expected this to be refunded when the vehicle was returned by the clients undamaged, yet Britz management informed me they were keeping the deposit after finally getting them to reply to me. Britz management think so little about their customers that they treat them this way. But when you show such disregard to your employees entrusted to your care - this is what you would expect from Britz.  

The Twenty/20 revival of cricket

Some cricket purists lament Twenty20 cricket, I love test match cricket but I reckon T20 has a huge future. Test cricket is the ultimate test of bat and ball, a team has to build a total and bowl the opposition team out twice, the five allotted days of a test match requires patience and skill.

Domestic T20 has huge potential, sure international players are brought in to add big player appeal, they also bring expertise that fringe players in the team are exposed to. This brings opportunity, possibly some fringe players who had lacked opportunity are given the chance to play in front of the big crowds that the big bash league provides. 

The MCG recently hosted 80,000 in front of a Melbourne Stars v Melbourne Renegades inter-city rivalry, the women played first game early in the day that provided us viewers with a last over victory. At the beginning of their innings, the stands were close to empty, that changed as the game progressed. By the time Renegades came to bat, the crowd had swelled to nearly 15,000 in anticipation of the men's game later in the evening. This was a great double header that provides exposure to not only the women's BBL teams, the men's team benefits by the franchise system.  

An entrepreneur or unemployable?

My working life is somewhat mixed in terms of employers, I have worked either directly or indirectly for a number of large business enterprises. I have also been employed both part time and full time intermittently by small business, I have owned and operated a couple of small business enterprises working as a sub-contractor on most occasions. This is a less stable form of employment offering flexible working arrangements and greater potential for short term remuneration.

All in all, I would consider myself a skilled company worker, that is, in all respects an employee. To do this, I needed to not only gain entry level skills and knowledge, I needed to constantly learn on-the-job updating skills and knowledge vital to my employer's needs.

When I look at an entrepreneur, I see a person not only willing to take risks, I see the generation of new ideas, products, processes and ultimately the creation of employment driving the economy. Entrepreneurial activity must be encouraged by government to attract both small and medium enterprises and their benefit to economic development.

Many people are scornful of small business owners in respect to the success they have gained, my personal views are they deserve any financial success they may have achieved. Entrepreneurial activity drives the economy, small to medium business enterprises are a major employer of people driving the economy.

That being said, most entrepreneurs tend to make lousy employees, I know this because working for a number of entrepreneurial types, they tended to be the ideas type while I looked at operational issues. They would come up with an idea sketched out on a scrap of paper or drawn up on a white board, I would then throw a costing together to see if the idea is viable, an operational plan, logistics and any other foreseeable issues.

From what I have noticed, the entrepreneurial types seem to be big picture strategic types whilst I tend to concentrate on the mechanics of the proposal. I have very much an operational mindset, this can be a very good partnership, a creative thinker teaming up with a functional thinker covering a broad spectrum.

But why do entrepreneurial types tend to not work well in existing companies? It is my belief the creative mind does not work well in a contemporary setting as the creative person seeks to expand the scope of the job, not working well in existing boundaries or tied down by group norms or established principles of operation. In short, the creative person tends to push the frontiers to exceed the limits of job or project.

You really do need a back-up plan

Ms Elizabeth Holmes in my opinion was wrong in her address to Stanford University, you really do need a back-up plan as contingency planning works. Elizabeth once stated "The minute you admit you have a back-up plan, you've admitted you're not going to succeed."

Elizabeth, a darling of the Silicon Valley biotech start-up brigade is suddenly under intense pressure to perform and release details of the technology. After dropping out of Stanford University as a 19 year old and founding Theranos, a manufacturer of finger pricking vials that perform a range of blood tests without the need for a nurse to collect a sample, the venture capitalists are concerned.

Wall Street financiers are now reeling after the nanotainer collection devices with 261 of the 262 claimed tests temporarily halted after a Wall Street Journal investigation claimed the nanotainer technology is flawed. Elizabeth may need a back-up plan after all, this doesn't mean she has not succeeded, it just means that the business needs to change its trajectory to reconnect with financiers and keep the market informed of technological advances including set-backs.

The Dunlop Volley tennis shoe

I couldn't believe they were still for sale in department stores; the 70s classic tennis shoe, the Dunlop Volley is still for sale in Australia and seems to be making somewhat of a fashion comeback.

I actually love this canvas and rubber soled shoe; not for tennis though, I wear them sailing. As a cheap boat shoe that gets knocked around, exposed to the Western Australia sun during summer and immered in salt water week in and week out, you just can't beat them.

Some members of the crew are getting around in $250 boat shoes to get grip on the deck, mine usually cost $10, but my last pair was $7 and on sale they can be picked up for $5.

When they start to smell after a race, I hose they off with fresh water and leave them in the back yard ready for duty next weekend. The flat rubber soles offer excellent grip on a wet and slippery deck, you have no fear getting them wet or knocking them around and they are not only robust, they are so easily replaceable and always see the season out.

Ok, so you are making an anti-fashion statement showing up at the yacht club in time-warped 70s fashion. I prefer to view myself as anti-establishment; the epitome of retro-chic, but at that price, I won't be replacing them anytime soon.

What a mess

I love having an old man who speaks his mind, there are times he might make the odd inappropriate remark but his insights more than makes up for his indiscretions.

I had people living with me, on one trip at the last moment he told me his girlfriend was coming along too. This normally isn't a problem but since he would be staying half a year, it could be uncomfortable if I didn't get along with her, after all - it was sight unseen.

It didn't take me long to work out she was a pain in the arse, now it was time to count down until she left. So when we came home with me after being out for lunch and my place looked like a bomb had gone off, his first words out of his mouth were "what a mess!!!" 

It is really disrespectful to stay at someone's house for no charge and make a mess of everything, I don't want to work all day and come home to a mess caused by a person sitting around doing nothing all day.

The second year she came back I was surprised to see she was quite pregnant; once again, I received no prior warning she would be having the baby when she was in Australia - great. Now I would have a new born baby living at my place, this is not what I wanted.

Still, that is what I ended up with so my place was left in a mess from a 22 year old who had spent her whole life sponging off people, she never had a real job and never earned a dollar in her life.

She had done some baby sitting for people so she would argue she had worked, but then again I have done baby-sitting before and not earned a cent in income so I don't see baby-sitting as a job when I do it for free.

At 22, never getting up to head off for work is really lazy, the commute, a boss that rides you, workmates that are indifferent, stress, workplace injury and then payment for your efforts so you can pay your bills so you can do it all again next week.

But as the non-employed; it would be unusual to see her out of bed before 11 am. In her defense, she did cook evening dinners and wash the dishes up.

But how could a wannabe housewife be totally unable to wash dishes without chipping every plate and cup I owned? She broke every crystal glass I had, those things are expensive so the question needs be be asked.

Is she so unskilled that she can wash a dish without damage or was she so disrespectful to the person that was housing her for free that she damaged my property out of spite?

I have never chipped a dish of cup, I treat these objects carefully because I calculate how much work I have to perform in after tax hours to pay for such objects.

But then again, her partner who was then my business partner fled the country and left all the bills of the business for me to pay. I have to live here and I have the ethics to pay my bills and not run away - I understand where she gets her cues from.

Trump University

Yes, there really was a Trump University. Now known as the Trump Entrepreneurship Initiative, this online learning business is not a university or college and does not award a bachelor degree.

The learning programs centre around real estate, well Donald made his money from real estate after all. There is also wealth creation, asset management and naturally entrepreneurship.

I still have problems differentiating between a university and college in the United States. I know of the community college model running in the United States, that is a pretty good college model and more aligned to trade school.

From watching American movies, I have learned that all high school students aspire to a college education and then head off to a university so I guess this is more of a common usage issue.

From what I have determined, a university offers full undergraduate and post graduate programs involving both coursework and research. 

What I do know is the top US universities rank well in international rankings with many being household names. I am more interested in business schools as that has been my area and they rate highly.

A college seems more closely aligned with the polytechnic model that would award a diploma or advanced diploma although that term in the United States is usually reserved for a high school graduate.

For me that is unusual as a diploma awarded in Australia needs to meet a national qualifications framework criteria awarded from a private or state training organisation.

Needless to say, the term university seems to be a tad over-reaching, after a legal battle, Trump University was renamed to the Trump Entrepreneurship Initiative and now does not claim to be something it isn't.

The end of quantitative easing - so what happens now?

Ok, so quantitative easing is coming to an end, but what is this and what does it mean? Quantitative easing is a reasonably unconventional monetary policy tool as opposed to older style government policy where the central bank flooded the economy with newly printed money. But quantitative easing is still likened to printing money in some respects; however, this time a central bank purchases government debt securities from the bond market lowering interest rates and increasing money supply in the economy.

So, quantitative easing increases money supply by flooding bond markets and hence financial institutions with capital increasing liquidity promoting lending between institutions. When the GFC hit in 2007, institutions held onto their capital refusing to lend to other institutions drying up capital flows worldwide. We recently saw in Greece when banks stopped distributing money actually closing their doors for a week or so.

The GFC was a complex financial meltdown primarily caused by interest rates held too low for an extended period during periods of growth where interest rates should have risen to curtail economic activity. So instead, quantitative easing was created to counter periods when short-term interest rates are approaching zero to stimulate lending without the printing of new banknotes and all the problems associated with demand pull inflation.