Game theory and its applications

Having read a little bit about game theory, it didn't take me long to find Stanford University had a course running on Coursera and I was quick to sign up. I am glad I did as the course was in its last week and I just had enough time to download all the video they have uploaded.

I am not going to sit through the whole course and undertake all the sessions, reviews and assignments. Instead, I will view all the video lectures at my leisure over the Christmas break building a foundation of knowledge to apply in future business endeavours.

Designing and implementing strategy is one of the joys of management, for the bulk of us, this is achieved through small business management and entrepreneurial activities such as start-up business enterprises.

Most of us are unable to rise to leadership of large corporation, this is a pretty tight and well-connected market that the majority of us can only dream about. For the majority of us, we are employed in mid-tier positions if we are lucky and shop floor level in our younger years.

Game theory has been described as the study of conflict and cooperation with the concepts of game theory formulating, analysing, implementing and evaluating strategic interactions between interdependent individuals, groups and firms.

The mathematical foundations and internal consistency of game theory ensures this remains a prime tool for modeling for the design of automated decision-making processes in interactive and complex business environments.

Factors of production and variable costs

Factors of production include resources that may be defined as inputs, primarily consisting of land, labour and capital to produce an output, for all express purposes to produce a finished product.

This may be defined as value adding as the raw materials are improved at stages along the length of the process. Entrepreneurship is the process of starting and managing the business process adding value whilst undertaking risk to generate a profit.

A primary resource such as iron ore is mined in Western Australia, contrary to what many people think, a high degree of technology is utilised in the mining process. The ore is then stockpiled on site where the primary product undertakes primary finishing.

This involves crushing the raw ore to fines and mixing and blending grades of ore. The crushed product is loaded onto trains and transported to ports on the coast for shipping internationally to mills.

Fixed costs may include mining leases, milling costs and shipping via train and marine. To a degree, milling and screening costs are relatively fixed as with shipping via train and bulk ore carrier.

The cost of a crew for the train or ship is the same regardless of whether the train and ship are half full or fully loaded, increasingly these modes of transport require minimal crew.

The process of mining is very equipment intensive, no longer do men physically dig rocks, instead large scale machinery is utilised; as such, I am grouping machine mining into the labour component.

To increase productivity, larger more efficient machines are utilised, a variable input. In order to dig and load ore more effectively, no further personnel are required to operate a larger more efficient digging machine although operating and maintenance costs usually increase.

Technology gains have allowed the manufacture of larger machines, it is inefficient to merely increase the number of smaller machines due to congestion, access to ore haul roads.

Utilising the optimal size and number of digging machines and trucks, the cost curve slopes downward until diminishing returns cause an upkick in the curve from inefficiencies.

The raw ore is loaded onto larger trucks for transport to the primary crusher, once again, productivity is improved by larger trucks although only one driver per machine is used.

Increasingly, trucks are now becoming autonomous being driven via computer in Perth, trains will be next when union opposition is overcome with the loading facilities using minimal staff.

Even with autonomous truck design, only one driver is required, costs are reduced as although the technology initially costs more to design and implement but is achieved through wages and living in in remote areas with the costs involved.

The ore is then carried by conveyor belt through a series of crushers that progressively crush the ore to various sizes before screening and stockpiling. The ore is delivered to international mills where the primary milled ore is fed into furnaces and converted to steel.

The finished steel is then sold to produce products such as automobiles, bridges, mining equipment and crushing plants. At all stages of the process, the raw product been improved and value added.

Italian cafés

I love the Italian espresso bar, you walk in, place your order and your espresso is delivered to you immediately - no messing around.

You lean up against the bar and drink your coffee whilst standing and chatting to a friend or group of friends and you are on your way. That doesn't mean you have to gulp your coffee down, you are given a reasonable time to drink and I have never seen anyone pressured or moved on.

Want to have a larger coffee for longer? No problems, there are tables and chairs available, these however come at a greater cost. You want some food, no problems as snacks are available. I believe the Italian cafe has plenty of character, great espresso coffee and you don't need to burn up too precious time.

Employed as a technical coordinator

After a successful career in training and assessment, I decided to undertake a return to industry initiative to reacquaint myself with the real world of mobile mining equipment maintenance instead of just discussing it in a classroom setting.

But in all honesty, my decision was mostly get out of la la land that the public sector has become. All of a sudden I was applying the knowledge and skills I learnt during my business studies, it felt like a huge awakening - I feel empowered.

I was already paid at the highest rate in my government training role, this I achieved through a highly competitive merit selection process that involved a high failure rate. I achieved both levels in minimum time on first attempts - pretty much unheard of based on my observations in this particular workplace.

I believe this experience equipped me to perform the role of coordinator; however, this is an unusual role as I have supervisory duties as an expat. I wasn't not even sure what a coordinator's duties were as they run parallel to the national workforce.

I know what I did all day though, I was busy throughout the day but I don't think it is exactly as the job description stated and activity without results is actually rather meaningless. Really, what I’m doing is a technical adviser, that suits me fine as a coordinator's role should be all about getting results.

Cleaning out the deadwood - no chance

Having been employed in the state government for a considerable time frame, I have seen firsthand the government sector mentality and work ethic. Based on my observations, motivating these employees is a difficult task, sometimes punishment is the best option.

Work ethic ha ha, that's a good one. All I have seen is a lack of accountability, the ability to shirk responsibility, take credit for other people's work whilst actually dodging work, create a toxic work environment and become professional YouTube viewers.

What you cannot do is clean out the deadwood, this is an almost impossible task. I have seen pretty much two management styles, one is an anything goes laissez faire attitude where people do as they please.

The other style is the authoritarian micro-manager that drives the motivated workers mad sapping their energy and enthusiasm by relentless scrutiny. I have never been a fan of the micro-manager, to my way of thinking, all it does is de-motivates high performers.

So what is the answer? My belief is you pick the worst performing employee in terms of attitude, motivation and output and drive them hard. Give them the opportunity to improve and if they won't comply then transfer them to another section.

The motivated employees can be guided by a delegation style, set the requirements and leave them pretty much to their own devices. Check up on them on a regular basis by giving them the support they need to achieve their agreed upon goals.

Make an example of the non-performers, this sends a very clear message to the rest of the workforce. Likewise, the performers are rewarded with the best assignments, conditions and rosters. If your efforts are going to be rewarded then why wouldn't you put in the effort?

However, the less motivated are invited to increase their workload and output, make sure everyone knows this isn't an exclusive club that is only open to friends and followers. You earn your membership, if you perform then you are rewarded.

The deadwood are faced with a decision, no longer can they do bugger all and get away with it. They are going to face increased scrutiny and be made accountable; they have a choice, they will be rewarded for increased effort or face increased direct supervision and accountability.

No longer will the lazy non-performers be rewarded with the lightest workloads whilst the performers are required to pick up the slack. All too often in the government I see the lazy individuals have and easy ride. If you want to clean out the deadwood then make them accountable.

A rough touchdown

Sitting in the centre aisle seat tapping away on my Samsung tablet, I wasn't paying much attention to my surrounding environment. I was taking only a few glances out of the window of the Ethiopian Airlines 787 Dreamliner as we came into Changi Airport - boy, was I in for a shock.

We touched the tarmac with a large jolt, that certainly got everyone’s attention - it got mine. It was raining as we dropped through the clouds so it is difficult to see even out of even the larger Dreamliner windows. Despite surrounded by cloud until the last moment, I should have been paying better attention.

I always leave my seatbelt on just loosely when flying and tighten it for just take-off and landing. This time I forgot, as the aircraft skidded on the wet runway as the pilot applied the brakes remarkably hard. I shot forward into the seat in front; needless to say, I was starting to regret my inattention to my seat belt adjustment.

Still, no damage sustained, my head didn't slam into the seatback so I learned my lesson, pay attention to safety issues. The rough touchdown should have been an indicator of what was to come, I was surprised when I shouldn't have been. I am a frequent flyer so this should have been no surprise to me.

Back in the mining industry

I have been out of the mining industry for around fourteen years, I had enough of being sent away for extended periods and was looking forward to being home every night. I could go to the football in winter, sail in summer and spend time at the family holiday house just south of Perth.

I enjoyed my time away from the industry I spent more than a decade in, but it was time to step back into my former employment. What I learned is I wasn't as up to date with current industry practices and knowledge as I had hoped although as I already had a solid foundation, it didn't take long to get back to speed.

Sure, I had to live away from home in remote areas, I had to be dictated to in just about every facet of life. I was back to the regimented life getting out of bed early, eating at a mess and limiting alcohol intake due to daily employment checks on the breathalyzer.

I actually enjoyed re-engaging the mining lifestyle, I was living on a new continent with new cultures to learn and immerse myself in. Sure, there was a language issue to overcome, this particular site was dual French/English but we had enough English speakers to get the message across.

An overseas assignment is an excellent way to return to the mining industry. I am happy with where I am in my life right now, I don't really need the money but I have no complaints, the extra income is appreciated and I am enjoying the challenges.

An interest in organisational development

I am interested in organisational development from both an academic and practitioner stand point. My time as a college lecturer was heavily skewed towards gaining the experience to utilise my knowledge and skills to move to the next position, it took a year post MBA but now I’m moving forward again.

After thirteen years, there wasn't much more I needed to learn in my position; I was going backwards in terms of experience, industry knowledge and motivation. I was picking up a salary but I wasn't engaged; in such a scenario, it is better to get out than continue. That is exactly what I did.

When you invest in your education, if the company that employs you doesn't want to promote you then the decision is simple. Invest your time and effort into an organisation that both acknowledges and rewards your output. I always believe that if your current employer doesn't reward your qualifications and experience, then it is time to seek enhanced employment opportunities elsewhere.

I am told so many times that a company doesn't owe you a living. Ok, I am fine with that as long as staff members don't try to tell me that I owe the company any loyalty. This is because loyalty is earned, this a reciprocal deal. The company must demonstrate exactly the same loyalty as they demand - an equal partnership exists.

This is rarely the case, as soon as a business downturn occurs workers get laid off en mass. You are merely a commodity to be traded, you are selling labour to the company and they are pretty quick to eliminate a labour cost once demand for your knowledge and expertise wanes.

So now I am back in the private sector as a organisational development practitioner, this entails a fair degree of on-the-job training to minimise time lost from work, training structured to specific workplace requirements, embedding learning, greater retention with the hands on approach creating value within the organisation.

Corona Extra

As one of the top selling beers worldwide, is Corona Extra a decent beer? I don't think so, it is certainly a fashionable beer, people seem to like it and people are certainly happy to purchase Corona Extra.

I really don't get why either a lime or lemon slice is jammed down the neck of the bottle. It certainly makes the beer taste nicer adding some tartness, but does any other beer producer require a citrus wedge to improve the drink? I know of no other beer served in such a manner and I can't say I much like the beer if a lemon or lime wedge isn't thrust down the neck.

Departing Lubumbashi

It was a feat in crisis management and organisation, firstly receiving my passport back after nine weeks of inept handling of my work visa application. After so many delays I was moving again so I was glad to just be mobile, so I have no complaints at all - none whatsoever.

I missed multiple international flights and had to take a domestic flights without my passport, l was issued a letter of travel from the immigration department allowing me to get as far as Lubumbashi where my passport would be returned to me.

How can I describe Lubumbashi International Airport? Mayhem - it is certainly that; disorganised - absolutely. There was pushing, shoving and line jumping but all the touts, I was caught up trying to get to the check-in counter - if you could call it that.

There was a computer but it couldn't enter my frequent flier details. There were no electronic scales or conveyor belt taking checked-in luggage to a secure area. The tout took my bags and shoved them in the corner with all the other bags.

After I was handed by luggage tags, I wandered over to the corner and attached my luggage tags. Needless to say, this was not a secure area and there was no security personnel attached. This is not a secure airport, this has international flights operating and there is no system, it is not difficult to slip unsecured items on this aircraft.

Alternates to an MBA

I often ask myself how many styles of MBAs are on offer? The leading formats are full-time, part-time, executive, global & international and finally online versions all priced for different market segments.

Then there are general MBA programs or you can choose from specialised programs in management, finance, marketing, human resources, operations, entrepreneurship, accounting, supply chain management, information systems, accounting and media/communications.

No longer does a candidate have to undertake a full-time two-year course losing two years of income and other opportunity costs - there are now plenty of options.

The ambitious career orientated individuals considering an MBA may also seek alternative options to full-time business school but might not be just related to part-time and executive MBA courses.

Top business schools are running short intense customised programs specialising in leadership, strategy, value creation, strategic innovation, communication and technology.

The online courses from Stanford Online, HarvardX, Cousera, edX and a host of business schools provide excellent online content in short courses.

For me, the obvious choice would be to engage in entrepreneurship; there are of course entrepreneurship specialisations and the real purpose of an MBA was to prepare professionals for a broad business education.

Developing an idea into a start-up business is very rewarding and can start as an idea generated in an entrepreneurship class or even during a case study presentation.

Gaining a specialised master's degree in a business related field such as logistics, operations, accounting, finance, human resources or strategy gives the candidate the opportunity further excel in their chosen field. They tend not to carry the premium that a fully fledged MBA costs.

Project management is a growing field but I have always felt an individual needs to have a technical background and only then learning management as their specialisation. Leadership is also a growing area but I never thought much of specialising in the area.

Potential candidates have the opportunity to enroll in an undergraduate bachelor program such as a Bachelor of Commerce or Bachelor of Business but I still view the Master of Business Administration as the ultimate business qualification that carries more weight.

Espresso at Binar Warung

Another of these great little Ubud coffee house is Binar Warung, not far from our cottages, this is just a small establishment well off the main streets.

The staff were nice, once they had seen us head in a couple of times they were even more welcoming. After breakfast, this was first stop heading out to wander around Ubud so we could burn a little time in the morning.

On the way home in the evening, Binar Warung was the final stop for the night. A quick espresso is an excellent way to complete the day. Unlike the much longer stopover in the morning where I work work on a few posts, the evening espresso was exactly that, an espresso and home.

Visa dramas

What a disaster my two-year work visa for the Democratic Republic of Congo turned out to be, in what should have been a simple process, this turned out to be a monumental stuff-up.

On my first day of work I handed my passport to the company representative to be sent to Kinshasa, this apparently happened as per their procedures. I followed their procedures exactly, I made sure there was no delays or hold-ups on my part.

However, the next step is where it all went wrong, instead of forwarding my application along with my passport to immigration officials they sent it back to site. Of course, I was not informed of these changes at all, I was none the wiser and thought everything was progressing exactly as it should.

Naturally, I followed up via emails and telephone calls to be told everything is ok - clearly they lied to me. The process is supposed to take six to eight weeks so I pushed a little harder after six weeks. As the deadline approached I followed up more closely, I was still unaware serious problems had arisen.

With only a week to go, I was becoming a little more vocal, I demanded answers as I had not had my passport returned and I wasn't flying without that all important document. As I found out, I couldn't even board the company jet for domestic flights without my passport.

As it transpired, no passport and still no visa. So my passport was pulled early and I received a three month working visa. Still, I couldn't fly because the day of the flight there was still no passport but I was able to able to step on the company jet with a special identification letter to fly internally.

I had to spend days of my leave sitting around in a guest house in Lumumbashi, fly the long route and lo se three days of my leave. I was exhausted as I got all the centre seats in the centre aisle as I was booked on last minute flights. The first days back on leave were a total washout as I was tired and sick. I never want to do this again.