White Levi's T shirts

I was pretty amazed, kicking around in Europe was young women wearing white Levi’s t shirts with the red logo brazing across the front.

As a Gen X, we all wore Levi's in our youth - that is pretty much what you wore where I grew up. We wore them to school, we wore them out for leisure and yes we wore denim jackets with denim jeans. So I was pretty surprised to see the young set embracing this mature brand.

I have read Gen Y are ignoring the brands worn by their parents, that’s understandable. This is a trend I am seeing more of; the younger generation are wearing their parent’s brands and listening to the music of Gen X. I reckon this is a great trend, the white T shirt with Levi’s brand on the front is a pretty decent fashion trend.

What is a numpty?

A numpty is described as a stupid or ineffectual person that acts foolish or idiotic and is a Scottish word. In the context where I use the word numpty, it is when a person receives an honorary position within a business that hasn’t met merit selection criteria in a formal process. 

The employment standard in the Western Australian Public Sector establishes the minimum standard of merit when filling a vacancy. The merit principle requires employment decisions to be based on merit where a competitive field is established where knowledge, skills and abilities are assessed to a standard.

The equity principle requires employment decisions to be free from bias, nepotism and patronage. Patronism is a practice embedded in business where personal relations is required for promotion. Powerful people within an organisation determine or influence decisions based on their own interests.

So, in a state government organisation, any internal promotions that don’t meet merit selection and equity principles result in the informal or formal promotion of a numpty. Should this individual receive personal financial benefits then corruption has occurred and it is the duty of senior employees to report this situation.

The Lonesome Jubilee - John Mellencamp

It was a mistake I vowed not to repeat, John Mellencamp was supporting his 1987 album The Lonesome Jubilee with a concert tour.

I was down the shed working away on Sunday afternoon refurbishing a cylinder head and the radio announcer was raving about how great the concert at the Perth Entertainment Centre was. John Mellencamp played the The Lonesome Jubilee tour Friday and Saturday nights on the 9th and 10th of April 1988 and I missed it - I was full of regret.

All my friends wanted to do was the same thing every Friday and Saturday night, that didn't interest me and I was looking to change my life, that happened in 1989, the year I completed my apprenticeship. I graduated to a tradesman and opportunities presented allowing me to move away from Perth. Moving to remote areas, my social life plummeted and I lived a mining existence as Western Australia is a huge land mass with next to no population.

Back in the 1990s we were not on the family friendly rosters that workers now enjoy, I was working away on long rosters, it was really very different to current work rosters. I was drive in/drive out, now most workers enjoy fly in/fly out contracts. So I filled my vehicle up with my belongings driving 600 km east to Kalgoorlie before heading a further 410 km north to Bellevue mine site.

So I had limited belongings packed into my ute, that included just 10 CDs owing with The Lonesome Jubilee making the cut. When you only have a handful of albums to listen to, you learn each and every song, you want to learn the story of the song. John Mellencamp is described as heartland rock, I love his mid-west background and his songs of middle America - he has my attention.

The challenge of leadership

Building on Jime's ideals on leadership, a manager is a title and work function; it is nothing more than a role - leadership is so much more. The challenge of leadership is to influence the team in a positive and productive manner.

The challenge of leadership is to provide purpose to team members by setting achievable goals, also providing direction when required and the motivation to achieve team goals. 

We spend a great deal of our lives at work, what team members do not need is an arrogant and self-centered manager who makes work miserable for all involved. 

Instead, businesses need leaders who make work both fun and productive so that people are happy to show up day in day out - then they earn the respect of their peers.

Embracing the online MBA

Do employers view the online Master of Business Administration as any less an advanced degree than full-time institutional MBAs? Feedback from employers is online students are impressive insofar as they maintain current business knowledge and implement contemporary practices in the workplace whilst they undertake their MBA studies - so the answer is no.

The method of study matters little as compared to the quality of the program, online MBA programs utilise the same content as institutional MBAs. What students miss out on is the face-to-face networking opportunities and the ability to engage in face-to-face teamwork whilst undertaking case studies possibly limiting verbal communication skills.

However, this is balanced by the tendency by companies engaging virtual teams due to the increased utilisation of technology in the workplace; this is mirrored in the online MBA delivery embracing technology. Online students actively engaged in the workplace hold high levels of commercial awareness intimately understanding actual workplace challenges and issues.

Major universities and business schools have all embraced technology as a means to deliver effective tertiary education. Workplace experience counts, previously MBA candidates have about three years work experience with executive MBAs holding ten years or more experience in senior leadership positions.

The average age and experience of online MBA students is higher resulting in richer learning experiences for all students to take into account. An online MBA lacks networking opportunities but is a cost effective method to gain a business education. 

Strategy in Practice - George Tovstiga

Kicking around Changi Airport in Singapore between flights, I always love to check out the business books section of Terminal 3. A publication that took my interest was Strategy in Practice by George Tovstiga.

The Singaporeans are a pretty business minded bunch; Singapore has been the economic miracle of South East Asia for some time now so a strategy book is going to be a popular read in Singapore.

The study of business strategy along with associated textbooks is somewhat similar in nature. We all pretty much study the same theory no matter what institution you are enrolled. It could be argued the difference between the top flight business schools is not learning materials but relationships formed through peer to peer interactions.

We will all spend our evenings going over SWOT analysis, Porter's five forces, Porter's generic strategies, value chain analysis, competitive advantage, the resource based view of the firm, VRIO analysis and core competence.

Whilst not a text book per se, George Tovstiga views strategy from a different perspective than that of standard reference texts. Strategy is not new, the ancient Greeks coined the term and applied such processes in their military campaigns and this book offers perspectives not covered in standard texts.

The author is a professor of strategy and innovation management instructing advanced level courses for MBA programs at the Henley Business School at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

I not only referenced this text during courses, I found it to be a pretty handy reference citing passages a number of times and I reckon pretty easy to read. Well worth looking at if you want something different from a standard text book.

A late lunch at the Breakwater Tavern

Getting out and about on a warm winter day in Perth, you get these days where the sky is clear, there is little to no wind and the temperature is 23 C. This was one of these winter days so I wasn't going to waste it.

So, I decided to drive up the coast from Scarborough Beach, driving up the hill along West Coast Highway allows some pretty decent ocean views. Then we need to cut inland for a section losing the view before heading West Coast Drive towards Hillarys Boat Harbour.

The Breakwater Tavern is located right on the water, suspended on piles above the water in the boat harbour, this is an excellent bar above the water. I don't mind a drink and a meal in the afternoon, I like to go here when the sun is shining and I never go there at night.