Year in Review
At this time of year, I like to take some time to reflect on 2018 and the year in review that it was – it’s an opportunity for me to stop, ponder and plan.
I thought you may also enjoy the insights that I have gain first hand as I’ve travelled to various locations around the world (eg: Australia, Middle East, South East Asia) throughout the year on workplace assignments conducting various leadership development programs.
Heading into this year, I recall that I mentioned to my wife over dinner that it’s going to be a “very interesting” year, especially with the slowdown of China spending, Donald Trump as President, Australia with its mining slowdown and the oil reserve shortages in the Middle East.
Needless to say – I wasn’t disappointed.
Although there has been a slowdown in China in regards to growth and expansion, I have found it interesting to observe how discretely and strategically they are buying up land and resources (minerals, food and water stocks) around the world. It is even more interesting when you think that their business mindset usually strategically works 20 to 30 years ahead.
It’s also interesting to see what some of the key world issues are likely to be in the next 50 years such as Water Shortage, Land Shortage, Food Shortage, Oil Shortage – just to name a few. Around the world, I have observed various locations where these resource rich locations have been acquired.
The other interesting factor about China is the low cost of manufacturing and production (i.e. labour rates) and its ability to “knock-off” products and to produce them at a fraction of the cost. The only missing link is “quality”, which is only a minor hurdle in the scheme of things – as it’s only a “learned” process. I recall, saying back in the 1970’s the same thing about Japanese manufacturing of cheap toys and rust bucket motor vehicles. Today, Japan is known for its quality and reliability of products and services.
Did you know that the iconic London Taxi Cab is actually manufactured in China?
All I can say is “Watch this Space” in regards to regards to electric vehicle production when transport vehicles are more driven by technology versus combustion engine.
Basically, China views motor vehicles as nothing more than electric “toasters” and is waiting for driverless vehicle and electric vehicle technology to become a reality over the next 10 years – then, they will truly pounce onto the automotive world stage. Between now and then, they will learn, adapt and improve what others have down. Afterall, why waste time and money on developing old school “combustion” vehicles when you can easily “reverse” engineer what someone else has already invested time and effort into.
Let’s not even talk about telephone and emerging technology – but then again – it’s a fascinating area.
In 2018, Huawei outperformed Apple in terms of units shipped. The Chinese smartphone maker (Huawei) now occupies second place among the world’s smartphone vendors, leaving Apple to tumble into third position – the first time in 7 years. Samsung remains the market leader.
Hmmm…whatever happened to Nokia?
I find the Middle East to be a fascinating destination and location – especially with everything that is happening over there at the moment. There are some amazing changes that are taking place; put aside that Dubai rose from the desert over the past 20 years, it is still having to reinvent itself.
If you ever get stuck in transit, you would want to be stuck at one of two locations in the world – I think. First being Dubai Airport in the UAE with the other being Changi Airport in Singapore.
In 2020, Dubai will be hosting the World Expo, already activities are underway to accommodate this event – including the expansion of the airport. Innovation is a big focus for the region, for example I observed that Dubai is focusing on piloting two innovative transport modes.
One being the testing of a Drone Taxi Service called the Volocopter. The Volocopter would come and autonomously pick you up and take you to your destination. Of course the big challenge will be the dynamic obstacle avoidance of other taxis, building, birds and delivery drones.
Hey….did someone say “Delivery Drones!”
Hmmm, I recall when I was in India thinking that – “Driverless cars would work well in places like Singapore because of their organised road structure and compliance of use.” However, I couldn’t possibly see how a computer algorithms could calculate all of the chaotic variables associated with Indian transportation systems, compliance and mayhem.
The Volocoptor drone had previously been tested Germany. Interestingly, the rival Chinese firm e-Hang was supposed to be the first to launch a fleet of flying taxis in the City if Dubai, but plans appear to have been delayed.
The second innovative transport mode is Elon Musk’s various transportation systems. One being the humble Tesla motor vehicle which Saudi invested $2bn into Tesla. The other being that Elon Musk is offering to Dubai is the 500mph Hyperloop train that will travel from Dubai to Abu Dhabi (150km) in 12 minutes.
Once proven, the Hyperloop could later be expanded to link UAE with neighbouring GULF countries so that the trip to between Dubai and Saudi capital Riyadh – currently two hours by plane – could be completed in under 50 minutes.
Dubai has positioned itself to become the smartest city in the world with ambitions to have self driving vehicles account for a quarter of journeys made by 2030.
Hmmm…I hope China is reading this post!
Other interesting locations in the region that I worked in was Jeddah, a fantastic location that is steeped in cultural traditions. It is also having to “reinvent” itself in order to keep pace and to deal with diminishing oil supplies.
I found that it is starting to “relax” its traditional views to welcome outside visitor into the country. It is also loosening up freedom where Cinema’s are now available to watch selected mainstream movies and women have been given permission to drive.
On saying that, when speaking with the “locals” over there, they mentioned that many women were already driving prior to permission being granted. I was told that you could tell – “By the large SUV’s that had very dark tinted windows including the front windscreen was usually driven by a woman.”
I have to say, it’s worth Googling “Jeddah women driving”, when you do you will see many “images” of smiling and happy faces.
Jeddah in planning to build one of the tallest buildings on the world – appropriately called the “Kingdom Tower” (1,000 metres) high skyscraper. That is huge, considering the Burj Khalifa in Duba in 512 meteres.
Buildings in this region are cultural statement pieces and represent the tone of what the future holds.
The Kingdom Tower is scheduled for completion in 2020. No doubt, we will probably end up watching it on Discovery Channel – Mega Buildings shortly after that.
Another country that is rich with cultural and traditions is Oman, which is also having to innovate due to diminishing oil reserves. In Oman the focus is on Tourism, Education, Technology, Maritime, LNG – Gas.
Oman is often described as a very stable country and is ranked as the 6th safest place in the world.
Similar to Jeddah, Oman is relaxing access into the country by overseas visitor for recreation and business reasons. I have to admit, I needed to “Google” the location of Oman when I first went as it wasn’t a country that was on my list of destinations to visit. Having been there a few times, I can report that it is a fantastic place with friendly people, who are proud of their heritage and excited about future prospects.
It is very different to the “razzle and dazzle” of Dubai and because of its location; it is well positioned for being a business conduit into certain borders that are not quite as secure and stable – such as Yemen, Iraq, Iran.
Its strength is its port location and easy access to various destinations within the region.
In 2019, I’m looking forward to some interesting projects coming out of this region.
Now, in regards to the United States of Trump.
I honestly don’t know what to write or say, except for the fact that it has certainly been interesting entertainment – that’s for sure.
Being philosophical about it, there is an old saying that says – “Out of chaos, comes opportunity!”
With Donald Trump being President of the United States, it has certainly created some interesting topics of discussions during my leadership and management programs. Especially when we are discussing examples of positive and negative leadership behaviours.
Strangely, I’m never surprised when his name comes up.
Its been interesting to see what’s been happening in Australia over the past 12 months.
On the political front, I wish our country leaders would get their act together and focus on serving the people of Australia – instead of playing games.
Australia has much to offer the world and it has been concerning to see how our positive reputation is slowly being eroded. I often think, if politicians were placed on a Performance Review Process and Management System, how they would rate.
Hmmm….How would you rate them, would it be “5” exceeding expectation and outcomes or would it be “1” not exceeding expectations and outcomes?
We have seen a slowdown in the Mining and Resources sector over the past few years, however there are indicators and “glimmers of hope” of it bouncing back again for Western Australia and Queensland.
Personally, I can’t see it immediately happening – especially if China isn’t buying our Iron Ore.
Maybe in 10 years, we’ll see a rebound. Especially with the trend towards Electric Vehicles, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an increase in Iron Ore. It is likely there will be an increase in Lithium which will be used for “battery” production.
Then again, China may just decide to go straight to the source and buy “wholesale” by buying up mining tenements and reserves.
South Australia has some interesting things happening at them moment in regards to battery power, space aviation and defence submarines.
The worlds biggest lithium battery – built by tech billionaire Elon Musk’s company Tesla has survived its first summer in South Australia. It’s kept South Australia online through breakdowns which traditionally resulted in longer blackouts.
It’s been announced that Australia’s new space agency will be based in Adelaide, reinforcing South Australia as a hub for innovation and technology. It was also announced that South Australia will be the location where construction of the $50 billion submarine project for defence is scheduled to begin in 2022.
All great timing for Adelaide, especially since closing down various automobile production plants over the past couple of years.
In regards to Perth, the market is still “soft and recovering”, this also reflects on the reduced price of real estate and increase in rental vacancies in both metro and country locations.
I still think Perth is perfectly positioned for growth opportunities that are coming out of South East Asia. As I often say to my international clients. I’m only 4.5hrs to Singapore – which is approximately the same time and distance as travelling from Perth to Sydney.
It’s interesting to see what is happening on the East Coast of Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) and seeing how the real estate market in also softening.
I think moving into next year the key word and focus will be the ability to be “AGILE” to operate in a “VUCA” world.
If you don’t know what they are, it’s worth doing a quick Google or Youtube search – that’s for sure.
As you can see from the planned workplace assignments in Adelaide, Brazil, Dubai, Kuala Lumper, Oman, Perth, Singapore and Sydney that I have locked for next year. There is a real need for business to be organisational ready by developing the competence and commitment of their workforce to deal with these emerging business trends.
Looking forward to another exciting year – that’s for sure.
