We are pleased to announce that Bill Calderwood's company "The Ayre Group" has become the latest affiliate of Kleinhardt, and will cooperate on a series of consultancy ventures.
 
A renowned tourism professional in Asia Pacific, Bill has had a vast range of experience over 30 years.
 
His extensive links to the region included appointments as, the recent interim CEO at Advance Cairns, the regions peak economic development body; the Managing Director of the Asian branch of Skyrail, and the CEO of Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ).

Bill also served as Deputy Managing Director of the Australian Tourist Commission, responsible for all international operations, and was involved in developing global branding and Olympics strategies.
 
He headed up the Asia Pacific operations for major holiday companies as well as being head of Traveland, one of the largest travel organizations in Australia.

Bill has also served on a variety of Asia Pacific tourism industry advisory boards including PATA, QTIC, and ITOA, as well as being involved in Australian state and federal reviews.

This new agreement between Kleinhardt and The Ayre Group will serve to strengthen Kleinhardts position as the leading business and tourism consultancy in TNQ, and be a platform for expansion throughout the Asia Pacific region.

By Cam Charlton

Businesses don't usually simply collapse overnight. A good business collapse takes time. That being so, the question has to be asked, how come nobody noticed that things were going off the rails, and how come nobody did anything to fix the problems before it was too late?

Surely the role of good management is to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem? Perhaps the answer is as simple as the managers just didn't spot the signs and remained ignorant of what was truly happening. It is a truism that business demise is caused by management inadequacy.

Whether we own or run a business; whether we are looking at investment or purchase; whether we are looking at employment or considering extending credit terms; there are many circumstances where being alert to some of the early warning signs of a business collapsing could be very useful.

Some of the more common warning signs of a failing business are:

1. Failure to articulate strategy: if the bosses can't make it clear, how can anyone understand how to implement it?

2. Loss of key customers. You know how hard it is to win and maintain key customers - losing one is a serious mistake.

3. Increasing tension with key stakeholders: whether it is credibility with the press, disenchantment with the unions, or disaffected staff, external mismanagement of key stakeholders is only the tip of the iceberg.

4. Failure to meet deadlines: if the company is not hitting external deadlines can you imagine what is happening internally?

5. Inability to prioritise: if the business can't choose the right priorities the wrong ones soon creep in.

6. Director and or senior manager churn, particularly within the CEO and CFO functions. Do they know something others don't?

7. Incomparable comparatives: if businesses cannot explain the numbers to the outside world how do you think they can explain the critical internal ones?

8. Continual explanations that a bad situation is "just another one-off" are excuses for poor planning and execution.

9. Excessive growth will invariably lead to difficulties as the weakest links can't go as fast as the strongest ones.

10. Superficial forecasting: this often covers up management failure and uncertainty.

11. Regular policy changes are a clear indicator of uncertainty and this breeds failure.

12. Downgrades can be the final sign that a business is in distress.

Spotting one of these external warning signs in your own business could be an unlucky one-off: but a combination of any three or more is almost a guarantee of impending doom. All businesses operate in an environment that is dynamic; good business management needs to be constantly vigilant and equally dynamic in anticipating and responding to changes.  

There is an old saying that "the definition of insanity is continuing to do things exactly the same way and expecting the results to be different".

Spot the signs and move to fix them.  

• Qatar is about the same size as the Australian Capital Territory
• Its population at the 2004 census was approx 800,000 - believed to be well over 1.0 million now
• Around three quarters of the population are expatriates.
• The majority of Qataris are under the age of 25
• Qatar's GDP for calendar 2007 was US$77 billion.
• Qatar has one of the highest GDP per capita figures in the world
• Construction and finance are two of the largest non-energy sectors in the economy
• In 2007 the number of Australians resident in Qatar was guesstimated at around 2000.
• There is an active Australia-New Zealand business group in Qatar (ANZBIQ)
• A wide range of products and services is in demand.  For instance, at present there is substantial demand for proven construction technologies, techniques and products that make construction more efficient.

Kleinhardt's Michael Otago lived and worked in Qatar for 3 years until late 2007.  He is well placed to make a realistic assessment of the potential in the Qatar market for your products and services, and to help you make contact with the right people to access the market.

Contact Michael on (07) 3221 1661 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for further information.