Response To Memo From K. Abbott-Gill, The Cfo Of Antipodes Mineral Case Study

Response To Memo From K. Abbott-Gill, The Cfo Of Antipodes Mineral Resources Company - Case Study Example The core business in a mineral company is; mining and therefore most investments in such entities revolve around this central activity. The following are the areas I would expect AMR to make their investments: †¢ Prospecting and exploration of minerals: The process of pinpointing deposits is costly and time consuming. A mineral company must therefore, invest in the process of geological mapping to stay in business by securing the supply end of its operations. The amount of drilling and excavation involved in mining is determined at the exploration stage and therefore, this preliminary phase of the mining process determines the financial allocation required to purchase the right tools for the jobs that include among others, drilling and transportation equipment. †¢ Equipment: After locating the mineral deposits in the exploration stage, a mining company like AMR in this case, must invest in the acquisition of the correct equipment. The success of a mining process is entirely dependent on the available excavation, drilling and transportation machinery. AMR must therefore commit to continuously acquiring proper tools, something that is always a work in progress project for companies in this industry since new, more efficient equipment are manufactured everyday. †¢ Acquisition of mines: After the completion of exploration process, mining companies must make ownership of such mining locations their projects. This can be done through partnerships with both governments and local communities in the mineral rich locations. It is my expectation that a mining company should make significant investments in acquiring mines to ensure sustainability of their respective material supply chains. Value addition on minerals: Most minerals fetch better prices if value is added onto them through diverse industrial processes. I would therefore expect a mining company to make investments in value additions for their minerals that involves construction of value addition plants. Transportation network infrastructure: The process of transportation from mining field to value addition plants for a mineral company is crucial to its success. How fast and efficiently they can excavate, transport and process ores determines the consistency of mineral supplies to th eir customers both in their localities and the world over. A mining company must therefore invest in transportation system that include ; construction of shorter routes to their plans to reduce fuel costs, acquire large capacity transport equipment, construct railway lines as well as properly maintain their roads (Bomsel, 1990). This investment ensures that such a company is not only efficient in its operations but is also profitable through transportation cost reduction. Acquisition of mining licenses: the process of securing a mining license, in as much as it may not be tangible is a crucial project in the workings of a mining company. Securing these licenses require serious negotiations and involve the hiring of attorney services. A mining company must therefore invest in the best lawyers and trade negotiators to handle this aspect of their operations. Trainings of staff: Employees are expected to hold particular skill sets at the time of employment. To ensure efficiency in actua l company operations, AMR must invest in additional training of staff so that they acquire skills specific to the company’s activities. Employees are the most valuable assets outside the balance sheet and their training therefore, is directly proportional to an organization’s operational efficiencies and profitability. Training is one project I expect to see the company invest its resources. Green energy: Energy consumption in the mining process is a major cost element and coming up with cheaper more environmentally sustainable energy sources is one area I would expect to see

Organizational Training Design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Organizational Training Design - Assignment Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the training program is conceptualized to introduce key personnel to the rudiments of the customer contact software package (SAM) chosen by the team.   The trial run, scheduled for a single day, would provide preliminary insights into crafting a better program for larger scale integration. In this manner, the trial training will help the firm realize better results while avoiding costly errors that may have been encountered without the trial program. The firm is in the midst of its regular operations. In the financial services industry, the stock market, currencies market, and securities trading are constantly moving. Prices of the traded assets are always being bidded up or sold down in any one trading session, for which reason the brokers, traders, and analysts are always focused on the market. Obviously, training is going to come into direct interference with this. Clients may be called during the course of trading to speak with the ir own traders or analysts (who may be managers), for feedback, advice, or transaction in the markets. If such person were pulled out of the firm’s operations for one day, then customers will find this disconcerting because they have established trust with their usual contact and may not want to transact with others. Prior arrangements and coordination should, therefore, be made with substitute personnel if any, or better yet, arrangements should be made to hold the training during a non-trading day, or possibly broken down to be accommodated into non-trading hours during work days. Depending upon the individual manager’s perspective, he may consider the training as either opportunity, reward or punishment. Employees who are engaged and motivated, and who feel an empathy with the market and the needs of the firm, will only look at the training program as an added opportunity. Training programs, after all, provide the individual worker with added tools by which he could more effectively address his work. In a sense, the trainee-manager may feel that the training program may be a reward. Oftentimes, being in the pilot batch of a program may be construed as an honor, because it is an acknowledgment of the above-average capabilities and skills of the trainee. After all, the best subjects are usually chosen for the trial of a new innovation, to assess the best possible chances for success of the prospective change. Seldom, if ever, will the training program be considered as punishment, but in such case, it may be due to the perceived withdrawal of the trainee from the workplace, affording him less change for output performance for the day in case there is some competitive (as against others) or evaluative (as in chances for promotion or raise) implication of such foregone output. All persons or groups who may have a strong faith in computerization and are convinced that the firm’s sales will be improved by added technology will definitely have an interest in seeing it succeed. Also, those employees who are in touch with market developments and are aware of competitive advantages of their company’s competition will praise and root for the success of the installation, training, and implementation activities with regard to SAM.