Slight correction there, Shadow Minister.

>>Your attempts to ridicule my comments on the requirements of the CEO of the red cross<<

You mentioned Red Cross, not I.

My remarks were directed specifically at the signatories to the article, Australian NGO Chiefs.

Take another look at the scale of operations of those organizations, and tell me again how complex their functions can possibly be.

>>However, comparing what your friend does with what the CEO of the red cross does is like comparing the manager of a small shop with the head of BHP<<

There you go again, you see - that's why I have to pull you up on your flights of fancy.

My friend was a volunteer at the coalface, not the CEO.

The comparison was not with the Red Cross, which is a major international organization. And which, incidentally, has a mission substantially different to that of any of the NGOs on the panel under discussion.

And while we are making dumb comparisons, the scale of operations at BHP dwarfs that of the panel members, all put together.

Exaggeration is not going to make your case for you Shadow Minister.

Nor, for that matter. will sneers, insults and put-downs

Thanks, Shadow. You just got yourself dismembered on this discussion's micro specifics, thus better demonstrating your failure to grasp those bigger strategic matters of our own side-chat. A really dirty shame that you tried invoking ghosts of Auschwitz in your defence of imperialism and its own ghettoizing antics over "race", etc.

Wouldn't surprise me at all if you really are a "shadow minister", given the levels of corruption and other degeneracy predominating in our oligarchical political system.

Pericles

The “Australian NGOs” you referred to in your earlier post were CARE and Oxfam which are international organisations with budgets in the Hundreds of millions.

My “case” which you claim I have not made is that the major aid organisations need to pay managers to run their organisations. As I have given examples of the responsibilities of senior execs in these organisations, and the simple fact that all of these organisations see the need to follow this model would suggest that, unless the sole purpose of these organisations is self enrichment, the case for professional management is very strong.

On the other hand you case for purely volunteer based management by “retired Mortgage brokers” runs contrary not only to current practise, but even basic management theory, would appear to be completely without foundation.

To top this off, you have not offered up even one scrap of support for your case, and your only connection with anyone in any charity organisation is a mate who volunteered to “work at the coal face”.

I challenge you to offer more than the hot air and sarcasm you have supplied so far to support your inane pontification.

RobP,

Your comments are valid. To add to that, it is as important to ensure that the character and skills of a CEO fit that of the company and the market, and that board members are not always as rational and impartial as they should be. This occasionally results in a person who was super star in one position being a dud in another.

MO

This is not a competition to fit in as many socialist slogans as possible.

Considering that Mugabe's thugs have directly murdered 10s of thousands and are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths indirectly, the holocaust comparison has significance.

Maybe because he is black you feel that it is OK to butcher his opponents and not be held to account?

"Inane pontification"? That's rich, Shadow Minister.

>>The “Australian NGOs” you referred to in your earlier post were CARE and Oxfam which are international organisations with budgets in the Hundreds of millions<<

Two of them were. The signatories were their local heads. They're branch offices.

>>My “case” which you claim I have not made is that the major aid organisations need to pay managers to run their organisations<<

And my "case" is that their CEOs are paid far too much for the undemanding role they perform, and with the lack of risk that they undertake.

>>As I have given examples of the responsibilities of senior execs...<<

You provided a list of tasks. The issue is not the tasks themselves, but their complexity and challenge. You fail to make a "case" for this. My case is that on a scale of 1 to 10, they would be batting a 2 or 3.

>>On the other hand you case for purely volunteer based management by “retired Mortgage brokers” runs contrary not only to current practise, but even basic management theory, would appear to be completely without foundation.<<

Nonsense. Retired mortgage brokers have experience of running a business with full P&L responsibility, in which they initiated marketing and sales activities, managed Personnel, Finance and Administration functions, and (most likely) have traded their book for a tidy annuity that would allow them to apply their skills to charitable work.

Perfect fit. Or do you also sneer at mortgage brokers as a profession?

Your adulation of job description over job performance is unfortunately an attitude that is well entrenched in Australian business, and is one of the reasons why we produce so few world-class CEOs. It's a style over substance thing, and one we need to move past quickly, if we are to punch our weight in the 21st century world economy, because it isn't going to be pretty.

Yeah, I'm aware of the vague and hyperbolic accusations leveled against Robert Mugabe; the vitriol from poncey Al Downer was the funniest and most chutzpah-laden of all. All very "uncool Britannia".

Indeed some of the murders and assassinations in Zimbabwe certainly involved variously corrupt members of ZANU-PF, infiltrators into ZANU-PF, as well as enough covert players quite outside of locally based organization. Although the ultimate agency for such murder and other violence remains unclear, the result was an increasingly more thorough British-led embargo against Zimbabwe's economy and population. Zimbabwe's ambassador to the UN, Boniface Chidyausiku, did identify cases of specially assigned MDC-T (Tsvangirai faction) infiltrators using ZANU-PF garb to launch attacks - some random, others targeting even some of those welfare recipients of the MDC's foreign-funded largesse. Chidyausiku described such operations with reference to the infamous, shadowy Selous Scouts anti-guerrilla force during the war of independence. Similar processes were at work to terrorize Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa.

So I recognize that black Africans indeed bear much responsibility for such criminal mayhem. I also want to know which agency should be regarded as most culpable. But the western English-speaking press's hype has been consistent only for its unconvincing quality, vagueness, and stridency in bald, exaggerated accusation.

But Mugabe's clearly a heroic resistance leader and patriot of substance i.e., strong moral fibre. So too Thabo Mbeki, who has done so much to help his fellow Africans despite extreme pressure and duress.

Anyway, enjoy the rest of your time with Empah. It won't be around much longer.

Pericles

Your comment of “Your adulation of job description over job performance” is actually a lie.

In my posts I have specifically indicated the need for high levels of competence which are individually based.

Secondly, the description you give is of a owner/ manager of a mortgage broking business, the requirements for which are not the same as a pure mortgage broker as per a simplistic job description below from WA.

“Mortgage Broker
Strong potential to be earning $120K plus within three years
For you to be considered for this exciting opportunity you should have the following:
• Sales Experience
• Sound presentation and communication skills
• Ability to communicate effectively face to face and over the phone
• Quick with numbers
Background in the finance or banking industry and or qualifications are desirable for you to be able to perform at your best but not essential”

Hardly senior management material.

I also have a friend who is qualified as an electrician, started his own business and now owns and managers a multi million dollar manufacturing business, but would not have the temerity to claim that this could be expected from all or most electricians.

Your retired business manager is probably capable of heading up a branch of one of these charity organisations.

I have no doubt that if there were sufficient suitable candidates prepared to manage these branches on a volunteer basis for reasonable periods (not just a 3-6 month sabbatical) that these organisations would jump at it, but I doubt they exist.

MO

The agents for the massacre (about 20 000) in the western provinces were clearly identified by Amnesty international (unless you consider them agents of imperialism) as the 5th brigade directly under the control of Mugabe. The “green bombers” or youth trained in gov facilities are not random criminals.

Whilst he was instrumental in the liberation of the country his crimes against humanity cannot be brushed under the carpet by apologists such as yourself. Your adulation of such a butcher is sickening.