Blenheim Library

John F. KennedyInsights from Blenheim Partners’ Library

ALBERT JACKA – THE FIRST ANZAC HERO Captain Albert JackaAlbert Jacka was born on the 10th January 1893 at Layard in Victoria. He completedelementary schooling before working as a labourer, first with his father and then with theVictorian State Forests Department. Jacka enlisted on 18 September 1914 as a private in the14th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, and trained at Broadmeadows camp. His unitembarked on 22th December and spent two months training in Egypt before landing atAnzac Cove, Gallipoli Peninsula, on 26th April 1915.Upon landing in Gallipoli, it did not take long until he experienced combat. On 19th May1915, the Turkish forces launched a counterattack along the entire Anzac front. The assaultled to a group of Turkish soldiers capturing a section of the trench which became known asCourtney’s post and is the location in which Albert Jacka won the Victoria Cross. Uponrealising what had happened Jacka fired several warning shots to delay the Turkish forcesand allow time for reinforcements to come.Once reinforcements arrived, Jacka shouted his instructions, he and three others sprang outinto the trench. All but Jacka were immediately hit, so he leapt back into the communicationtrench. A new plan was devised. Two bombs were lobbed at the Turks while Jacka skirtedaround to attack from the flank. Amid the smoke and the noise, he clambered over theparapet, shot five Turks and bayoneted two as the rest hastily retreated. “I managed to getthe beggars, Sir”, he reputedly told the first officer to appear. For this action, he receivedthe Victoria Cross, the first to be awarded to anyone in the Australian Imperial forces.Jacka instantly became a national hero. He was awarded £500 and a gold watch that theprominent Melbourne business and sporting identity John Wren had promised to the firstVictoria Cross winner. His image was used on recruiting posters and magazine covers, andhe received rapid promotions; first to Corporal on 28 August, to Sergeant two weeks lateron 12 September, and then to Company Sergeant Major on 14 November. He became

Company Sergeant Major of C Company and saw much fighting at Gallipoli where, duringAugust at Chunuk Bair, Hill 971, and Hill 60, his battalion took part in an Allied offensiveaimed at trying to break the deadlock around the beachhead. After nine months of fightingand 26,111 Australian casualties, the Allied forces began to evacuate the peninsula inDecember 1915, after which Jacka's battalion was withdrawn to Egypt. In Egypt, he passedthrough officer training school with high marks, and on 29 April 1916 was commissioned asa Second Lieutenant.The 14th Battalion was shifted to the Western front and participated in several raids againstthe German trenches. Following devastating allied casualties at Battle of the Somme, the14th Battalion was transferred to help replenish the allied line in the Pozières sector of theSomme offensive. After three days of bloody fighting, the Australian forces capturedPozières, though at the cost of 5,285 casualties. The fighting was said to be so fierce that theAustralians could only identify their trenches by the bodies of their comrades showing theirred and white shoulder patches.On the 7th August 1916, German soldiers begun to overrun a section of the Allied line whichincluded Jacka’s dug-out who had just completed a reconnaissance mission and uponreturning spotted two Germans who rolled a bomb down the doorway, killing two of hismen. Jacka charged up the dug-out steps, firing as he moved, and came upon a largenumber of the enemy rounding up some forty Australians as prisoners. He rallied hisplatoon and charged at the enemy, some of whom immediately threw down their rifles.Furious hand-to-hand fighting erupted as the prisoners turned on their captors. FiftyGermans were captured, and the line was retaken. Australian war correspondent CharlesBean described the counter-attack “as the most dramatic and effective act of individualaudacity in the history of the Australian imperial force”. The entire platoon was wounded,with Jacka being wounded in the neck and shoulder and was sent to a London hospital. Onthe 8th September London newspapers carried reports of his death, but Jacka was far fromdone for. He had been promoted Lieutenant on 18th August, rejoined his unit in Novemberand was promoted Captain on 15th March 1917 and appointed the 14th Battalion'sintelligence officer.Back at the front, the Germans had retreated to the defensive line known as the Hindenburgline. On April 8th, 1917, Jacka led a night reconnaissance party into no man’s land to inspectthe German defences before a major allied attack. Jacka’s job was to lay tape along theground to help guide infantry. Just as the work was near its completion, Jacka noticed twoGerman soldiers who had spotted him and seen what he was doing. Knowing this could leadto many Allied deaths he took the initiative and rushed towards the enemy lines to capturethem. Pressing on towards the enemy lines he pulled out his pistol, which misfired,therefore he continued on without a weapon and managed to capture them by hand. Hisquick thinking prevented Anzac units from discovery and probable disastrousbombardment; for this action, he was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross.On the 8th July 1917, Jacka was wounded by a sniper's bullet near Ploegsteert Wood andspent nearly two months away from the front. On 26th September, he led the 14th Battalionagainst German lines at Polygon Wood and displayed “a grasp of tactics, and a military

intuition that many had not given him credit for”. In May 1918, he was severely gassed atVillers-Bretonneux and as a result saw no more action.After recovering from his injuries he travelled back to Australia, disembarking in Melbourne.He arrived to a large crowd, including the Governor General who then proceeded to thetown hall in a convoy of 85 cars with Jacka at its head. Arriving at town hall, he waswelcomed by his old Battalion. He was demobilised in January 1920 and established anelectrical goods importing and exporting business with two men from his former Battalion.Throughout the rest of his life, Jacka suffered from the many wounds he had sustainedwhile fighting which led to him collapsing after a meeting and eventually succumbing, inpart, to the injuries he received during the war and died a month later dying on the 17thJanuary 1932, one week after his 39th birthday.Albert Jacka was a man who had no problem placing his life on the line to help hiscomrades. He might have risen higher in the Australian imperial force, but his blunt,straightforward manner frequently annoyed his superiors. “He said what he meant, andmeant what he said”, recalls one friend. As an Officer, he invariably won respect by leadinghis men by example and epitomised the Anzac creed of mateship, bravery, fairness and anabsence of pretentiousness.

AN INSPIRATIONAL WOMAN – JOAN OF ARC Joan of ArcBorn in 1412, Jeanne d’Arc (or in English, Joan of Arc), a peasant girl living in medievalFrance, believed that God had chosen her to lead France to victory in its long-running warwith England. With no military training, Joan convinced the embattled crown prince Charlesof Valois to allow her to lead a French army to the besieged city of Orléans, where itachieved a momentous victory over the English and their French allies, the Burgundians.After seeing the prince crowned King Charles VII, Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundianforces, tried for witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake in 1431, at the age of 19. Bythe time she was officially canonized in 1920, the Maid of Orléans (as she was known) hadlong been considered one of history’s greatest saints, and an enduring symbol of Frenchunity and nationalism.Joan of Arc introduced an unorthodox approach to the conduct of war during the 15thCentury by emphasizing nationalism and patriotism. With her contributions to the war, Joanof Arc helped turned the tide of the hundred year’s war in France’s favour eventuallyresulting in victory and along with it the expulsion of the English from continental Europe.Joan of Arc used her charismatic leadership to help build the nation state of France. The firstimportant leadership trait she had was to have a ‘strong sense of mission.’ Joan of Arc wason a mission, that may have not been something she proposed on her own, but rather it washer calling from a higher power. Despite the risks she took throughout her life, it did notstop her from wanting to remove English rule over her native land. Her strong faith in God,made her a passionate Catholic, which was essential to her: “confidence in the rightness andgoodness of the aims that he proclaims for the movement.” The charismatic leader in Joanof Arc’s times was often considered to have a gift from God, whether or not this is truethere is no debate that through the strength of her character Joan of Arc empowered others

to find the strength within themselves to help take part in a movement which was to shapethe future of the world.At the age of 13 Joan begun to have visions of Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and SaintCatherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles and that she would be God’sinstrument in setting France free. Her voices told her to go to the Governor of Vaucouleurswho would provide her with an escort of men-at-arms and send her to the Dauphin, whowas the uncrowned heir to the throne. In leaving her village home Joan said, “I am enlisted.God helping me, I will not turn back until the British grip is loosened from the throat ofFrance.” When the governor had heard her message he said, “What nonsense is this? Youare but a child.” But Joan said, “Nevertheless, I am appointed by the King of Heaven to leadthe armies of France to raise the British siege of Orleans and crown the Dauphin at Rheims.”Joan won the confidence of the Dauphin and the court with her sweetness, simplicity,sincerity, and unconscious eloquence. The best and the most capable among themrecognised that she was formed on a grander plan and moved on a loftier plane than theordinary mass of mankind. Finally Joan was given her command.With an almost impossible objective ahead, Joan said to one of her generals, “I will lead themen over the wall.” The general replied, “Not a man will follow you.” Joan said, “I will notlook back to see whether anyone is following or not. “ But the soldiers of France did followJoan of Arc. With her sacred sword, her consecrated banner, and her belief in her mission,she swept all before her. She sent a thrill of courage and enthusiasm through the Frencharmy such as neither king nor generals could produce. Then on May the 8th, 1430, by sheerstrategy and force, she broke the siege at Orleans. This anniversary is still celebrated inFrance as “Joan of Arc Day.” It is the day that she drove out the British and saved France.Then at the head of her troops she marched to Rheims and crowned the Dauphin King.With her mission accomplished, Joan planned to return to her family in Domremy, but shewas treacherously betrayed and sold to the British. Then her long trial of over a year began.For many weary months she was kept in chains. She was threatened and abused. TheEnglish believed that Joan had conspired not with God but the Devil and tried relentlessly todiscredit her. She was promised freedom if she would deny the visions and mission she wasgiven. However Joan was immovable, and after a year of imprisonment she was burned atthe stake on charges of heresy, at the age of 19.Joan of Arc was looked upon by her fellow French Soldiers as a gift from God whose merepresence on the battlefield stirred the hearts of a French Army who had suffered regularoccurring defeats for years by the hands of the English and Burgundians. She had dauntlesscourage when hope had perished in the hearts of her countrymen. She was spotlessly purein mind and body when most of society was foul in both. She was, perhaps, the only entirelyunselfish person whose name has held a high place in profane history. No vestige orsuggestion of self-seeking can be found in any word or deed of hers.

4 BUSINESS LESSONS FROM ALIBABAIs Alibaba the disruptor of the retail industry in China?On September 19th, 2014 history was made by Alibaba. It had the largest IPO of all time,opening on the New York Stock Exchange with the market capitalisation of USD$ 230 billionon the day. By March 7th, 2018 Alibaba’s market capitalisation has reached USD$ 480 billionand it has become one of the top 10 largest public companies in the world.Even though many people hold the opinion that Alibaba is the Amazon of China, they arequite different in many ways. Unlike Amazon who owns various warehouses throughoutdifferent regions in the world, Alibaba originally focused on being a platform for suppliers tosell products in bulk at wholesale prices to small or medium-sized businesses worldwidethrough its website Alibaba.com.Today, Alibaba Group has become one of the largest companies in China providingconsumer-to-consumer (C2C), business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B)sales and various other services via e-commerce websites as well as offline portals.In just a few years, the explosive development of the e-commerce industry in China has ledto the revolutionary transformation of how traditional retailers do business. As of 2017, theGross Merchandise Volume (GMV) of China’s online shopping and mobile phone shoppingreached AUD$ 1.2 trillion and AUD$ 1 trillion respectively.Undoubtedly Alibaba has played a crucial role in shaking up the traditional retail sector. Thee-commerce giants like Alibaba in China are bucking the trend by investing in brick-and-mortar stores. They noticed that although more consumers are becoming accustomed toshopping from their online platforms, a reasonable proportion of spending still takes placein brick-and-mortar stores.

Over the past year, Alibaba has aggressively acquired sizable Chinese retailers of differenttypes. It has formed partnerships with supermarket retailer Bailian Group, high-end retailerYintai Group, electronics retailer Suning Commercial Group, and invested USD$ 2.87 billionfor a major stake in Sun Art Retail Group, the hypermarket operator running two recognisedbanners Auchan and RT-Mart. It is believed that Alibaba has invested at least USD$ 13 billionin the acquisition of traditional retailers in the past four years. With what it calls the “newretail” model, Alibaba is likely to bring dramatic changes to China’s retail landscape bycombining its e-commerce platform with traditional retail physical infrastructure.Leveraging the strength of online platform and traditional retailers, Alibaba is expanding itsretail empire through the “new retail” model to create a brand new shopping experience forcustomers and disrupt the traditional logistics operations of brands by using the latesttechnologies, such as big data and artificial intelligence.Business Lessons from AlibabaAlibaba’s success is no secret. From its humble beginnings in Jack Ma’s Hangzhou apartmentin 1999, the company has evolved and grown into an e-commerce empire knowninternationally. It is now reshaping the retail industry not just in China but the whole worldwith more cutting-edge technologies and data-driven services. Here are some of the lessonsthat any company can learn from its success story. 1. Vision and PersistenceAlibaba was founded with the vision to champion small businesses and it firmly believedthat the internet would enable small enterprises to grow and compete more effectively inthe domestic and global economies. The simple and clear vision focuses Alibaba onproviding services to small enterprises, cumulatively creating value that would not havebeen possible individually. Together, they represent a complete e-commerce ecosystem.Success is no overnight phenomenon. The idea of Alibaba was rejected by 23 out of 24 ofprospective investors. No one could see e-commerce as a viable business. However, thepersistence of the founders paid off by successfully raising the capital that the venturerequired. Alibaba generated no profit for the first three years, but they never lost sight oftheir vision.Alibaba was also extremely challenged to process the payments in different currencies.Most of the banks rejected to partner with Alibaba to make the process smooth whichinstead led to the successful introduction of its payment transfer system Alipay. 2. Customer-centricOn many occasions, Jack Ma has stated “In Alibaba, customers are first, employees second,and shareholders are third.” On the day of the Alibaba’s IPO, Jack Ma invited eightcustomers to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. In fact, puttingcustomers first has driven Alibaba’s phenomenal success so far.

Always keeping an eye on customers’ evolving needs, Alibaba dares to challenge thetraditional transaction patterns and explores new ways to create more value for customers.For example, to better support its customers business growth, Alibaba has built acomputational network that is the world’s fastest cloud-based “streaming processing”platform, through which Alibaba is able to draw extensive data on shopping habits not onlyfrom shopping websites but also geo-location apps, financial services, social media andscores of other sources to help better serve customers and drive efficient merchantoperations. 3. InnovationRather than position itself simply as a pure e-commerce company, Alibaba keeps striving forexcellent service quality by innovating and introducing the most advanced technologies todevelop more positive purchasing experience for both buyers and sellers.Alibaba integrates comprehensive data resources that cover almost every aspect ofcustomers’ daily lives through the acquisition of software companies in other domains (e.g.map, weather, taxi, music, and travel). To date, it has expanded its core business to manydifferent domains, such as advertising services, logistics network, financial services,automation, and mobile terminal services.\"Being innovative means you look at today from a viewpoint of tomorrow. We need to lookat today's China from a viewpoint of the world, and look at ourselves from the viewpoint ofthose outside this industry. When you think this way, you will do things in a different way,\"Ma said. 4. Sensitivity to Business OpportunityAlibaba excels at identifying and seizing unique business opportunities, thereby positioningitself as a leader in developing customer loyalty.In China, November 11 has become a special festival during recent years. With four “1s”,this date was named as Bachelor’s Day. On this day, young people celebrate their singlestatus or simply have fun with friends. As the date falls between Chinese National Day andChristmas, most customers typically avoid shopping during that period. However, Alibabahas successfully transformed it from “Singles Day” to “Shopping Day”.Created in 2009 as an “Anti-Valentine’s Day,” the “Double 11 Global Shopping Festival” isnow bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday, combined. The annual event kicks off onmidnight of November 11 and runs for 24 hours featuring steep discounts that are driven bythe main Alibaba-owned platform. Encompassing a live-broadcast gala, virtual games, andan interactive fashion show, the 24-hour event has become a global extravaganza sellingeverything from American sneakers to Japanese rice cookers and Australian prawns. Duringthe 24 hours of “Double 11” in 2017, Alibaba generated a sales record of USD$ 25.3 billionin gross merchandise volume, which beat its record of USD$ 18 billion in 2016.

With a very humble beginning from the small apartment of Jack Ma, Alibaba has becomeone of the most successful companies in the world. The rise of Alibaba should never becontributed to its luck or good timing, but to the values it holds on vision and persistence,customer-centric, innovation and sensitivity to business opportunity.

ANDREW CARNEGIE: THE RICHEST AMERICAN OF ALL TIMEAndrew Carnegie may be the richest American of all time. The Scottish immigrant sold hiscompany, U.S. Steel, to J.P. Morgan for $480 million in 1901. This amount is equivalent toslightly more than 2.1% of United States GDP at the time.Carnegie has a rags to riches story from a poor Scottish immigrant to the richest man in theworld and then gave it all away.Who was Andrew Carnegie?Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, on November 25, 1835, Andrew Carnegie was the first son ofMargaret and William Carnegie. Although he had little formal education, Carnegie grew upin a family that believed in the importance of reading and learning. His father was a“political reformer” and influenced Carnegie in the fight of the classes. Whilst his motherwas a proud woman that commanded respect in the local community.Dunfermline was famous for producing fine linen but the town fell on hard times whenindustrialism made home-based weaving obsolete, leaving workers, such as WilliamCarnegie, out of work. William joined the popular Chartist movement, which believedconditions for workers would improve if the working class were to take over theGovernment from the landed gentry. When the movement failed in 1848, William Carnegieand family sold all their belongings and moved to America.“The emigrant is the capable, energetic, ambitious, discontented man.”The Carnegie family settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania which was referred to as a “slumtown” at that time. There, at the age of thirteen, Carnegie began his career as a bobbin boyin a cotton factory, earning $1.20 per week. However, Carnegie’s father died at the age of

51, and although the family quickly paid back their debts, William was never able to take theopportunities in the “new world”.A voracious reader who could not afford books in Scotland or afford the $2 membership feeat his local library, Carnegie took advantage of the generosity of an Allegheny citizen whoopened his library to local working boys, a rare opportunity in those days. Books providedmost of his education as he moved from factory boy to telegraph operator.Carnegie worked for Thomas Scott, the Vice President of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Scottliked Carnegie’s self-belief and confidence, and Carnegie’s willingness to completeeverything was asked of him. One day, Carnegie took a huge risk and signed letters in Scott’splace, giving the orders to fix a complex issue that stopped the trains from running. WhenScott found out, he congratulated Carnegie’s courage and initiative. Carnegie quicklylearned that success was achieved through keeping the costs down and ensuring nothingstopped the trains from running. Scott promoted Carnegie to Superintendent of theWestern Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the age of 24.While working for the railroad, Scott tipped him on an investment, and when Carnegiereceived the first dividend from this investment, this changed his life. For the first time, hefelt like he had made it. Carnegie began to make investments whilst working on therailroads which resulted in substantial returns, especially those in oil. Carnegie also investedin a new company manufacturing railway sleeping cars. He continued to expand his businessventures with great success, in 1864 organising the first of his many companies, theKeystone Bridge Company. He left the railroad in 1865 to focus on his other businessinterests as his investments were outweighing his salary.Andrew moved to New York with his mother into the centre of high finance, trading stocksand bonds. He enjoyed the educated society and being able to discuss and debate the issuesof the day.By age 30, Carnegie had amassed business interests in iron works, steamers on the GreatLakes, railroads, and oil wells. He thought iron ore would be the base for tying together hisbusinesses, and he began to consolidate his ownership through vertical integration.On one of his trips to raise capital by selling bonds to European investors, Carnegie noticedthe demand for steel was growing and might outpace iron. He changed his strategy andbegan to focus on steel holdings in 1873. Around this time, Carnegie created two basicbusiness rules to guide him. One that profits would take care of themselves if costs werecarefully monitored, and two that gifted managers were worth more than the actual millsthey ran.“People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, nomatter how impressive their other talents.”By the next decade, most of Carnegie's time was dedicated to the steel industry. Hisbusiness, which became known as the Carnegie Steel Company, revolutionised steelproduction in the United States. Carnegie built plants around the country, using technology

and methods that made manufacturing steel easier, faster and more productive. He wasproud of his ability to drive his workforce and be the most productive steel producer. Hehad a forceful personality, and he liked to push and debate with his people.Andrew owned every step of the process, including the raw materials, ships and railroadsfor transporting the goods, and even coal fields to fuel the steel furnaces. This end to endstrategy helped Carnegie Steel Company become the market leader in the industry andmade Carnegie an exceedingly wealthy man. It also made him known as one of America's\"builders,\" as his business helped to fuel the economy and shape the nation.Carnegie's mills were already running more efficiently than their competitors, so he was inthe best position to buy when the economy hit a six-year slump in 1873. Carnegie snappedup competing mills as well as companies on other levels of production. He renovated theolder mills up to modern standards and was out-producing and out-earning his remainingcompetitors when the economy recovered.In 1881, Carnegie returned to Dunfermline with his mother in triumph and in contrast towhen they left in disgrace. He built his first library for the community. He also decided to beinvolved in British politics, promoting the United States Republican view against themonarchy. He acquired a number of newspapers to promote his view. However, anothernewspaper went against him, and ultimately he failed as the people viewed him as a richAmerican pushing his ideas on them.The economy hit another downturn in 1883 and Carnegie made two acquisitions that wouldboth cement his empire and harm his reputation. Carnegie bought up his greatestcompetitor, Homestead Works, and a controlling interest in Henry Frick's coke empire. Cokewas essential to the steelmaking process, and Frick owned a lot of it. Although Carnegie andFrick were very different men, Carnegie was charming and jovial where Frick was hard andtaciturn. Carnegie saw that Frick had the ability to take over the daily operations of hisconsiderable empire and both wanted to make money. In 1892, Carnegie combined hiscompanies into one, Carnegie Steel Co. and named Frick the Chairman.Frick was staunchly anti-union, and it happened that the Homestead plant went on strike inthe same year he became chairman. The price of steel had dropped, and the cost-consciousFrick wanted to reduce wages to maintain a profit. The union was against any reduction, anda lockout strike ensued. Carnegie was out of the country, and Frick was determined to breakthe strike rather than give into the demands, something Carnegie often did as he alwayswanted his business to be continually operating. Frick brought in guards from the PinkertonDetective Agency to protect non-union workers who come in to reopen the plant.A fight broke out between the strikers and the guards, resulting in seven people being killed.The militia was eventually called in, and the mill went back into operation with non-unionworkers, but the fight continued. An assassin, unrelated to the union, shot and stabbed Fricka week into the hostilities. Frick not only survived but bound up his wounds and finished hisworkday. Seeing what they were up against, the union folded and accepted reduced wagesto get back their jobs. However, the reputation Carnegie had built up was destroyed. Frick

through his attempted murder was perceived as an anti-hero whilst Carnegie was seen as asilent coward.Carnegie asked Frick to resign which he did, but Carnegie low valued his shareholding in an“ironclad” agreement. Frick did not agree, and the dispute went to court until an agreementwas reached.“The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”In 1901, Carnegie decided to make a dramatic change in his life. He sold his business to theUnited States Steel Corporation, started by legendary financier J.P. Morgan for $480m. Atthe age of 65, Carnegie decided to spend the rest of his days helping others. While he hadbegun his philanthropic work years earlier by building libraries and making donations,Carnegie expanded his efforts in the early 20th century.Carnegie’s philanthropic career commenced around 1870. He is best known for his gifts offree public library buildings. Carnegie believed that the rich are merely “trustees” of theirwealth and are under a moral obligation to invest it in ways that promote the welfare andhappiness of the common man. As he boldly declared in The Gospel of Wealth (1889), “Theman who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”Carnegie gave away his fortune to build what would become 1,689 public libraries acrossthe United States, donating $60m to build these institutions of learning. He did not want thenext generation to be in the same position when he was young and could not afford thelibrary membership.“I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task ofwise distribution.”In addition to the libraries, in 1900, Carnegie started a technical school that would becomeone of the best universities in the world. With a million-dollar donation, he created atechnical institute in Pittsburgh with the goal of providing an affordable education forworking people. In less than 20 years, it grew to include graduate programmes and had asprawling campus in Pittsburgh; it became known as Carnegie Tech. By 1967, the schoolmerged with another college, the Mellon Institute, to become Carnegie Mellon.Carnegie’s fortune has also supported everything from the discovery of insulin and thedismantling of nuclear weapons to the creation of Pell Grants and Sesame Street.By the time of his death, Andrew Carnegie, despite his best efforts, had not been able togive away his entire fortune. He had distributed $350m but had $30m left, which went intothe Corporation’s endowment.“Whoso wants to share the heroism of battle, let him join the fight against ignorance anddisease and the mad idea that war is necessary.”

Toward the end of his life, Carnegie, a pacifist, had a single goal: achieving world peace. Hebelieved in the power of international laws and trusted that future conflicts could beaverted through mediation. He supported the founding of the Peace Palace in The Hague in1903, gave $10 million to found the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1910 to“hasten the abolition of international war,” and worked ceaselessly for the cause until theoutbreak of World War I. He died, in August 1919, two months after the signing of theTreaty of Versailles.What can we learn from Andrew Carnegie?“The result of my own study of the question, What is the best gift which can be given to acommunity? is that a free library occupies the first place…. It is, no doubt, possible that myown personal experience may have led me to value a free library beyond all other forms ofbeneficence.”Carnegie believed in the value of education, especially in having a free library. The best thinga community can do for their people is have a free library. He wanted everyone to have theopportunity to have lifelong learning, personal development and pursue knowledge. Hebelieved in providing the tools for self-help. He even tried to campaign to make the Englishlanguage more efficient.“The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it.”Carnegie had the ability to think differently, investing in numerous businesses whilstworking at the railroads. He was the first and only person in the country who controlledwide-ranging integrated iron and steel operations. His innovations comprised of theinexpensive and efficient production of steel on a mass level. Because of him, the UnitedStates steel output was far greater than the United Kingdom.“You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself.”Carnegie was able to get the best out of people, not by higher wages but rather throughpride. He was described as a good judge of character and knew his managers were his key tosuccess. He allowed his managers to make decisions and be intuitive to ensure theoperations was always running.“I would as soon leave to my son a curse as the almighty dollar.”Due to his effects, Carnegie was able to replace his image as one of the hard-nosed robberbaron with that of a modern-day “Santa Claus”. His considerable business and investmentexpertise may be forgotten over time, but thanks to his philanthropy, his name will not be.

TOKENISM HAS NO PLACE IN THE BOARDROOM OR MANAGEMENT Amelia EarhartToken: adjective: used to refer to something that is done to prevent other peoplecomplaining, although it is not sincerely meant and has no real effect.TOKENISM: NOUN: The practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do aparticular thing, especially recruiting a small number of people from underrepresentedgroups to give the appearance of racial or sexual equality within a workforce. *It’s hard to believe that the “tokenism conversation” is still happening in boardrooms andamongst senior management in most sectors of Australian business.If we extend the Oxford Dictionary definition above: It is the effort of including a tokenemployee to a workforce to create the impression of social inclusiveness and diversity todeflect accusations of social discrimination.Don’t believe me? Then look no further than the Cambridge dictionary where the examplegiven for the use of the word in a sentence is: The truth is that they appoint no more than atoken number of women to managerial jobs.In essence it is a word that can be used to describe many minority groups but in recenttimes seems to be focused by some on women in senior leadership positions.We have seen companies such as the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) callon boards to ensure that 30 per cent of their directors are female and urge ASX 200

companies to meet this target by the end of 2018. As of 31 March 2018, there are 79 ASX200 companies that have reached the 30 per cent target.Quotas to improve the representation of women in business and politics have beenimplemented in many parts of the world. In 2008 Norway obliged listed companies toreserve at least 40% of their director seats for women on pain of dissolution. The law hasbeen seen as a success in the sense that listed Norwegian companies now have at least 40percent women on their boards.However quotas are often initially met with strong opposition from business leaders. InNorway the quota prompted some firms to delist rather than comply; the same may haveoccurred in other markets where quotas were later introduced such as France or Italy. Whilequotas may be the quickest and most effective way to address gender disparities as far asnumbers are concerned, \"their positive benefits may be short-lived,\" argues Peggy Drexler,former Gender Scholar at Stanford University.\"The quota system – or, more specifically, the women pulled into power because of it – cansuffer from the perception that companies are getting the best of a single and specificgender, and not the best, period\". She argues that these women are successful for reasonsother than the fact that they are women, \"and the quota system discounts that\".If a company adds three eminently qualified women to their board, and it is characterised asa gender play or way to avoid a firestorm of criticism, is that progress? Why is it assumedthat these women were chosen simply because they are female to avoid the negative pressthat public companies can provoke for not having any women on their boards?When the public challenges the lack of gender diversity in the boardroom, it does incitepublic companies to recognise women as both their shareholders and their customers. It isthe responsibility of public companies to add qualified women to upper management andtheir boards. This may mean they need to offer women’s development and/or boardpreparatory programs to their mid- and senior-level women employees toward building apipeline of strong candidates.There is also a growing amount of research displaying greater shareholder value, highersales and stronger decision-making and governance with more diverse leadership teams andboards. Social pressure is driving greater diversity in larger companies, resulting in the needto increase the volume and frequency of public promotion of more women on boards andwithin the executive ranks. A recent Credit Suisse study of over 3000 companies has shownthat the more women that you have in senior management roles, the better your businesswill perform. The study found that \"where women account for the majority in the topmanagement, the businesses show superior sales growth, high cash flow returns oninvestments and lower leverage\".It is imperative the women selected for these board and executive roles are recognised fortheir merit rather than as a PR ploy for companies to avoid public criticism – that onlyundermines their qualifications. Rather this research must be reinforced as there arewomen ready and able to add great value to executive teams and boards. And most

importantly, gender diversity must not be demeaned as tokenism or avoidance, butacknowledged as a best business practice to drive results.While official quotas remain a divisive issue, most agree that the underlying issues behindunequal representation need to be addressed. As a country, the best way forward, isadvocating and building the ratio of women representation required to truly reap thebenefits of gender diverse leadership positions. Only then, will the tokenism conversationfinally end.

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