The ‘Lihir Destiny’, the independence strategy for Anitua, Papua New Guinea’s largest and most successful landowner company, will continue under its new CEO, John Gethin-Jones. He tells Business Advantage PNG that key focuses are constant review of activities and staff development.

Credit: Anitua

Originally set up in 1989 for the people of Lihir Island to participate in the Lihir Gold project, Anitua’s portfolio includes 16 subsidiaries and employs 3,500 people in 30 locations in PNG and Australia. In doing so, it has become an exemplary company in managing tribal complexities.

Its founding CEO, Colin Vale, ran Anitua until earlier this month, ‘taking it from a bunch of companies all working individually, with no synergies or group direction, to what is now considered the most successful landowner company in PNG,’ says new CEO, John Gethin-Jones.

No change

Anitua’s John Gethin-Jones

Gethin-Jones was, for the last five years, Managing Director of Anitua’s largest subsidiary, catering and camp management company, NCS Holdings. He tells Business Advantage PNG there will be no immediate change of direction now he is in the top job.

‘We are still focused on achieving the ‘Lihir Destiny’—of being non-reliant on mining activities on Lihir, to ensure the future of all Lihirians.’

While the rate of return on investment (ROI) is a key indicator of the company’s performance, the principles of business excellence play a large part in the company’s planning, he says.

‘As a Group, we keep a close watch on cash flow, margins, profitability—delivering value to our shareholders.’

With a finance and investment background, John Gethin-Jones will focus on ROI as he reviews the financials of current companies within the Group and potential business opportunities.

‘The board of Anitua is made up of one representative from each of the six main clans on Lihir Island.’

‘We consistently review our market place, our competitive environment and our own competencies. We use a number of matrixes to assess new business opportunities and determine top priority opportunities.

‘Most importantly, we constantly review our plans, reviewing the external environment and amending our strategic plans to suit.’

Board

The board of Anitua is made up of one representative from each of the six main clans on Lihir Island. It is, he says, an active board.

‘They are involved in assessing new business opportunities and reviewing current businesses.’

‘Our senior managers are all culturally sensitive and experienced in managing and delivering on landowner expectations.’

Anitua has three-year strategic and business improvement plans for each of its 16 businesses, all sitting under a master three-year strategic plan for the Group.

He admits managing landowners and their expectations can sometimes be ‘tricky’.

‘However, it is something that we, as a Group, pride ourselves on.

‘Our senior managers are all culturally sensitive and experienced in managing and delivering on landowner expectations. Outgoing ED, Colin Vale is exceptional in his ability to work well with landowners, and it is something that I hope to be able to replicate.’

‘It sounds ‘clichéd’, but staff really are our most important asset.’

‘The other area in which we probably lead the country in, is our success at partnering with other landowner groups on commercial terms.

‘NCS, our camp and catering company, has developed a number of highly successful JVs [joint ventures] with small landowner companies, enabling them to participate in local resource projects.

‘We share our expertise to benefit landowner groups across the country, including at Ramu Nickel and Hidden Valley.’

Staff training

Anitua Construction concreting team at work on one of their Decmil projects

‘It sounds ‘clichéd’, but staff really are our most important asset,’ he says. Fifty per cent of staff at NCS are women, who receive extensive in-house training, complemented by externally provided training programs.

A founding member of the BCFW (Business Coalition for Women), Anitua has used its ‘Women in Leadership’ training program, resulting in one staff member promoted to Group HR Manager with NCS, while another is now Group Safety Manager.

‘I find that hard times sometimes bring out the best in an organisation.’

‘Both great achievements, and testament to our commitment to developing staff from within,’ says Gethin-Jones.

He also takes competition seriously.

‘Being a landowner company doesn’t affect the way in which we view our competitors. We respect them and ensure we know our competitors as well as we can, with a view to obtaining our own competitive advantages in each of our companies.’

New markets

Gethin-Jones admits the downturn in the PNG economy, in particular the resources sector, has certainly made things tougher for the Group.

‘We have had to focus on costs and cash flow. I find that hard times sometimes bring out the best in an organisation. You have to be more creative, be disruptive in your thinking and look for new niches, look for new business opportunities.

‘We, as a Group, have been heavily reliant on contracts with resources companies, but we have strategies in play to ensure that our reliance on the resources sector is not as strong in the medium-to-longer-term. We have a focus on some new industries, which have high growth opportunities.’

The next stage of development will see Anitua enter new market segments, he says:

‘We will still be heavily involved in providing a range of services to new resource projects, such as Frieda River and Wafi [mines], and to continue to grow the Group and achieve the “Lihir Destiny” of self-reliance before mine closure.

‘We are also looking closely at the opportunities on Bougainville. A number of our companies have already been working there and we feel that there are definitely synergies with being involved there on a greater scale.’

He believes the PNG government needs to focus on non-resource sectors, to help grow sectors such as tourism and agriculture, and to focus on exporting goods that aren’t from the resources sector.