18 September 2012: QR National name change and CEOs bonus reduction

QR National to change name to Aurizon: Name combines “Australia” and “horizon”. Also the name of a Canadian goldminer who owns aurizon.com and a UK-based brand of ear drops for dogs. People still confuse QR National, which provides freight rail services, with government-owned Queensland Rail group, which provides passenger rail services. Groups separated in 2010 when QR National listed. Railroad group is 147 years old, floated last year for $6.2 billion. Over 70 companies on the ASX have changed their name since the start of the year, including OneSteel which is now “Arrium”. QR National’s main competitor, Asciano, is also considering a name change. [CR: I catch the train every day, and I know I was not clear on the distinction. Do you wish at times that you could change your name to reinvent your brand? Would you become a brand of ear drops for dogs?]

Bonus reduction for top CEOs: Top 100 CEOs dropped 20.8 percent to $1.255 million, levels not seen since 2003. Reported pay fell an average of $4.724 million last year. Energy retailer AGL CEO pay increased 83 percent to $6.3 million to reflect improved financial results. Around 90 percent of CEOs received a bonus. Executives on pay freezes and bonus cuts (Qantas, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, BlueScope Steel, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank) could be headhunted by Asian companies. One-third of CEOs are being paid more than companies tell investors. BHP Billiton CEO reported pay of $11.8 million, received $17.34 million. [CR: Quantum physics and CEO salaries. Both have been explained to me in detail, and both I have yet to fully understand.]

China targeting offshore IT work to take contracts from India: Driven by vast labour pool, government subsidies, and low price of services. Concerns include relatively immature services on offer, poor quality of spoken English, and grave concerns about the security of intellectual property and data privacy. China’s largest outsourcing company is HiSoft, employing 23,000 people, expected to generate $US670 million in 2012. [CR: The game will change over the next few years as China overcomes these barriers.  That said, local work typically sees 20 percent project management, double or triple that for remote work. To make it work, the hourly rate needs to be low enough to offset the increased communication. The rapid rate of change in both technology and requirements means local responsive providers still have a strong market.]

Hewlett-Packard looking at its own smartphone and tablet: HP previously attempted to enter the space with 2010 $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm running on WebOS. Did not catch on, HP eventually offered WebOS as open-source. CEO Meg Whitman did not say which OS the eventual smartphone would use. HP world's leading seller of PCs, focuses on enterprise services to maintain profitability. HP moving ahead with biggest round of employee buyouts and layoffs in the company history, announced this month an additional 2,000 workers will be leaving the company, increasing cutbacks to 29,000 through October 31, 2014, shares trading at an eight-year low. [CR: Do we need another smartphone in the market? I believe that's around 8 percent of their total workforce they are letting go.]