The various attributes of management that will guide the discussion of the results relating to management of LOC businesses include managerial skills, knowledge and experiences, and general business conduct.
7.4.1 Managerial skill, knowledge and experiences
Ideally, individuals with managerial skills, knowledge and experience should be the ones running the affairs of the three LOCs. However, getting the right people with business and managerial skills, knowledge and experience was an impossible task in the village communities of the three timber projects, as the majority of the landowners were illiterate. A few educated ones have secured employment at the provincial town or other provinces, but their willingness and acceptance to accept work with the LOC was another issue. That leaves the positions open to any individual who wanted to put themselves forward, and the case of the three LOCs has been that individuals with some basic education, but more importantly outspoken on issues affecting the community and have the support of other landowner clans, stood out as potential candidates for the job. Thus, the experience has been that a few landowners with vested interests in the LOC businesses managed to convince landowners through promises of development benefits that the timber project would deliver, got themselves appointed to the management positions of the LOC. Unfortunately that was the case with all three LOC businesses.
7.4.2 General business conduct
The attributes of general business conduct include mandatory business responsibilities, working relationship and the enforcement of business contracts. Discussion of results relating to business conduct of the three LOC executives will be made under each of these attributes.
7.4.2.1 Mandatory business responsibilities
The three LOC executives and in particular the business leaders had the responsibility to manage the LOCs in an open and transparent manner, as well as giving opportunity to the landowners to offer their business opinions. That should have been the case with the three LOCs, however the study found total failure on the part of the business executives and in particular the business leaders to carry out any of their mandatory responsibilities. There were hardly any business meetings, and no formal business reports on the LOC business. Consequently, the many landowner issues remained unaddressed.
With no law or constitution, dissatisfied landowners were unable to challenge the business leaders of their poor business conduct.
7.4.2.2 Working relationships
The promises of development benefits flowing from the three timber projects led to the landowners having consented to the forest concession agreement. The landowners had high expectations from their LOC businesses and the timber projects in general. Frequent business meetings to keep the landowners updated on developments and the financial situation of their businesses; as well as attention to the many landowner issues, were the kinds of expectations landowners had of their LOCs. Unfortunately, none of this happened with any of the three LOCs. The business leaders did not facilitate frequent meetings with the landowners after the start of the timber projects, and never attended to the landowner issues.
The situation was of little help to the landowners especially when the logging companies and PNGFA insisted that the LOC executives were the appropriate authorities representing the landowners and that they only listened to or worked with them and would not deal directly with the landowners. With no form of working relationship between the landowners and the LOC executive, the landowners’ many logging releted issues remained unresolved, while logging operations moved on into new forest areas. Such should not have been the case as these poor landowners had expected their their business leaders and PNGFA to work closely with them during the course of the logging operation. This kind of behaviour was the complete opposite to that exhibited during the initial phases of the timber project leading to the signing of the forest concession agreement.
The situation is the same at the management level. The three LOC business leaders and their executive members were never worked together as a team in managing the affairs of their LOC businesses. This study found the business leaders to have been working in isolation from their
executive members as well as the landowners. The business leaders made themselves indispensible, and they became aggressive towards their cirtics as they found comfortable niche in the logging companies.
7.4.2.3 Enforcement of business contract
Logging companies have an attitude of ignorance, and unless they are reminded and pressured, time and again, they will never give priority to other commitments that are of cost to them. This includes any infrastructure to be delivered by them under their business contract. As evident from this study, even if delivered, they will never be to the expected standard for public use. For example, many roads built by the logging companies were purely for their logging needs, but a few roads that could be used more frequently by the landowners, needed upgrading with river gravel, culverts installed at waterways, and additional road works such as to divert rain water from the road. These expectations will never eventuate, unless the business leaders apply pressure on the logging company. That should have been the case with the three LOCs, but the study found the three LOC business leaders did nothing about that.
The poor enforcement of the business contract by the LOC executives raised doubt among the landowners, as to whether they really knew their job. The situation was not help by the too- cosy working relationships between the business leaders and the logging companies. That compromised the ability of the business leaders to enforce the business contracts, as was the perception of all the landowners of the three case study LOC businesses.