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BUSINESS NEWS JACOBS ENGINEERING WINS MAIN CONTRACT TO BUILD $5.3B MONGOLIAN MINE Jacobs Engineering has been awarded the main contract to build the $5.3 billion Oyu Tolgoi underground copper and gold mine in Mongolia. Jacobs is responsible for engineering, procurement and construction management services to implement the materials handling systems for the new underground mine and associated surface and underground infrastructure. Development of the underground mine, which was delayed in 2013 because of disputes with Mongolia’s government, is key to operator Rio Tinto’s copper growth ambitions; approximately 80 percent of the mine’s value resides in the underground, with copper grades about 3 times higher than the open pit, which already is in production. Oyu Tolgoi is a partnership between Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill Resources and the Mongolian government.

MCCARTHY TO BUILD SOUTHWEST AIRLINES’ NEW FACILITY McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. announced it won the award to build Southwest Airlines’ new office and training facility on the company’s corporate campus in Dallas. The new building, called “Wings”, consists of a 414,000 square-foot office building and an attached 367,000-square-foot flight training center which will house 18 flight simulator bays, associated offices, and ancillary areas. The training portion of the structure will be constructed out of a special hardened building that can withstand 210 mile winds as it must remain operational every day of the year in all weather conditions. Also included in the project is a 1,900 car parking garage and surface parking that together will provide for a total of 2,500 cars, and additional site work and construction of pedestrian bridges. “We are thrilled that Southwest Airlines chose McCarthy to build this new addition to their headquarters campus,” said Ray Sedey, McCarthy’s Texas region president. “Due to our

experience in building cutting edge corporate headquarters and training centers for top companies, as well as many airport projects, we know how to approach this project to get it done on time and within budget.” Southwest’s corporate campus is adjacent to Love Field Airport. The project architect is BOKA Powell and the landscape architect/ civil engineer is Pacheco Koch . Reed Wells Benson is the mechanical and electrical engineer and L.A. Fuess Partners and Ponce-Fuess are providing structural engineer services on the project. The project commenced in June and is expected to be completed early 2018. Building Southwest Airline’s new facility extends McCarthy’s experience in the aviation sector. McCarthy has completed 40 airport projects from large–scale airport expansion and renovations, custom border patrol, federal inspection, flight and gate information and display systems, security screening checkpoints and baggage handling systems to airport parking facilities.

GERRY SALONTAI, from page 11

evaluate the business and categorize what you are doing in the three model areas. Is the vast majority of the work you perform based on price competition solely, relationships, or services that are unique, innovative, and better than the competition can provide? This is a tough process because the tendency is to believe all three are involved in decision- making, and sometimes that might be. However, this concept needs to be thought through in terms of “what we will emphasize” to win and execute work, as many clients will always choose multiple ways to evaluate a company they will hire. Next, determine the secondary discipline you will rely on. For example, if you determine Customer Intimacy is the primary discipline and Product Leadership is secondary, it is key to identify what service offerings set you apart from the competition. These service offerings again are not in terms of better quality or how great you are delivering – rather they are a bona fide unique set of capabilities that are defined by technology, innovation, and value received by the client. Creating strategies to identify and cultivate those clients that will benefit from your innovative service will guide you to establishing those deep relationships offering a unique set of capabilities. Attracting, retaining, developing, and educating staff that fit the characteristics of these two disciplines then becomes a guidepost for the company. The concept is simple – doing it is much more difficult. Having the fortitude to move away from, divest, or de- emphasize clients and service offerings that don’t fit your discipline model will lead you to higher financial and overall business success. The key is discipline, focus, and commitment to set yourself apart by not succumbing to the vanilla approach of being everything to everyone. GERRY SALONTAI is the founder of Salontai Consulting Group, LLC. Contact him at gerry@salontai.com.

and internal investment in staff.

The question is, which is best to set oneself apart? Any of these can be the basic building block that will help set a company apart from others. For example, being the most efficient and low cost provider can set you apart from others if you choose the Operational Excellence model and endeavor to compete in a more commodity-based environment. This is not a bad choice – rather just a choice. One of the keys to success with the Operational Excellence model is to avoid having a business with equally weighted disciplines. Choosing and reinforcing a dominant discipline is the most successful approach, even though it’s difficult because many have well-diversified capabilities. “Having the fortitude to move away from, divest, or de-emphasize clients and service offerings that don’t fit your discipline model will lead you to higher financial and overall business success.” Organizational alignment is a problem in our business, especially if you have multiple disciplines, branch offices, or regions, and it’s why we have so many individuals that are in buying and selling positions in the company. As an example, we find ourselves allowing a part of the business to pursue projects and compete on price rather than building deep relationships with a handful of clients. All while having the discipline to say “no” to those that are only interested in price. The result is we have a business that is not structured financially to compete on price. The first step in this Value Discipline process is to critically

THE ZWEIG LETTER July 18, 2016, ISSUE 1160

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