Nobody’s perfect. What quality or ability do you wish you had?

I wish I could be more patient. I have a ‘let’s do it now’ attitude, particularly when it comes to dealing with clients, as they are the most important thing to any business, and in my opinion they should come first. I don’t like to put off until tomorrow what can be done today.

What is the best business book you have ever read, and why?

Many companies overlook the various benefits to be gained from applying human resource management practices to supply chain management.

Today’s new business era calls for organisations to question their leadership and use purpose to ensure sustainability for the future.

Benchmarking your organisation’s performance against others at home or internationally could see your business flourish.

A competent and reliable logistics partner is worth its weight in gold to a developing economy and to global clients seeking to invest there. Threeways Shipping has shown it can do the job and is poised to take its place as a global player.

Founded in 2005 in Canada by a group of experienced drilling rig experts, Saxon Energy Services is now majority owned by oilfield services specialist Schlumberger and the largest private equity provider in the business, First Reserve.

Operations at one of Europe’s largest coal producers are underpinned by strong customer relationships, the continued implementation of top-class training and safety measures, and solid revenues and reserves.

Coal represents the Czech Republic’s only significant indigenous energy resource; and as such, its importance to the economy in relation to export revenue and employment cannot be understated, and is as crucial today as it has been for the last two centuries.

Canadian mining company Mandalay Resources applies the principles of continuous improvement to everything it does. Creating cost-effective and stable operating conditions has enabled the company to reinvest revenue into exploration and develop a long-term pipeline of projects.

The Panama Canal will celebrate its centenary in 2014. The huge expansion program currently under way should see it through the next 100 years, as Jan Kop and Willmar Muller explain.

KPMC is a niche BEE project management and engineering company, specialising in combining the practicalities of mining, the challenges of logistics and the volumes of bulk materials handling with innovative solutions and experience.