A top human resources
executive tells KI Woo how companies are building global-class
infrastructures.
Building infrastructures that
can help companies compete successfully against global competitors is fast
becoming a top priority.
Acquiring, and more
importantly, keeping the best talent is now viewed as a critical ingredient for
building a sustainable and profitable business.
Edwin Sim, president and CEO
of Pathfinder Asia Ltd and its affiliate Human Capital Alliance Ltd, said
that as companies begin riding the economic recovery and become highly
profitable again, they are all seeking ways to sustain growth by upgrading
their management and operational infrastructures.
“Most companies are now saying
they must further professionalise their operations,” he said.
After decades of establishing
strong bases in Asia , many local family companies are now aiming to build
sustainable global businesses and realise that they must develop appropriate
infrastructures that will first attract and then retain top management talent.
A key infrastructure
ingredient is developing an appropriate internal corporate culture that will
attract management leaders. “Top professional business leaders thrive best in
high-performance, meritocratic organisations,” he said.
The economy now features many
large, family-controlled companies that are gradually evolving into
professionally run organisations. These companies are constantly wrestling with
issues such as how to meld the best Western management practices with Asia ’s
unique culturally influenced business environment, he said.
Pathfinder Asia Ltd and Human
Capital Alliance, he said, are led by experienced United States and
Canadian-trained professionals who spent their formative education and business
years in North America before returning to Asia .
“Our people have the ability
to recognise and bridge the gap between Western management practices and the
unique requirements of Asian family companies,” he said.
The key to developing
successful global management practices in Asia and particularly in Thailand is
knowing how to combine pragmatic, analytical-based Western business strategies
with holistic Asian practices that emphasise balance and harmony.
“Successful Asian companies of
the future will be those that can efficiently and effectively meld the best of
both worlds,” he said.
Another key element is
identifying and then dealing with the unique needs of a company’s stakeholders.
An Asian family company’s stakeholder structure is in most cases much more
complex than its Western counterpart.
A major reason for the
difference is the family’s inherent influence in Asian cultures. “Family is
business and business is family”.
In most Western companies,
stakeholders are limited to their shareholders, management team, employees,
communities and customers. However, in Asian companies, family relationships
strongly influence stakeholders’ interactions.
“Stakeholders in Asian companies
may simultaneously belong to several stakeholder groups, each representing a
diverse range of often-competing interests,” he said.
For example, a family
company’s management team may include executives in key functions throughout
the company.
These executives are also
share-holder/stakeholders. “These managers/shareholders’ interests in the
company may have resulted from marriage to the founder’s children or
grandchildren or nieces and nephews,” he said.
Any successful transition from
a traditional family-run company to a professionally run company requires
identifying and dealing with each company’s unique stakeholders’ interests
before pragmatically applying the latest Western management practices, he said.
A CEO of an Asian family
company, who may putatively control the board and may even represent the family
bloc that controls a majority of the company’s shares, may not be able to act
similarly to a Western company CEO because of these unique family relationships
and the need to maintain balance and harmony.
“Thus the successful
implementation of pragmatic Western-based business processes and the building
of modern global-class business management infrastructures in many cases must
be complemented with an acute awareness of the unique internal culture of most
Asian companies,” he said.
Thailand has developed a
strong core of top senior managers, who have been trained locally and overseas
by major multinational companies, that can help major companies compete
globally.
“Many top professional business
managers are now realising that large, local family-owned companies may indeed
now be where they can best maximise their own personal potential,” he said.
