|
|
 |
|
 TEO TONG KOOI
Director and Chief Executive Officer
HONG LEONG ASIA LTD
 Click here for interview video
[vote now]
|
Mr. Teo is one of the unique few, who stamped his mark as an outstanding corporate leader traversing 2 very different industries. In 2002, he left a very successful banking career, where he spent 17 years holding various top management posts, to move into the manufacturing industry as the Managing Director of Tasek Cement Corporation (TCB). The cement-making company was in financial bad shape, saddled with debts and losses when Teo joined in January of 2003. Within a span of 18 months, Teo had revitalized the company completely. Not only did TCB's bottom line turned into black, the company had also repaid all its borrowings with a cash surplus of RM100 million. Teo's success with TCB did not go unnoticed with the company's largest shareholder. The Board of Hong Leong Asia Ltd (HLA) decided Teo was the right candidate to oversee its entire Asia-Pacific business as CEO. The time was October 2004.
HLA's business investments spread over 4 national boundaries into China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and are just as diversified. A business portfolio that includes home appliances, diesel engines, building materials and industrial packaging products spreading over 22 companies isn't going to be easy for any CEO and Teo has no illusion about the challenge he was to face. As soon as he came on board, Teo spent the next 3 months visiting every company and understanding their operations in details. He already had a plan of what he wanted to do, and once Teo got a better idea of their operations, he began to implement a series of management programs to elevate the companies' performances. According to Teo, there is nothing complex about his management approach. He focuses on 4 key areas - people, products, costs and returns - and gets them right, hence, the 4Rs (Right People, Right Products, Right Costs and Right Returns). As an emphasis to the 4Rs, he introduced 3 management programs - Human Capital Management (HCM), Financial Discipline & Control (FDC) and Quality & Productivity Program (QPP) to help the management teams benchmark against some of the best international practices.
Teo's single-mindedness in getting the best out of the companies under his stewardship speaks volume of his commitment and leadership. As a banker, he had risen quickly up the rank to head the Corporate Banking Division of Deutsche Bank AG, Kuala Lumpur at age 36. Later, as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Hong Leong Bank, he helped transform the bank to become one of largest in Malaysia. The bank's deposit base grew from RM6.7 billion in 1996 to RM18 billion in 2001 while non-interest income went up from RM71 million in 1996 to RM 206 million in 2000. Now helming the diversified business divisions of HLA, their financial performances are just as remarkable, if not better. For example, the home appliance business division, Henan Xinfei Electric Co., posed increased PAT from RMB90 million in 2004 to RMB160 million in 2006. The company has just reported a PAT of 188 million for the first 9 months of 2007. All these were achieved in a fiercely competitive market in China characterized by cheap products from low-cost producers.
That Teo was able to repeat the same feat for his building material division closer to home is no surprise. The Building Material Group, after more than 5 years of poor operating results, has become a major profit contributor to HLA. Its Ready Mixed Division is now the largest player in Singapore with over 26% market share. Tasek Corporation Bhd (TCB), where Teo first proved his management skill in a manufacturing company, continues to record strong profit from the well-organized structure he had put in place. Today, TCB has more than RM200 million cash in hand, and remains the only cement plant in Malaysia that has zero bank borrowing.
Good leaders distinguish themselves by making happen what they believe in. That attribute is clearly evident when Teo decidedly divested the metal packaging business to pare down the company's borrowing by SGD55 million. He had also powered through traditionally invisible barricades set up by Chinese JVs to block their foreign counterparts from sending in their management personnel. Today, HLA had seconded over 20 management and technical personnel to Xinfei to take control at strategic positions. That Xinfei's profit leap from 2004 to 2006 on the back on increased output from the production floor without increase in invested capacity proved the effectiveness of his management approach once again.
It was a different ball game with another Chinese JV, the diesel engines maker, Yuchai. Using a combination of wits and persuasion, he played a lead role in settling a long outstanding dispute between HLA and the local government shareholders.
After steadying the once shaky business divisions, Teo was ready to steer his business fleet on a forward course. HLA boldly invested RMB400 million in the construction of a new factory in 2006 that will give Xinfei an added output of 1.5 million units of fridges in mid 2007. Such was the confidence the HLA board has in Teo.
HLA's sparkling business performance under Teo's leadership went well too with the investors. HLA share prices shot up from its low of S$0.80 to its highest ever at S$4.16 in September 2007 and HLA's market capitalization increased from below S$500 million to S$1.46 billion. HLA has also been ranked among Singapore's International 100 companies since 2005, an annual award presented by the International Enterprise to companies operating overseas.
Teo has also proven himself a corporate leader with a passion for social responsibility. In Xinfei, he had launched the Xinfei Scholarship Program to help the poor students to complete their tertiary studies. He visualized making Xinfei a grooming ground for outstanding engineers and technicians, so he initiated a cooperation program with X'ian Jiaotong University to bring in graduates and under-graduates to train and work for Xinfei. The package includes an annual sponsorship of more than RMB3.0 million to develop new refrigeration technology.
A person of abundant stamina and steadfast belief himself, Teo made it clear what he wants and sees of his best staff: Accountability, Discipline and Ownership or simply ADO. He often says that without ADO, most of his management programs would not be possible and any hopes of corporate transformation would be futile. With his 4Rs, 3 management programs in HCM, FDC, QPP and finally the required staff attributes in ADO firmly planted in the minds of his management team, local and seconded alike, he set strategic directions for his various companies through various 3 years' programs. In transforming Tasek Corporation Berhad (TCB), he put forward what he called the "Putting disorders back into orders" strategic initiative. In Xinfei, he launched the initiative called Growth Sustainability Program (GSP) and later Growth Acceleration Program (GAP) to chart a 3-year course for the company. The aim - to make Xinfei a world-class company. He also introduced Market Expansion Program (MEP) in the Industrial Packaging business.
Teo is the adjunct professor in X'ian Jiaotong University and member of various business associations in China. In 2005, he was conferred a Datoship by the Sultan of Pahang State Malaysia.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| Others Contestants |
| |
NACK-HOI KIM
President and Chief Executive Officer, Cheil Communications Inc. |
| |
FRANCISCO C. SEBASTIAN
President, First Metro Investment Corporation |
| |
SHUJI KITA
President Hanwa Co., Ltd |
| |
TEO TONG KOOI
Director and Chief Executive Officer, HONG LEONG ASIA LTD |
| |
SUDHAKAR RAM
Chairman & Group CEO, Mastek Ltd |
| |
DR. LIU JIREN
Chairman & CEO, Neusoft Group |
| |
SUNNY GEORGE VERGHESE
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, OLAM INTERNATIONAL LTD |
| |
AGUS MARTOWARDOJO
President Director and Chief Executive Officer, PT Bank Mandiri |
| |
DR. ZHENGRONG SHI
Founder, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd |
| |
DR. ANUSORN SANGNIMNUAN
President, The Bangchak Petroleum Public Company Limited |
| |
DR. SHUHEI TOYODA
President, Toyota Boshoku Corporation |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
