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Published on November 12, 2007

This will be achieved through the "CPF Way" - its first ever set of organisation values.

President and CEO Adirek Sripatak said that aggressive expansion has driven the conglomerate to adopt this strategy. With a huge workforce in subsidiaries in 20 countries, it is inevitable that junior workers and some middle-level executives of the 40-year-old company do not share the same business concepts with the top executives led by Dhanin Chearava-nont, chairman of CP Group.

"Top executives like us are close to Khun Dhanin as we talk a lot. But others can feel quite isolated. We need a single set of values to ensure the continuity of corporate success," Adirek said recently during an exclusive interview with The Nation.

The "CPF Way" was drawn up to promote more young management talent to realise more about the organisation's culture via an exchange of views with top executives more often. It concentrates on six key practices: receptivity to change, personal mastery and shared learning, innovation, integrity and honesty, achievement orientation, and returns to Mother Earth.

Adirek believes that the strategy - based on international practices - will drive the company from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to a global brand manufacturer. In particular, the plan aims to change the mindset of its employees to concentrate more on brand building, consumer needs and retail business channels.

"As the company is getting bigger, it is difficult to achieve knowledge transfer from top executives. In the past, top executives regularly discussed things with Khun Dhanin and we shared views on how to lead the company," he said.

Hopefully, the "CPF Way" will support the company's plan to achieve sustainable growth amid fierce competition. The company plans to reach annualised sales of Bt200 billion

in the next three years. It reported total sales of Bt125 billion last year.

Knowledge transfer is a main focus, given that some executives have worked for the company for 40 years while the company never stops recruiting new employees in response to its global expansion. One day every month there is a session where 10 selected employees, aged 39-45 years, present their ideas to improve their respective areas to Dhanin and other top executives. The recorded presentation is also stored in the in-house electronic system so that other employees are informed of the same issues. Next time, it could be their chance to present their views.

"Accumulated experiences will lead them to the right decisions and avoid mismanagement," Adirek said.

Knowledge transfer is vital given the company's aggressive expansion. Despite vast distances, if all executives share the same views and the same goals, the company will move towards the same direction. So far, CPF has promoted its Thai executives to lead newly opened overseas units. Now, when the locals in respective countries are subsequently promoted, Thai executives will be dispatched to somewhere else.

Executive vice president for human resources and president of the CPF training centre Tinakorn Ruenthip said that as an agro-industrial business, CPF needs employees with workable management experience. Talented young executives will be trained in appropriate courses to become effective leaders and an important engine to drive the company's business in the future.

Tinakorn added that the training will start with all 80,000 local staff first and then will be extended to those who work overseas.

The training programmes are written after visits to many multinational companies such as GE and Boeing. Their human-resource development schemes have become CPF's platform to stand for good practices from the West. But Thai management culture is mingled to complete the training programmes of CPF.

In focus now are staff working in supply chain, logistics and brand building. For the right workforce, CPF also joins hands with universities nationwide to directly recruit graduates. It is also interested in recruiting graduates from top-10 universities in the US, India and the Philippines.

In the first step, 45 young talented manager from CPF plus 30 new graduates will join a training programme where they will be groomed to become potential leaders who share the corporate mindset of the "CPF Way".

Achara Deboonme,

Achara Pongvutitham

The Nation