October 1, 2007

Bangkok Post - As part of the sixth Thailand Corporate Excellence Report for 2006 prepared by the Thailand Management Association (TMA), the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University and MarketWise Ltd, there was...

Q: What do you see as the key drivers for corporate excellence at PTT?

A: An exceptional competitiveness and worldwide business linkages are the nature of the energy business. As the national energy company, PTT needs an excellent management team to develop the organisation to be strong, secure and resilient to any emerging changes. Management excellence brings about competitive advantage and national energy security, as well as adding sustainable economic value for Thailand.

Q: How would you like PTT and other Thai companies to develop to achieve corporate excellence?

A: The most important developments are:

• Development of performance standardisation.
• People development, as we wish for them to be both moral and capable, and to have the efficiency necessary to the growth of the organisation and the ability to adapt to the present world changes or upcoming ones.
• Innovation and technology development, which is worthwhile and important to the organisation.
• Effective and efficient productivity development, in order to produce quality products, to add value, and to compete.

Q: Since many business executives do not manage as large an organisation as you do, which experience or lesson do you think would be common enough that you can share with them?

A: It is to drive operations or processes to be carried through as planned by continuously communicating with their people to make sure that the same target is acknowledged and clearly understood. Executives should give their people the chance to share their ideas. This will even strengthen the unity of teamwork. Continuous two-way communication with all involved stakeholders is important too, as it will create an understanding and support for the organisation to stably move on.

Q: What would be your tips on managing people for high corporate excellence?

A: The human development plan should synchronise with the business plan. This is to have quality people, who are moral and capable, and leadership motivated. The sufficiency of manpower needed in fulfilling the organisation mission and the evaluation system, which signifies performance and capability, is also important toward human resource management. Leaders, as well, should set good examples. Leaders should have morality, vision, and know how to build up spiritual strength among their people.

Q: What is the best decision you made that you felt improved the corporate excellence of your organisation?

A: It's the PTT use of the HPO or High Performance Organisation concept. HPO is a mechanism to determine the path of PTT to becoming a regional leader with good corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, while Group Knowledge Management and Group Synergy are also essential. These essences help create the most value out of existing resources by integrating all production chains of oil, gas, and petrochemicals; reducing redundancy; topping up values; and growing stronger and more flexible in order to compete.

Being listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, companies in the PTT group could make the most value from their capital mobilisation and asset management. This has been done under the HPO concept. This has been proved to be a very successful concept, as PTT has received many awards and been recognised by many domestic and international institutions.

Q: When you search for key executives to work for you, what are the qualifications or capabilities you are looking for?

A: Apart from professional expertise, a person should have a leadership motivation, clear vision and learning aspiration. He should also have positive thinking, the kind that could be developed to a practical, strategic initiation. He should be skilful in managing, either to achieve the set target or to create the most effective teamwork. He, as well, is expected to have an attitude in accordance with the corporate culture and adhere to good corporate governance principles.

Q: What do you consider your best skill?

A: I think it is the learning skill. One should start by being open-minded and always ready to learn. People can learn all the time. They can learn through observing, practising, studying or researching, training or attending an academic course. It's important for learners to, through synthesising, turn the knowledge into practice. Make it useful to themselves, to their team or their work. Their knowledge will get them ready for any changes. Knowledge will help reinforce the organisation by having efficiency and effectiveness in achieving a mutual target.

Q: What is your advice for managing during this age of uncertainty?

A: To administer an organisation in this era of change, administrators have to be open-minded, always eager to learn and determined. They should focus only on the targeted end-results and avoid being distracted by the sweetness of success. Today's success is not a firm guarantee of success tomorrow.

Kriengsak Niratpattanasai provides executive coaching in leadership and diversity management under the brand TheCoach. He can be reached at coachkriengsak

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