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BUSINESS BUILDING A STRONG - A look at Africa's leadership crisis - KIM Repository
December 2017- January 2018

A look at
Africa’s
leadership crisis
PAGE 50

BUILDING A STRONG
BUSINESS
Andrew Heycott, CEO Mabati Rolling Mills, talks about the 56-year-old roofing company,
leadership attributes and the future of the company
BUSINESS BUILDING A STRONG - A look at Africa's leadership crisis - KIM Repository
At Beta Healthcare, we are fully
committed to making a positive
impact on the society and the
environment.

Our business model promotes
the interest of business alongside
development of sustainable
solutions to benefit the planet,
its people and the economy.

COYA’s Corporate
Citizenship & Environmental Award
Winner: 2016 & 2017

Tel 20 265 2042/89, 0735 99 2699/2599,
0724 25 7072/73
www.betacare.co.ke
BUSINESS BUILDING A STRONG - A look at Africa's leadership crisis - KIM Repository
CONTENTS
  December 2017 - January 2018

News analysis
The way forward for Kenya post
2017 poll - Page 10

Advertising FEATURES
A look at the companies that emerged tops in the
COYA/SMOYA 2017. They include Gogni-Rajope
Construction Company Ltd, Betahealthcare,Twiga
Chemicals and ICEA Lion Page 22 - 31                                               36
iNSpirAtioN
How a job rotation helped Duncan Juma
realise that his back office customer
care job was a mismatch with his
passions. Page 28

                                  34
                                                                                   38
                                                   SMART Leadership
                                                   Reverse mentoring- Understanding
                                                   the real benefits of learning from
                                                   millennials Page 32

                                                   Country report
                                                   What African agriculture can learn
                                                   from Brazil page 46

                                                                 December 2017 - January 2018
                                                                        Management Magazine
                                                                                                1
BUSINESS BUILDING A STRONG - A look at Africa's leadership crisis - KIM Repository
CONTENTS                                                                           54
        December 2017 - January 2018

     Money matters
          Plan for your money wisely to achieve
          short, medium and long term goals
          Page 48

     Smart solutions
     Your digital footprint could kill
    your career Page 52                                                       60

                                          62

                                                  Tactics
                                                  5 Tips for scaling your influence
                                                  as a millennial entrepreneur: How
                                                  to turn your name into a legacy in
                                                  your industry page 56

                                                   Healthy Living
                                                   Is your child playing enough?
                                                   Dr Justine odionyi explains why
                                                   play has a crucial role in brain
                                                   development among children.
                                                   Page 58

        December 2017 - January 2018
        Management Magazine
2
BUSINESS BUILDING A STRONG - A look at Africa's leadership crisis - KIM Repository
BUILDING FOR GOOD

     Stone Crusher             Road                   Equipment
         Plant             Construction                  hire

            KISUMU                        NAIROBI
P O. Box 353 – 40100                           P. O. Box 8978 – 00300
Kisumu , KENYA                                         Nairobi, KENYA
T: +254-708-740-729                              T:+254-734-609-595
E: info@gogni-rajope.com                  E: info@gogni-rajope.com

                                                 December 2017 - January 2018

             w w w.g o g n i - ra j o p e.co m          Management Magazine
                                                                                3
BUSINESS BUILDING A STRONG - A look at Africa's leadership crisis - KIM Repository
FIRST THOUGHTS
                                                                             December 2017- January 2018

           A look at
                                                                                                           What you need
                                                                                                           to know about
           Africa’s
           leadership crisis
           PAGE 50

          BUILDING A STRONG
          BUSINESS
                                                                                                           money disorders

                                                                                                           W
          Andrew Heycott, CEO Mabati Rolling Mills, talks about the 56-year-old roofing company,
          leadership attributes and the future of the company
                                                                                                              By SAMMI NDERITU                          1.      Money Avoidance
                                                                                                                                                     Disorders. This includes
                                                                                                                                            hat is   underspending, excessive risk
    HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS:
                                                                                                                                            your     aversion and financial denial,
            Miriam M. Chege (mchege@kim.ac.ke)                                                                                              rela-    “when, rather than face financial
                                                                                                                                            tion-    reality, we try to minimise
                                                EDITOR:
                                                                                                                                            ship     money problems by refusing to
                  Tabitha Areba (tareba@kim.ac.ke)
                                                                                                                                            with     think about them all together
                                          SUB EDITORS:                                                                                      mon-     (e.g. avoiding looking at a bank
              Murugi Ndwiga (ndwigam@kim.ac.ke)
                                                                                                                                            ey?      statement or paying a credit
                   Brenda Muse [bmuse@kim.ac.ke]
                                                                                                           What goes on in your mind when            card bill).” Those with financial
                 STAFF WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER:                                                            your bank account has money or            rejection experience guilt
                 Sammi Nderitu (snderitu@kim.ac.ke)                                                        when it is empty? Does having             whenever money is accrued.
                              DESIGN & PRODUCTION:
                                                                                                           money make you happy or anxious?             2.      Money-Worshipping
                   Vincent Mwai (vmwai@kim.ac.ke)                                                             According to Dr. Brad Klontz           Disorders. These include
                                                                                                           a financial psychologist, just            pathological gambling,
                                       CONTRIBUTORS:                                                       about everyone has a complicated          workaholism and overspending
    Vincent Kimosop, Robert Waruiru, Grace Maingi, Duncan                                                  relationship with money.                  or compulsive buying.
    Juma, Mercy Kamana, Nidhi Sina, Robert Kanyua, Mercy
                                                                                                              Dr. Klontz adds that financial            3.      Relational Money
       Muendo, Mojisola Ojebode, Alfred Mathu, Benson
                                                                                                           strain has been found to reduce           Disorders. These include financial
     Mugambi, Loyd Kibaara, Justine Odionyi, Boaz Kisero
                                                                                                           relationship satisfaction, worsen         dependence, financial incest and
                         COVER PHOTO: Allan Gichigi
                                                                                                           depression, and lead to emotional         financial infidelity, like “telling
         PHOTOS: Sammi Nderitu & Shutterstock photos                                                       problems, health difficulties and         “little green lies” about one’s
                                                                                                           poor work performance.                    spending or finances to one’s
                                       HEAD OF SALES:                                                         In the book Mind Over Money:           partner, making purchases outside
          Anthony Githendu (agithendu@kim.ac.ke)                                                           Overcoming the Money Disorders            an agreed-upon budget or lying
                         ADVERTISING SALES (KENYA):                                                        That Threaten Our Financial Health,       about the cost of a big-ticket item.
         Elizabeth Mbinya, Boaz Kisero, Charles Chege.                                                     Drs. Brand and Ted Klontz say                The psychologists say that
                                                                                                           money disorders are persistent            when we identify our financial
           ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTION (UGANDA)
                                                                                                           patterns of self-destructive and          flashpoint experiences, challenge
            Boaz Amutuheire (boaz@luckyfamily.biz)
                                                                                                           self-limiting financial behaviours.       our distorted money beliefs,
           ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTION (RWANDA)
                                                                                                           They result from distorted beliefs        and practice healthy financial
                        Patrick Ojil (ojillp@gmail.com)                                                    about money we develop from our           behaviours (e.g. maintaining
                                                                                                           financial flashpoint experiences.         reasonable and low debt, having
                              CIRCULATION ENQUIRIES
                                                                                                           These are painful, distressing, and/      an active savings plan, as well
                            management@kim.ac.ke
                                                                                                           or dramatic life events associated        as following a spending plan),
                    PRINTED BY: SMART PRINTERS LTD.
                                                                                                           with money that are so emotionally        we don’t just become materially
                                                                                                           powerful, they leave an imprint that      richer-we become emotionally
                                              PUBLISHER                                                    lasts into adulthood.                     wealthier as well.”
              THE KENYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT,                                                              Below are three categories of                   Sammi Nderitu is a writer,
                      Luther Plaza, 2nd and 3rd Floor,                                                     money disorders identified in their          photographer and digital media
          Nyerere Road/University Way Roundabout                                                           book:                                                            expert at KIM.
               P.O. Box 43706 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya.
              December  2017 - January 2018                                                                                                                   Email: snderitu@kim.ac.ke
                    Tel: 020 2535277
              Management Magazine
4
BUSINESS BUILDING A STRONG - A look at Africa's leadership crisis - KIM Repository
We are a real estate company formed 11 years ago.

We offer cost – effective customer centric and innovative real estate solutions to our clients.

Our lines of business include:
   • sale of vacant and serviced plots
   • development and sale of houses
   • contractor business
   • a high end specialized finishes hardware

To our staff, clients, business partners and stakeholders, we say thank you for making us become the
Overall SME of the Year, besides scooping Leadership & Management and Innovation, ICT & Knowledge
Management Awards during the 2017 COYA/SMOYA Awards.

Keen on investing in real estate?
Call or pay us a visit today.

Itrade Company Ltd. Pazuri Place, Kasarani Area. | P.O Box 1646 00100 | Tel.December
                                                                             0720299572/     0706987530
                                                                                     2017 - January 2018
Email: info@itrade.co.ke | www.itrade.co.ke
                                                                                       Management Magazine
                                                                                                             5
BUSINESS BUILDING A STRONG - A look at Africa's leadership crisis - KIM Repository
Perspective

                                            Staff training yields
                                            productivity
                                            Zappos - an online shoe and             Employee retention
                                            clothing shop based in Las Vegas,       Retention of productive
                                            Nevada - is recognised as a legend      employees is a major concern for
                                            in the customer service world.          HR professionals and business
                                            The company has an employee             executives. HR data analytics
                                            culture with a singularity of mind      show that it is more efficient
                                            focused on customer service.            to retain a quality employee
                                            Everyone that is hired - accountant,    than to recruit, train and orient
          Whatever form the                 lawyer, software developer - goes       a replacement employee of the
          crisis may take,                  through the same training as the        same quality. Employee training
          business leaders                  call center reps. It is a four-week     is one of the few exercises most

       should develop                       training programme and then they        companies/businesses conduct to
                                            are actually on the phone for two       improve employee and business
       a swift response                     weeks taking calls from customers.      performance. Training employees
       approach.”                           At the end of that first week of        empowers them to perform
                                            training, Zappos makes an offer to      diligently even in tasks they
                                            the entire class of payment for the     doubted they could when joining

    W
                                            time already spent training plus a      the company. A good case study is
    By MURIITHI NDEGWA
                                            bonus of USD2,000 to quit and leave     Quicken Loans Inc., Michigan. The
                                   hile     the company immediately after the       online mortgage lender’s offers its
                                   it’s     training. According to Tony Hsieh,      full-time employees an average of
                                   easy     the CEO of Zappos, paying new           350 hours of training every year and
                                   to       hires to leave may seem counter-        has a low 13 per cent full-time staff
                                   view     intuitive, but it makes simple sense;   turnover rate.
                                   in-      the goal of is to weed out the people
                                   vest-    who are just there for a pay cheque.    Bottom line
                                   ment                                             Training has always been a great
    in employee development as a            Increased productivity                  option for organisations to build
    cost centre, statistics show that the   There is an interesting empirical       a diversified employee base, with
    benefits a company can accrue from      study by the American Society for       team members learning the ropes
    a skilled manager are wide-reaching     Training and Development (ASTD)         and company mores. But many
    when considered wisely. There is        on 540 corporations that used two       organisations throw the training
    indeed evidence that organisations      samples whereby one invested            programme to the curb after they
    investing in effective staff training   about USD900 for each employee          feel new employees have become
    and development tend to achieve         per annum while the other invested      well-acclimated. But this notion
    both short and long term benefits.      approximately USD275. The results       could not be further from the truth.
                                            revealed that the group with high       Companies need to develop a
    Productivity and customer               investment outperformed the other       consistent training programmr to
    satisfaction                            with 57 per cent more sales and 37      allow employee growth.
    Training increases overall customer     per cent higher gross profit. Besides
    satisfaction because of professional    that, the study noted that increasing          Muriithi Ndegwa OGW, HSC,
    service delivery by the staff, which    training expenditure by USD680                       MKIM - KIM Executive
    can only be achieved through            improved shareholders value by an                            Director /CEO
    targeted customer service training.     average of about six per cent.                  Email: mndegwa@kim.ac.ke
                                                                                             Twitter: @MuriithiNdegwa

    December 2017 - January 2018
    Management Magazine
6
BUSINESS BUILDING A STRONG - A look at Africa's leadership crisis - KIM Repository
December 2017 - January 2018
       Management Magazine
                               7
BUSINESS BUILDING A STRONG - A look at Africa's leadership crisis - KIM Repository
News Africa

    Western Union reports                                                       Kenya, SA
    drop in Africa business                                                     named luxury
                                                                                hotels hotspots
                                                                                Kenya and South Africa have been
                                                                                tipped as the next continental
                                                                                hotspots in luxury hotel investment,
                                                                                according to a new report released
                                                                                at the World Travel Market 2017
                                                                                held in November.
                                                                                “South Africa and Kenya are
                                                                                expected to register strong growth
                                                                                in luxury hotels as Sub-Saharan
                                                                                Africa continues to be popular
                                                                                with luxury travellers,” says
                                                                                Euromonitor International’s Top
                                                                                100 Cities Destination Ranking 2017
                                                                                report.
                                                                                Kenya has witnessed a string of
                                                                                heavy investments by leading
                                                                                luxury hotels in Kenya last year,
                                                                                among them Accor Hotels, Hilton,
                                                                                Carlson Rezidor and Acacia
                                                                                Premier. Nineteen hotels are
                                                                                expected to come to Kenya shortly,

    M
                                                                                with a total of 3,453 new rooms
                                                                                in the pipeline, according to a
                                  oney      partnership with Western Union      report by Lagos-based consultancy
                                  trans-    has dropped by 31.5 per cent        W-Hospitality Group.
                                  fer       in the past two years to KSh3.9     A hotel must offer luxurious
                                  service   billion ($390 million) from         accommodation and public areas
                                  pro-      KSh5.7 billion ($570 million).      including a spacious reception hall,
                                  vider     New entrant Wave has been           24-hour reception and room service
                                  West-     the key beneficiary in the          to be termed as luxurious. Five-star
                                  ern       competition for diaspora            hotels must have a restaurant with
    Union has reported a decrease           remittances. Wave was used to       a high-quality menu and at least
    in transactions in Africa as com-       pay 29 per cent, (Ksh4.3 billion)   one permanent luxury suite.
    petition for diaspora remittances       of the total amount remitted
    increased following increased com-      through Equity Bank in its first
    petition from new players.              year of operation. The platform
    Western Union’s third quarter           does not charge transfer fees to
    financials show an 11 per               send money from the US, UK
    cent decline in the number of           and Canada to Ghana and East
    transactions conducted in its           Africa.
    Middle East, African and South          Paypal, a favourite with youths
    Asian markets.                          doing in online jobs, has also
    Equity Bank has said the volume         become a key player taking up
    of cash remitted through its            some of the business in Equity
                                            Bank.

    December 2017 - January 2018
    Management Magazine
8
Oxford Business Group is a global   “Simply the most accurate
economic research house and               and comprehensive
consultancy producing annual             reports on emerging
investment and economic reports            markets available.”
in more than 35 markets.                     – The World Bank

                                                    THE INSIDE EDGE
                                         www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com
                                       kenya@oxfordbusinessgroup.com
                                                        @OBGinsights

                                              December 2017 - January 2018
                                                     Management Magazine
                                                                             9
News Analysis

     The way forward for
     Kenya post 2017 polls
     Kenya’s is neither a legal nor a constitutional problem, but a political problem that will
     require a political approach to solve.

     I
     By VINCENT KIMOSOP

              n 2017, Kenya has gone
              through the phases of its
              most protracted electioneer-
              ing period since Indepen-
              dence. The intrigues wit-
              nessed during this election
              include an unprecedented
              scale of mass protests against
     the elections management body, nu-
     merous electoral-related litigations,
     the first annulment of a presidential
     poll, the withdrawal of a major
     candidate and the resignation of          among them being economic                   neither a legal nor a constitutional
     a top election management body            boycott targeting products of major         problem; it is purely a political one
     officer culminating in a controversial    companies.                                  that will require a political approach.
     repeat election characterised by a           A look at Kenya’s growth                 This is why even with the repeat
     significant voter boycott, cancelation    prospects reveals a worrying                election and the apex court having
     of elections in 25 constituencies, the    trend in the medium term GDP                pronounced itself on the same (it
     lowest voter turnout and the highest      growth rates for Kenya. For eight           helped give the elections a legal and
     victory thresholds for the eventual       consecutive months, Kenya’s GDP             constitutional closure) the nation is
     winner.                                   growth forecast has been reducing           not yet out of the woods. It will take
        The net effect of this one-of-a-kind   and this is traced back to April 2017       political capital to get the country
     electioneering period has been an         when the World Bank downgraded              out of the current situation.
     intensification of the economic woes      the projected 6.0 per cent GDP                 Proper diagnosis of the issue is
     facing the country mainly arising         growth rate by 0.5 per cent. As at          important so as to ensure that we
     from a fall in domestic and external      September 2017, the rate stood at 4.8       have the proper prescription to the
     market demand. This is mainly             per cent.                                   problem and use this opportunity to
     attributed to a deferred focus on the        The World Bank estimates Kenya’s         address the matter comprehensively
     economy and prolonged political           economy to be USD70 billion and             unlike the short-term approaches
     activities resulting in uncertainty.      a one percentage drop in growth             that have been used in the past.
     During such times, investors tend         implies real impact on the lives of            This is why calls for dialogue are
     to adopt ‘a wait and see’ approach        the populace. Things have not been          fast gaining currency with a greater
     even as they look forward to a            made any easy particularly that             emphasis being on a broad-based,
     predictable conclusion of the contest.    this is happening in the wake of            all-inclusive multi sectoral approach.
        The opposition NASA coalition          the passage of the interest capping         This is because of the lessons of the
     has now mutated into a resistance         legislation that has led to limited         2007/2008 post election violence
     movement and has devised different        access to credit by SMEs.                   that was ended with the formation
     strategies to prosecute their agenda         It is vital to appreciate that ours is   of a grand coalition government.
      December 2017 - January 2018
      Management Magazine
10
News Analysis
                                            A key starting point should be in        to clinch the presidency is intense.
  Interestingly, even after a political
                                          enhancing systems and processes of         The Bomas Draft is a good reference
deal - the famous Kibaki-Raila
                                          elections management to ensure that        point on the options that Kenyans
Handshake - the agenda four items
                                          the conduct of future presidential         made during the development of the
were not given the due attention.
                                          contests meets the minimum                 Constitution.
these included: Undertaking
                                          thresholds of legitimacy and legality.       There’s need to redefine
constitutional, legal and institutional
                                          In order to satisfactorily realise this,   the structure of the role of the
reforms; Tackling poverty and
                                          legislative reform efforts should be       Opposition. The current framework
inequality and combating regional
                                          conducted in a bipartisan manner           where we have a Leader of Minority
development imbalances; Tackling
                                          and within a time that does not            has not been effective in facilitating
unemployment especially among
                                          coincide with electioneering periods       the Opposition to engage in the
the youth; and Consolidating
                                          in order to eliminate conflict of          policy processes. We need to make
national cohesion and unity .
                                          interest and elevate objectivity in the    provision for a dignified national
                                          design of the legal and regulatory         Opposition with facilitation and
  To a better future
                                          frameworks governing elections.            funding to be able to play its role of
As Kenya navigates this necessary
                                            Experience from the performance          checking government in Parliament
democratic imperative of holding
                                          of the Cabinet indicates that              and outside and promoting national
elections every five years, there is
                                          communities in Kenya want to be            integration and development and
need for a moment of introspection
                                          represented in Government mainly           this can be replicated even at the
on its negative effect on the socio-
                                          by politicians and not professionals.      county level.
economic fabric of our society.
Focus should therefore not only           To foster this aspiration, there
                                          might be need to address the                  Vincent Kimosop is a Policy and
be on the prospects of building
                                          2010 Constitution structure of the           Governance Expert with Sovereign
cohesion, peace and stability but it
                                          Executive. We currently have a                                       Insights.
should also give emphasis on how
                                          spoilt system (“winner takes all”                          Email: vkimosop@
to cushion the economy from the
                                          presidential system and “loser loses                     sovereigninsight.com
disruptive effects of elections in
Kenya.                                    everything”) and thus competition

                                                                                          December 2017 - January 2018
                                                                                                  Management Magazine
                                                                                                                              11
Top Events

                                                                                                                    COYA/SMOYA
                                                                                                                    GALA NIGHT

                                                                                                                    Venue:
                                                                                                                    Safari Park Hotel

                                                                                                                    Date:
                                                                                                                    17th Nov 2017
     Nairobi Bottlers Ltd was named 1st Runners Up, 2017 Company of the Year.                                       Photos: Courtesy

                                                                                                                    The OPI Business Excellence Model
                                                                                                                    exists to help organisations improve
                                                                                                                    their performance and succeed in the
                                                                                                                    competitive global marketplace. The
                                                                                                                    Kenya Institute of Management is
                                                                                                                    dedicated to improving African orga-
                                                                                                                    nizations regardless of sector, size or
                                                                                                                    structure. The OPI was developed in
                                                                                                                    response to feedback from organiza-
                                                                                                                    tion participating in Company of the
                                                                                                                    Year Award (COYA) and SME of the
                                                                                                                    Year Award (SMOYA), who called on
                                                                                                                    the Kenya Institute of Management
                                                                                                                    (KIM) to refine the assessment meth-
                                                                                                                    odology in order to emphasize the
                                                                                                                    relationship between instilling smart
                                                                                                                    business processes and generating
                                                                                                                    strong business results.
     The team from I Trade Company Ltd, which won Overall SME of the Year,, receives their trophy. They also took   Whilst there are numerous man-
     home the Leadership and Management category under SMOYA and the Innovation, ICT &                              agement tools and techniques
     Knowledge Management award.                                                                                    commonly used, the OPI Excellence
                                                                                                                    Model is a practical, non-prescriptive
                                                                                                                    framework which provides a holistic
                                                                                                                    view of the organisation and it can
                                                                                                                    be used to determine how these
                                                                                                                    different methods fit together and
                                                                                                                    complement each other. The Model
                                                                                                                    can therefore be used in conjunction
                                                                                                                    with any number of these tools,
                                                                                                                    based on the needs and function of
                                                                                                                    the organisation, as an overarching
                                                                                                                    framework for developing sustain-
                                                                                                                    able excellence.

     Kenyatta National Hospital took home the Judges Award.

      December 2017 - January 2018
      Management Magazine
12
Top Events

    Blowplast Ltd took home the
    Innovation, ICT & Knowledge
    Management under COYA.

   Gogni Rajope Construction Com-
   pany Ltd was recognised under
   SMOYA for Corporate Citizenship
   and Environmental Focus and
   Productivity & Quality.

   Shoppers Sacco was awarded for
   Human Resource Focus under
   SMOYA as well as Customer
   Orientation & Marketing.

December 2017 - January 2018
       Management Magazine
                                     13
Great Quotes

                             Ten Strategies for Conflict Resolution

                           1. When angry, separate yourself from the situation
                                       and take time to cool out.

               2. Attack the problem, not the person. Start with a compliment.

                 3. Communicate your feelings assertively, NOT aggressively.
                     Express them without blaming. Focus on the issue,
                              NOT your position about the issue.

             4. Accept and respect that individual opinions may differ, don’t try
                to force compliance, work to develop common agreement.

            5. Do not review the situation as a competition, where one has to
           win and one has to lose. Work toward a solution where both parties
                           can have some of their needs met.

              6. Focus on areas of common interest and agreement, instead of
                          areas of disagreement and opposition.

              7. NEVER jump to conclusions or make assumptions about what
                             another is feeling or thinking.

             8. Listen without interrupting; ask for feedback if needed to assure
                            a clear understanding of the issue.

                9. Remember, when only one person’s needs are satisfied in a
                       conflict, it is not resolved and will continue.

                10. Forget the past and stay in the present. Build ‘power with’
                  NOT ‘power over’ others. Thank the person for listening.

     December 2017 - January 2018
     Management Magazine
14
December 2017 - January 2018
       Management Magazine
                               15
Cover Story

     Andrew Heycott,
     Chief Executive Officer, Mabati Rolling Mills

     December 2017 - January 2018
     Management Magazine
16
Cover Story

Building a STRONG
business, brick by brick
Mabati Rolling Mills (MRM) has been in business since 1961, ensuring they are at the
forefront of growth through innovation, technology and sustainability. ANDREW HEYCOTT,
Chief Executive Officer, talks to SAMMI NDERITU about their success journey.

1
        . How has the recent elec-      decision to expand our colour           Kenyan standards and on this front
        tioneering period in Kenya      coating capacity. This was to provide   we work closely with the authorities
        affected your business?         both greater diversity in product       to achieve this. Ultimately this is
        Have you had to re-organise     solutions and also to encompass the     beneficial to the consumer who ends
your operations to cushion yourself     latest technology with a state of the   up with a longer life roof.
from the current economic slow-         art colour coating line from Korea,       We are commited to keep our
down?                                   who are recognised world leaders        products at world class standards
                                        in the field. With our new facility     even when we see an increased
  Like most manufacturers in            we will continue to lead the way        proliferation of substandard material
Kenya, we have experienced a            through new products and solutions      in the market.
challenging environment during          for many years to come. We oficially      The other key challenge is
2017 both due to the electioneering     commissioned the line in December       ensuring we can manufacture in a
but also other macro econominc          2016 and it is currently being          cost competitive environment and
factors. We anticipated some            ramped up to capacity.                  we encourage the government to
of these challenges during our                                                  continue its drive to improve power

                                        3
planning processes and have had to               . What are the major chal-     availability and lower costs as well
manage the business accordingly.                 lenges that MRM is facing      as continuing to drive infrastructure
We are extremely fortunate that our              and how are you dealing        development to improve and reduce
partners and Kenyan consumers                    with them?                     logistics costs.
have remained positive about the          If you look globally, the rate of

                                                                                4
future and in fact we have launched     change is unprecedented. Be it                   . You have over 25 years
new products this year, opened          markets, technology, urbanisation,               in senior leadership roles
new service centres and ramped          regulatory environments, product                 across Asia and Africa.
up our new colour coating line at       solutions or competition. Coupled                Where did you start in your
Mariakani.                              with this the consumer, through         career journey and how did your

2
                                        digitisation, is now demanding an       previous jobs prepare you for this
         . What informed the deci-      experience as opposed to simply         role as CEO?
         sion in 2015 to embark on      a product purchase. It is critical        I’ve been in the steel industry all
         the USD25 million (Sh2.5       that big businesses stay nimble,        of my career, with Kenya now being
         billion) colour-coating com-   fast paced, flexible and capable of     the ninth country. I started out in
plex at Mariakani and where has         adapting quickly.                       Australia where the industry is quite
the project reached so far?               Of course, business would not         technologically advanced and I must
  As the Kenyan and East African        be exciting without challenges and      say the standards in Kenya (and
building and construction markets       our industry is no exception locally.   especially at MRM) are comparable
develop and mature we have              For MRM, it is paramount that we        to the best in the world. Since then,
continued to see the consumer           operate on a ‘level playing field’      I worked across Asia for 20 years
demanding greater product               across the region when it comes to      in senior roles prior to moving to
diversity and quality. This is          competing products. This means          Kenya with my family almost five
especially true of colour steel         relevant authorities need to ensure     years ago. The biggest challenge
roofing solutions and hence the         imported products comply with           for large and complex businesses
                                                                                     December 2017 - January 2018
                                                                                             Management Magazine
                                                                                                                        17
Cover Story
     these days is to stay nimble, flexible
     and consistently improve value
     propositions to meet future market
     expectations. I believe having a
     broad breadth of experience across
     many countries and cultures gives
     one a bettter understanding of this
     need and the development needs of
     our people.

     5
            . When you were appointed
            into this position, what was
            your first order of business?
     What were the quick wins you need-
     ed to realise within a short time?
       I firmly believe the best time to
     transform a company is before it
     gets into trouble. Joining a market
     leading company like MRM gave
     me the opportunity to take a great
     business and make it better. My first
     order of business was understanding
     the leadership capability within the
     organisation and having the right
     leaders, with the right skills in the
     right positions. Once you have the
     right team with an absolute focus
     on the customer then a business
     becomes unstoppable. In terms of
     quick wins, I spent a lot of time
     focusing on improving our customer
     experience through better quality,
     a broader product basket, a wider
     geographic presence and a better
     service experience. Having people
     operate in a safe way and safe
     environment is also key and a lot
     of work was done to help people
     realise they need to go home every
     day in the same shape they came to
     work.
       A lot of focus has also been
     placed on improving our cost base,
     technology, internal operating
     efficiencies and ultimately making
     the business more ‘bullet proof’ and
     therefore sustainable in the long
     term.

     6
            . How would you describe
            your leadership and man-
            agement style? How do you

      December 2017 - January 2018
      Management Magazine
18
Cover Story
encourage creative thinking within       vision and their teams they may        course is that people assume you
your organisation?                       become unstuck. I live by the mantra   will always know the answer but we
   I think my team would say I           ‘never give up’ and young leaders      are all human - no one can always
am tough but fair. I hold myself         need to realise that it takes hard     know the answer.
accountable every day for the            work and resilience to be successful

                                                                                12
successes and failures and try and       in the current complex business                      . Outside your CEO role,
ensure through a robust vision           environment.                                         what are you passionate
that my lead team and in fact the                                                             about?

                                         9
entire workforce are empowered                 . What advice would you give        I care about animal welfare,
to deliver that vision. We operate             someone going into a lead-       education, environment, health,
in a relatively strong collaborative           ership position for the first    human rights and poverty
leadership environment                   time?                                  alleviation. Having worked across
internally and I like to see people        Listen. Remain focused, remain       many countries where basic societal
continually challenged to reach          passionate, have a dream, be           needs are not always met I feel
their own potential but also to          prepared to fail and of course         compelled to try and improve
stretch themselves for their own         never give up. Recogniye your own      the lives of the less fortunate in
development.                             weaknesses so you can ensure you       whatever small way I can. To
   If you consider that successful       can have the right people around       this end, both personally and via
businesses will need to reinvent         you to ‘bridge the gaps’.              the Safal Group – MRM, we are
themselves every 3-5 years, then                                                passionate about giving back to the

                                         10
innovation and creativity are key                    . What are you doing       communities in which we live and
traits to develop in the organisation.               to ensure you continue     operate. We operate four CSR pillars
                                                     growing and developing     around health, education, shelter
                                         as a leader?                           and the environment across Kenya.

7
       . What characteristics do you       We live in an age where              In Mariakani we operate a fully
       believe every leader should       information is at our finger tips      integrated medical centre treating
       possess?                          so I spend a lot of time following,    40,000 patients per annum and a
   The famous actress Lupita             reading and learning from great        technical training institute educating
Nyong’o said that “all dreams are        global leaders. It is important that   more than 600 students each year. I
valid” to which I agree, but a vision    senior leaders have strong networks    am involved closely with both and
without a plan and the right people      and forums to share, learn and         am extremely proud of what they
to execute it is simply a dream.         bounce ideas. Feedback from my         achieve in improving the lives of
Have ‘the dream’, have the right         peers and young MRM leaders also       young Kenyans.
people empowered and plans in            keeps me on my toes.

                                                                                13
place to deliver the dream and most                                                          . How do you want to

                                         11
importantly communicate. Leaders                     . Tell us a few things                  be remembered when all
these days need to be tenacious,                     you like and dislike                    is said and done?
passionate, 1000 per cent focused,                   about your current           We believe a business is built
thick skinned and most importantly       position.                              ‘brick by brick’. I hope that the
flexible with an intuitive sense to        Seeing young leaders develop         bricks I lay will provide a strong
understand risk and reward.              into confident senior seadership       and resilient MRM with a talented
                                         roles always excites me. We have a     and dedicated leadership team to

8
      . What behaviours or traits do     fantastic talent pool here in Kenya    thrive for many years to come.
      you see derailing professionals    and I really enjoy watching my
      in their careers?                  management teams run the business
  Knowing is the easy part but           and address the challenges each                Sammi Nderitu is a writer,
doing is the hard part. Many             day. One of the challenges of senior       photographer and digital media
young leaders are full of passion,       leadership roles is making tough                           expert at KIM.
good ideas and confidence but if         decisions and sometimes making
they don’t have the tenacity and         those decisions can be emotionally               Email: snderitu@kim.ac.ke
communication skills to drive their      draining. The other challenge of

                                                                                     December 2017 - January 2018
                                                                                              Management Magazine
                                                                                                                         19
The Big Idea

     Thin line between
     tax avoidance
     and tax evasion
     Think about the principal purpose of your commercial transactions to avoid being in
     the taxman’s crosshairs

     T
     By robert waruiru

                             he difference     evasion and avoidance, which are        the seemingly ever expanding
                             between tax       the cause of a major shortfall in tax   grey area of “tax mitigation, tax
                             planning and      revenues.”                              neutral schemes and aggressive tax
                             tax avoid-          Tax evasion is criminal. You          planning”. As early as 1985, India
                             ance is the       have an obligation to pay your fair     had experienced tax planning. In
                             thickness         share of tax from profits. There are    the McDowell and Co Ltd case, the
                             of a prison       enough examples of tax evasion but      Indian High Court frowned upon
                             wall. That is a   one which fascinates me to date is      aggressive tax planning saying “tax
                             quote attribut-   that of Italy where taxpayers who       planning should not degenerate into
                             ed to Denis       own limited edition Ferraris and        tax avoidance through subterfuges”.
     Healey, a former Chancellor of            Maseratis claim unemployment               The EU appears to have a
     the Exchequer speaking sometime           benefits.                               shared view, often characterising
     when aggressive tax avoidance was                                                 tax avoidance as pushing the
     still fashionable. Tax revenues are       Tax avoidance                           boundaries of aggressive tax
     central to any government and it          Tax avoidance on the other hand         planning, which explains the EU
     is easy to see why tax evasion has        is legal. At least I used to think it   support for the latest base erosion
     taken centre stage today. Sample          was the legal reduction of one’s        and profit shifting initiatives. Yet,
     this: the Rwanda Revenue Author-          tax liability. A good example of        despite all the hue and cry about tax
     ity exceeded its 2016/17 revenue          this is taking out an insurance         planning, there is no doubt about a
     collection target while the Tanzania      policy and claiming the insurance       taxpayer’s right to tax plan.
     Revenue Authority marginally              relief available under the Income          The right to tax plan was asserted
     missed its target.                        Tax Act. But Section 2 of the Tax       by the US Court of Appeal in
        The Kenya Revenue Authority            Procedures Act, 2015, which defines     Gregory vs Helvering (1928) in
     missed its target by an eye lash          tax avoidance as “a transaction or a    which the court held that “Anyone
     wide margin. Such sterling                scheme designed to avoid liability      may so arrange his affairs that his
     performances viewed against ever          to pay tax under any tax law” has       taxes shall be as low as possible; he
     increasing tax revenue targets            challenged my earlier beliefs about     is not bound to choose that pattern
     bring to the fore the debate on           tax avoidance.                          which will best pay the Treasury;
     tax avoidance, a pet topic of the            The difference between tax           there is not even a patriotic duty to
     European Union (EU) as it turns up        avoidance and tax evasion is simple,    increase one’s taxes.”
     the heat on the “fight against tax        right? Possibly. But that was before

      December 2017 - January 2018
      Management Magazine
20
The Big Idea

    The difference
    between tax
    planning and
    tax avoidance is
    the thickness of
    a prison wall.”
    Denis Healey
                                         Gregory vs Helvering case and             commercial rationale, the form
                                         looks at the real reason behind a         of the transaction is likely to be
The Ramsay Principle                     particular action or transaction. If it   disregarded.
So how are countries responding to       can be proven that the transaction           Tax planning is a fluid and
the challenge of tax planning? Two       is legal but only serves to lower         ever-evolving concept. While it is
such responses are the enactment         one’s tax liability, the court will       difficult to define what tax planning
of General Anti Avoidance Rules          disregard that action or transaction,     is, avoiding being in the taxman’s
(GAAR) and enforcement of the            however legal it may be. This is also     crosshairs is a business imperative;
Principal Purpose Test (PPT).            commonly referred to as the Ramsay        being in the focus of the taxman
   Despite the words “tax                Principle, after the celebrated 1982      isn’t the cosiest of places to be.
avoidance” appearing eight times in      case of Ramsay vs Inland Revenue             Thinking about the principal
the Kenyan Tax Procedures Act, it        Commissioner in which the highest         purpose of your commercial
is not clear how the Commissioner        court in the UK ruled that where          transactions should be a good
will rule that a transaction is a        a transaction is so arranged as           starting point to avoid being in the
tax avoidance scheme. Given this         to serve no other purpose other           taxman’s sights.
lacuna, the PPT, should in my view,      than to reduce the tax liability, the
be a critical consideration in any       arrangement should be disregarded.             Robert Waruiru is an Associate
transaction as this will likely be the      One must always consider the               Tax Director at KPMG Advisory
basis for a tax avoidance ruling by      substance of the transaction and                                 Services Ltd.
the Commissioner.                        this substance must tie back to                  Email: rwaruiru@kpmg.co.ke
   The PPT, was first used in the        commercial rationale. Without the

                                                                                        December 2017 - January 2018
                                                                                                Management Magazine
                                                                                                                           21
Advertising Feature

     OPI has helped us
     improve performance
     Gogni-Rajope Construction Company Ltd won two awards - the Corporate Citizenship
     & Environmental Focus Award and the Productivity and Quality Award – at the 2017
     COYA/SMOYA annual awards and they attribute this to hardwork and sytems.

     D
     By Murugi Ndwiga

                                 uring      Award. The awards are not by any        has seen the company take up road
                                 the 2017   way a mean achievement - years of       construction projects across the
                                 COYA/      hard work and putting the right sys-    country and beyond the borders;
                                 SMOYA      tems in place have gone into putting    the company has ongoing projects
                                 annual     the company at this position, asserts   in the Republic of South Sudan
                                 awards,    Eng. Hannington Juma, the chief         and has successfully executed
                                 Gog-       executive officer.                      projects funded by the World Food
                                 ni-Ra-       Gogni Rajope Construction             Programme, Unicef and the United
                                 jope       Company was incorporated in             Nations Office for Project Services
                                 Con-       1993 but Eng. Juma and Eng.             (UNOPS).
     struction Company Ltd won two          George Guya, also a director at the       The company’s commendable
     awards - the Corporate Citizenship     company, joined forces in 2004 to       output has put it in good standing
     & Environmental Focus Award            steer the company forward.              with the Kenyan Ministry for
     and the Productivity and Quality         The transformation enacted since      Transport, Infrastructure and

     December 2017 - January 2018
     Management Magazine
22
Advertising Feature
                                        They engaged a recruiting firm       communities where their projects
                                     to hire professionals who would         run. To ensure the quality of their
                                     manage the various functions within     work, Juma says the development
                                     the company. The input of the           of Standard Operating Procedures
                                     professionals would be fundamental      (SOPs) for management of their
                                     in taking the company to the next       projects and regular audits has
                                     level.                                  improved productivity.
                                        Their interest in embracing
                                     the Organisational Performance             What the future holds
                                     Index (OPI) process in 2016 would          “The award is just to show us
                                     also leave a mark in their internal     that we are improving but we want
                                     processes and improve their output.     to continue by putting systems
      We started looking             In 2013/2014, they had experienced      into place which will help us into
      around on how we               delay from the government in            profitability and production,” Juma
                                     payment of certified works, which       says.
      could improve on               led them to suspending some of             He reveals that they have gone a
      our management                 their projects. This made them look     step further and had the company
      structures and                 deeper into their internal systems to   register for ISO 9001, 2015 which
      that’s how we                  work a way out.                         he believes will catapult the firm
                                        “We started looking around           to the next stage. There are still
      learnt of the OPI
                                     on how we could improve on              gaps in their systems that need
      programme. We                  our management structures and           more attention, like that of financial
      decided it could               that’s how we learnt of the OPI         management system, and to this
      be the right tool              programme. We decided it could          effect, implementation of Enterprise
                                     be the right tool to help us assess     Resource Planning (ERP) is in the
      to help us assess
                                     ourselves and improve on our            pipeline.
      ourselves and                  management,” says Juma.                    “We would want to gauge
      improve on our                    “Based on the exposure we            ourselves in terms of turnover,” says
      management,”                   have gotten from this exercise, our     Juma of the company’s future in
      Hannington Juma.               production has improved a lot.          the next two years. The company’s
                                     Despite the challenges of delayed       turnover had reached Ksh 800
                                     payment, we are still able to deliver   million in 2012, but due to the
                                     projects within a good framework,”      challenges in 2013/2014, it dropped
Housing through the various          says Juma. “We also take pride          to KSh 300 million. Currently,
road agencies, which has helped      in that whereas most of the local       turnover is approximately KSh 500
it to grow and leave a mark in the   contractors had to re-assign their      million. “In two years, we would
construction industry.               projects, we did not.” Handing over     want to have gone to KSh 1 billion
                                     of projects to a competitor is based    per year.”
   Better systems, better output     on poor or non-performance mainly          Juma confirms that the OPI
Both Juma and Guya are civil         caused by the funding structure.        process has benefited Gogni Rajope
engineers. They say when they           The OPI process has seven            and would readily recommend the
joined the company in 2004,          determinants and in all, Juma           process to other local companies
the management lacked proper         believes the company has improved       - especially to small and medium
structures.                          tremendously. A significant             sized companies. “The OPI process
   “We had to recruit qualified      improvement is on their Corporate       is quite vigorous and very useful.”
personnel, get the right equipment   Citizenship programmes, like the
and come up with motivational        education programme where they             Murugi Ndwiga is the Sub Editor
programmes for the personnel         support bright needy students in                   Management Magazine.
and chart out clear vision for the   areas where they carry out projects.
company,” says Juma.                    They have also dug boreholes for              Email:ndwigam@kim.ac.ke

                                                                                  December 2017 - January 2018
                                                                                           Management Magazine
                                                                                                                      23
Advertising Feature

     What it takes to
     be the best
     Twiga Chemical Industries emerged 2017 winner Company of the Year Awards as well
     as taking home other trophies in Leadership & Management and Productivity & Quality.
     Anantharaman Ramamurthy, the managing director, talks about what it takes to be a
     great company.

     W
      By KAGENI MUSE

                                            named Company of the Year 2017 in         “We have five values which are
                                  hat
                                            the recent COYA/SMOYA Awards           everywhere, even in our calendar.
                                  makes
                                            by the Kenya Institute of Manage-      We put the customer in the middle.
                                  an
                                            ment. He says his organisation is a    Around it we build people with
                                  organ-
                                            product of clear thinking from top     tremendous professional abilities,
                                  isation
                                            to bottom, putting the customer in     whether one is serving the customer
                                  great?
                                            the middle, collaboration, trust and   or doing something in finance or the
                                  Smart
                                            positivity.                            technical department,” he says of the
                                  strat-
                                               “We have very clear thinking.       values that have helped this company
     egy? Inspirational leadership? The
                                            And the thinking will be the same      stay in existence for the last 68 years.
     people who work there? Great
                                            whether you talk to me or you talk        The company, involved in the
     customer service?Appropriate sys-
                                            to somebody else. We are very sure     distribution of crop protection, animal
     tems?Anantharaman Ramamurthy
                                            about what the role of each person     health, consumer products and
     is the managing director of Twiga
                                            is,” says Ramamurthy.                  explosives won the Leadership and
     Chemical Industries, which was
                                                                                   Management and Productivity and

      December 2017 - January 2018
      Management Magazine
24
Advertising Feature
                                       build trust with our customers, with      and so much pride and joy.
                                       other stakeholders like the regulators       Positivity and being solution-
                                       and with our employees and we             oriented is also a key pillar that has
                                       expect them to do the same thing. We      contributed to the success of this
                                       like them to be consistent too. You       organisation.
                                       cannot be saying one thing one day           “It’s very easy for all of us to lapse
                                       then after three days you are saying      into negativity when we have some
                                       something else,” he says.                 setbacks; we all have set backs,
                                          His other tool of trade is             individually and as a company.
                                       collaboration and consultation among      We remind ourselves all the time
                                       staff and the leadership.                 through trainings to remain positive.
                                          “We have structures in place that      We spend a lot of time, energy,
                                       ensure people work together. They         money and effort on this. When we
       It’s very easy
                                       have to sit, talk, discuss, agree and     encounter problems, we say don’t
       for all of us                   then give responses to problems. We       worry, let’s sit together and see what
       to lapse into                   have a very collaborative form of         is a good solution. Don’t get bogged
       negativity when                 leadership; it takes time. I don’t make   down with the problem,” he says.
                                       decisions on my own. We will talk            Ramamurthy says they took part
       we have some
                                       to each other and make sure all our       in the OPI Excellence process as
       setbacks; we all                senior management are in agreement.       an internal motivation to prove to
       have setbacks,                  If top management is in sync, then        themselves that they have what it
       individually and                there is no way anything can fail,” he    takes. “In the process the world has
       as a company. We                says.                                     seen it,” he says laughing.
                                          Ramamurthy adds he is not afraid
       remind ourselves
                                       of spending two weeks or even a              Technology for better output
       all the time                    month convincing everybody that              The future of the agrochemicals
       through trainings               something is good and getting             industry as a whole is undergoing
       to remain                       buy-in, but after this, the results are   change with multinationals like
                                       durable.                                  Bayer merging with seed company
       positive.”
                                          As part of the OPI Excellence          Monsanto and a general move
                                       process that led to their win,            towards biologically friendly
Quality awards. Ramamurthy took        Ramamurthy says Twiga Chemicals           chemicals. Twiga Chemicals,
home the first runner’s-up CEO’s       has made a lot of improvement in          Ramamurthy says, is aware of this
trophy while his Crop Protection and   leadership and strategic management.      reality and is working towards
Animal Health General Manager,         They have set up three levels             distributing seeds and bio-friendly
James Mwangi, won first runner’s-up    of management that includes a             chemicals to remain a viable company
award Manager of the Year.             committee of directors, an executive      into the future.
                                       committee and a management                   He however says that the
  Building a worthwhile brand          council.                                  government needs to come up with
  Ramamurthy says the company             “We realised that we can learn         policies that recognise the fact that
works very hard to remain consistent   a lot from this. We have changed          the future of agriculture, farming
and reliable and in that way build     the way we organise ourselves. We         and feeding is in technology, not in
trust with customers.                  have a clear strategic plan, which        traditional ways.
  “Brands are nothing but a            is documented and enunciated and             “We have to wake up to that
repository of trust. If you buy a      shared. Earlier it might have been        reality.”
product that we have had for 25        on the minds of people but not on a
years, what you bought then is what    piece of paper,” he says.                        Kageni Muse is the Sub Editor
you buy now- it works the same.”          The firm has also improved its HR                  Management Magazine.
  “We are not comfortable with         processes, IT and marketing, resulting
people whom we can’t trust. We         in a lot of enthusiasm among the staff                 Email: bmuse@kim.ac.ke

                                                                                       December 2017 - January 2018
                                                                                                Management Magazine
                                                                                                                             25
Advertising Feature

     Bringing new
     thinking to clients
     JOSEPH WARUINGI, Managing Director Advantech Consulting, talks about management
     consulting, the growth of the firm and the services they offer.

     M
     By KAGENI MUSE

                                   anage-       eyes for an objective opinion on how     and later with Advantech, a firm
                                   ment         you are running your business? Get       he started in 2003 after he saw the
                                   consul-      a consultant. Need to make tough         need for personalised management
                                   tants are    decisions without antagonising           consulting services. He says a
                                   becoming     half your staff? Having too many         consulting firm is able to provide
                                   a key part   projects spread across the globe and     clients with services where they
                                   of today’s   need someone with the expertise          lack the skills in-house to address a
                                   busi-        to manage them for you for the du-       business challenge or where the client
     ness culture and not without good          ration they are running? Then you        is pressed for time but needs results
     reason. Do you need a particular           might consider hiring a consultant.      fast.
     set of skills that are not available         Joseph Waruingi has been in the           “For all the organisations we offer
     in-house without incurring the cost        business for more than 20 years, first   Strategic ICT Consulting, we start
     of hiring a full time employee? Hire       as an Associate Director at PwC in       with business process mapping and
     a consultant. Need a fresh pair of         charge of Strategic ICT Consulting       optimisation. This assists us and

      December 2017 - January 2018
      Management Magazine
26
Advertising Feature
client to identify business processes     despite the presence of the Big                Many have complained about the
that are redundant, duplicated and        Four for a long time. The firm was          cost of hiring management consulting
those that require to be changed.         successful within its first year to offer   firms. How does Advantech price its
This is a consultative process to         services to blue chip companies in          services without outpricing itself with
ensure buy in by client staff. Business   Kenya, government agencies and the          SMES that are too in need of their
optimisation ensures inefficient and      governments of Ethiopia, Zambia             services? Joseph notes that SMEs are
redundant business processes are not      Ghana and Eritrea.                          the bluechip companies of tomorrow
automated and hence businesses can           “We stay on top of our game by           and while they will encourage them
manage costs. We add value to our         ensuring we offer cutting edge,             to set aside an appropriate budget for
clients by bringing new thinking in       relevant and practical advice to our        the kind of value they will receive,
their sectors,” Joseph says.              clients and maintaining constant            Advantech is still keen on working
   Having worked with many                touch with them to anticipate their         with small firms so as to build
different companies across Africa         future needs and advise them.               relationships and put a foot in the
and in many sectors, and with its         Having skilled staff is paramount and       door.
expansive network of experts across       we put a lot of effort in up skilling          “Pricing for consultancies is
the continent, Advantech is able to       our staff.”                                 dependent on what the client
provide a fresh perspective and quick        Advantech started by offering            perceives as value. We constantly
solutions.                                management consulting services              analyse competition and their pricing
   Investing in opportunities             and as their list of clients grew, they     models to ensure we are competitive.
   Joseph says Advantech’s success        begun offering additional services          We focus on small-scale corporates
has proven that there is a space for      like Monitoring and Evaluation for          and entrepreneurs because we know
mid-sized niche consultancies in          development partner projects across         they will become big in the future.
management consulting in Kenya            the social sectors of health, education     We discount our service fee to them
                                          and agriculture. They are now               so as to invest in future business
                                          operating in with an intent to grow         relationships.”
                                          this to 34 countries, especially in            Advantech boasts of being a
                                          Francophone Africa, by 2020.                knowledge and learning organisation.
                                             The firm also offers Supply Chain           “Clients require demonstrable
                                          Management services in projects in          skills, knowledge and experience.
                                          the health sector for pharmaceuticals       We invest in the training of our staff.
                                          and management of cold chains.              We sponsor our staff to international
                                             “Advantech’s business model is           conferences and to work with our
                                          to have our headquarters in Nairobi         partner firms in Africa for learning.
                                          and grow our service portfolio in           We believe this helps us keep our
                                          Africa through partnerships with            skills and experience up to date and
                                          local firms and individuals. Through        helps with staff retention.”
                                          international partnerships we are able         Joseph says the firm is working
                                          to get business opportunities that          on an employee share ownership
                                          are multi country and which require         plan to entice workers to stay as
                                          multi skilled consultants and we            well as creating a positive learning
                                          believe this model is sustainable for       environment.
   Business optimisation                  the foreseeable future,” Joseph says.          “I lead from the front on all projects
   ensures inefficient and                “We are eyeing to build a pool of           and coach our staff a lot. We have
                                          experts across Europe and Asia too.”        lunch hour meetings once a month
   redundant business
                                                                                      where staff share experiences they
   processes are not
                                            Facing the challenges                     have had and can learn from each
   automated and hence
                                            A major challenge remains in the          other.”
   businesses can manage                  long cycles for getting new business                Kageni Muse is the Sub Editor
   costs.”                                especially government tenders, which                       Management Magazine.
                                          has affected cash flows as has politics                   Email: bmuse@kim.ac.ke
                                          and related conflicts in the continent.

                                                                                            December 2017 - January 2018
                                                                                                     Management Magazine
                                                                                                                                  27
Advertising Feature

     Promoting quality of
     life made us win
     Beta Healthcare won the Corporate Citizenship and Environmental Award during the
     2017 COYA/SMOYA gala night. BOAZ KISERO talks to Dr. Sanjay Advani, Director and
     Chief Executive Officer, about the achievement.

     By boaz kisero

     1. Beta Healthcare is respected for   the production time using quality      our product portfolio comprises of
     great product quality. Some of your   but affordable packaging material      over 100 products, which include
     brands like Action, Hedex and Mara    and intense research to improve        products manufactured at Beta
     Moja have achieved Super Brand        existing products.                     Healthcare’s facility and those from
     status. What makes the company        Our strong distribution and sales      affiliate and partnering companies.
     lead in pain management?              network ensures that our products      2. Give a brief about your journey to
     At Beta Healthcare, we combine        reach the farthest kiosk and           winning the Corporate Citizenship
     cutting edge technology, stringent    consumer. Through this, we receive     and Environmental award during
     quality control, state of the art     customer feedback which is used        the 2017 COYA/SMOYA gala night.
     infrastructure and innovative         as a tool to assess our quality of
     research to create quality yet        service and products as a continuous   We are proud to say that Beta
     affordable products.                  improvement strategy.                  Healthcare has won this award
     As a company, we focus on reducing    Besides pain management products,      twice in a row and look forward to

      December 2017 - January 2018
      Management Magazine
28
Advertising Feature
retaining this title next year.        and safety; conservation of the            corporate citizenship as a business
Our journey started long before we     environment while the company              model? How do you ensure that
began participation in the COYA        makes a financial saving too.              you promote higher standards
awards. In 2008, when Aspen Group,                                                of living and quality of life for
a global pharmaceutical company        3. How has the OPI model affected          the communities that surround
from South Africa, acquired            your business processes, staff and         you while still maintaining
ownership of Beta Healthcare, one of   clients?                                   profitability?
the major changes that occurred was                                               Indeed, Beta Healthcare
the focus on safety and environment.   The OPI model has helped us                International is dedicated to social
We have a vibrant Department of        evaluate our processes and                 responsibility in the communities
Environment, Safety and Health         procedures vis a vis global                we live and work. We have
Department with several policies       standards, not only in Corporate           adopted corporate citizenship
and strategies that ensure we          Citizenship and Environmental              as an organisational practice
do not cause adverse impact on         areas but also in strategy execution,      with emphasis on philanthropic
the environment. Further, we           efficiency, staff satisfaction, customer   practice all round the year. Some
proactively engage in projects         satisfaction as well as resources          of the initiatives taken are aimed
that impact on reduction of our        utilisation.                               at conservation of wildlife and
carbon footprint, waste generation     This model encourages continuous           environment. This also applies
and management, fuel, water and        evaluation and improvement in              to activities towards children/
electricity consumption as well as     all our operations. We believe             elderly homes and “Beyond Zero”
setting up an effluent treatment       that excellence is a journey, not          campaigns. Other initiatives are
plant for the treatment of processed   a destination and so we keep               done purely on humanitarian
waste water before discharge.          improving each time in our quest to        grounds to assist those in need.
These measures result in               attain excellence.
safeguarding the employees’ health                                                6. Where would you want to see
                                       4. Beta Healthcare was competing           Beta Healthcare in the next five
                                       against some of the most respected         years?
                                       brands in this region. What made           The business environment facing
                                       you stand out in the Corporate             the pharmaceutical industry
                                       Citizenship and Environmental              continues to evolve in Kenya and
                                       Focus determinant?                         around the world. In the midst of
                                       The answer lies on what the judges         these changing conditions, we are
                                       noted during the gala dinner. The          determined to contribute to the
                                       citation read; “This company has a         enrichment of the quality of life,
                                       Corporate Citizenship Policy and           through the creation of innovative
                                       Responsible Corporate Citizenship          pharmaceuticals and through the
                                       Philosophy. It has established             provision of pharmaceuticals that
                                       departments such as Human                  address diverse healthcare needs.
                                       Resources, Safety-Health and               Beta Healthcare is rapidly
                                       Environment, Quality, Governance           expanding in Africa. We want
                                       and Legal Departments so as to             to expand our product basket to
   We have adopted                     realise the Corporate Citizenship          cater for the communities we serve
                                       and Environmental objectives. The          while maintaining our quality and
   corporate citizenship
                                       company celebrates the recognition         affordability; for our products to
   as an organisational
                                       of the international days pertaining       reach very market they are needed
   practice with emphasis
                                       to Corporate Citizenship and               throughout Africa and beyond.
   on philanthropic                    Environmental matters.”
   practice all round the                                                               Boaz Kisero is a marketer and
   year.                               5. Does the company actively                                     writer at KIM
                                       practice corporate conscience or                    Email: bkisero@kim.ac.ke

                                                                                       December 2017 - January 2018
                                                                                               Management Magazine
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