Why Lankan companies are not world class
We live in an era where companies such as Unilever touch as much as 3.5 billion lives every day in some form, as Paul Polman, the Unilever Global Chief Executive Officer (CEO) claims. One’s market penetration levels cannot be high as this unless he or she is absolutely world class.
a time when an increasing number of organisations are thinking global and striving to become world class, Sri Lankan companies, on the contrary, are yet to make their mark even in this region. Or else can anybody think of a company who serves our own 20.2 million people, in other words at least a 0.57% of what Unilever does?
Unilever’s next strategic vision is to touch almost every living human being on this earth; serving the everyday lives of a population of 7.0 billion as Paul Polman envisions.
This is not to say being world class is serving everyone on this planet or for that matter being best in class, as Amal Cabraal, the Chairman of Unilever Sri Lanka correctly opines.
But a thing to ponder: Amidst all this, only two Lankan companies have managed to feature among the top 1,000 Asian companies; a ranking carried out based on market capitalisation of the companies in developing nations. The highest ranking was at 680 with a market capitalisation of US$ 1.4 billion followed by the second having a ranking in the range of the 800s.
This revelation came at a time when a much larger number of companies from Malaysia, Thailand and even Bangladesh have crept in to the top 1,000 list. One Bangladesh company is ranked well above its Sri Lankan counterpart at 362. There are 78 Malaysian companies too in the list.
This is also at a time when Asia is home to the most super rich with 608 billionaires out of 1,453 billionaires in the world.
These two very different anecdotes would have brought a shock to many, yet in different tones, particularly to those who were present at a regular power evening organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) under the theme ‘Aspiring to World Class Performance,’ which was empowered by Aubrey Joachim, a Sri Lankan born globally-renowned strategic finance change manager who now runs his professional training and coaching consultancy in Sydney.
Why do we fail?
This may be a sensible question to be asked from ourselves and Aubrey capitalised on this opportunity to pose those few but tough questions which kept a powerhouse of Lankan business decision makers on their toes.
Unilever’s next strategic vision is to touch almost every living human being on this earth; serving the everyday lives of a population of 7.0 billion as Paul Polman envisions.
This is not to say being world class is serving everyone on this planet or for that matter being best in class, as Amal Cabraal, the Chairman of Unilever Sri Lanka correctly opines.
But a thing to ponder: Amidst all this, only two Lankan companies have managed to feature among the top 1,000 Asian companies; a ranking carried out based on market capitalisation of the companies in developing nations. The highest ranking was at 680 with a market capitalisation of US$ 1.4 billion followed by the second having a ranking in the range of the 800s.
This revelation came at a time when a much larger number of companies from Malaysia, Thailand and even Bangladesh have crept in to the top 1,000 list. One Bangladesh company is ranked well above its Sri Lankan counterpart at 362. There are 78 Malaysian companies too in the list.
This is also at a time when Asia is home to the most super rich with 608 billionaires out of 1,453 billionaires in the world.
These two very different anecdotes would have brought a shock to many, yet in different tones, particularly to those who were present at a regular power evening organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) under the theme ‘Aspiring to World Class Performance,’ which was empowered by Aubrey Joachim, a Sri Lankan born globally-renowned strategic finance change manager who now runs his professional training and coaching consultancy in Sydney.
Why do we fail?
This may be a sensible question to be asked from ourselves and Aubrey capitalised on this opportunity to pose those few but tough questions which kept a powerhouse of Lankan business decision makers on their toes.
- Do you understand your customer expectations?
“I have been visiting Sri Lanka quite a few times during the last year,” said Aubrey. “I engaged one particular car driver on all these occasions and even referred him to a few other tourists as I thought he deserved it. So he struck a chord with me. But when I was planning my visit this time and dropped him a mail one month ahead asking him to help me to get around, I received a return mail from him declining flat out even without offering me an alternative option.”
a time when an increasing number of organisations are thinking global and striving to become world class, Sri Lankan companies, on the contrary, are yet to make their mark even in this region. Or else can anybody think of a company who serves our own 20.2 million people, in other words at least a 0.57% of what Unilever does?
Unilever’s next strategic vision is to touch almost every living human being on this earth; serving the everyday lives of a population of 7.0 billion as Paul Polman envisions.
This is not to say being world class is serving everyone on this planet or for that matter being best in class, as Amal Cabraal, the Chairman of Unilever Sri Lanka correctly opines.
But a thing to ponder: Amidst all this, only two Lankan companies have managed to feature among the top 1,000 Asian companies; a ranking carried out based on market capitalisation of the companies in developing nations. The highest ranking was at 680 with a market capitalisation of US$ 1.4 billion followed by the second having a ranking in the range of the 800s.
This revelation came at a time when a much larger number of companies from Malaysia, Thailand and even Bangladesh have crept in to the top 1,000 list. One Bangladesh company is ranked well above its Sri Lankan counterpart at 362. There are 78 Malaysian companies too in the list.
This is also at a time when Asia is home to the most super rich with 608 billionaires out of 1,453 billionaires in the world.
These two very different anecdotes would have brought a shock to many, yet in different tones, particularly to those who were present at a regular power evening organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) under the theme ‘Aspiring to World Class Performance,’ which was empowered by Aubrey Joachim, a Sri Lankan born globally-renowned strategic finance change manager who now runs his professional training and coaching consultancy in Sydney.
Why do we fail?
This may be a sensible question to be asked from ourselves and Aubrey capitalised on this opportunity to pose those few but tough questions which kept a powerhouse of Lankan business decision makers on their toes.
Unilever’s next strategic vision is to touch almost every living human being on this earth; serving the everyday lives of a population of 7.0 billion as Paul Polman envisions.
This is not to say being world class is serving everyone on this planet or for that matter being best in class, as Amal Cabraal, the Chairman of Unilever Sri Lanka correctly opines.
But a thing to ponder: Amidst all this, only two Lankan companies have managed to feature among the top 1,000 Asian companies; a ranking carried out based on market capitalisation of the companies in developing nations. The highest ranking was at 680 with a market capitalisation of US$ 1.4 billion followed by the second having a ranking in the range of the 800s.
This revelation came at a time when a much larger number of companies from Malaysia, Thailand and even Bangladesh have crept in to the top 1,000 list. One Bangladesh company is ranked well above its Sri Lankan counterpart at 362. There are 78 Malaysian companies too in the list.
This is also at a time when Asia is home to the most super rich with 608 billionaires out of 1,453 billionaires in the world.
These two very different anecdotes would have brought a shock to many, yet in different tones, particularly to those who were present at a regular power evening organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) under the theme ‘Aspiring to World Class Performance,’ which was empowered by Aubrey Joachim, a Sri Lankan born globally-renowned strategic finance change manager who now runs his professional training and coaching consultancy in Sydney.
Why do we fail?
This may be a sensible question to be asked from ourselves and Aubrey capitalised on this opportunity to pose those few but tough questions which kept a powerhouse of Lankan business decision makers on their toes.
- Do you understand your customer expectations?
“I have been visiting Sri Lanka quite a few times during the last year,” said Aubrey. “I engaged one particular car driver on all these occasions and even referred him to a few other tourists as I thought he deserved it. So he struck a chord with me. But when I was planning my visit this time and dropped him a mail one month ahead asking him to help me to get around, I received a return mail from him declining flat out even without offering me an alternative option.”
a time when an increasing number of organisations are thinking global and striving to become world class, Sri Lankan companies, on the contrary, are yet to make their mark even in this region. Or else can anybody think of a company who serves our own 20.2 million people, in other words at least a 0.57% of what Unilever does?
Unilever’s next strategic vision is to touch almost every living human being on this earth; serving the everyday lives of a population of 7.0 billion as Paul Polman envisions.
This is not to say being world class is serving everyone on this planet or for that matter being best in class, as Amal Cabraal, the Chairman of Unilever Sri Lanka correctly opines.
But a thing to ponder: Amidst all this, only two Lankan companies have managed to feature among the top 1,000 Asian companies; a ranking carried out based on market capitalisation of the companies in developing nations. The highest ranking was at 680 with a market capitalisation of US$ 1.4 billion followed by the second having a ranking in the range of the 800s.
This revelation came at a time when a much larger number of companies from Malaysia, Thailand and even Bangladesh have crept in to the top 1,000 list. One Bangladesh company is ranked well above its Sri Lankan counterpart at 362. There are 78 Malaysian companies too in the list.
This is also at a time when Asia is home to the most super rich with 608 billionaires out of 1,453 billionaires in the world.
These two very different anecdotes would have brought a shock to many, yet in different tones, particularly to those who were present at a regular power evening organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) under the theme ‘Aspiring to World Class Performance,’ which was empowered by Aubrey Joachim, a Sri Lankan born globally-renowned strategic finance change manager who now runs his professional training and coaching consultancy in Sydney.
Why do we fail?
This may be a sensible question to be asked from ourselves and Aubrey capitalised on this opportunity to pose those few but tough questions which kept a powerhouse of Lankan business decision makers on their toes.
Unilever’s next strategic vision is to touch almost every living human being on this earth; serving the everyday lives of a population of 7.0 billion as Paul Polman envisions.
This is not to say being world class is serving everyone on this planet or for that matter being best in class, as Amal Cabraal, the Chairman of Unilever Sri Lanka correctly opines.
But a thing to ponder: Amidst all this, only two Lankan companies have managed to feature among the top 1,000 Asian companies; a ranking carried out based on market capitalisation of the companies in developing nations. The highest ranking was at 680 with a market capitalisation of US$ 1.4 billion followed by the second having a ranking in the range of the 800s.
This revelation came at a time when a much larger number of companies from Malaysia, Thailand and even Bangladesh have crept in to the top 1,000 list. One Bangladesh company is ranked well above its Sri Lankan counterpart at 362. There are 78 Malaysian companies too in the list.
This is also at a time when Asia is home to the most super rich with 608 billionaires out of 1,453 billionaires in the world.
These two very different anecdotes would have brought a shock to many, yet in different tones, particularly to those who were present at a regular power evening organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) under the theme ‘Aspiring to World Class Performance,’ which was empowered by Aubrey Joachim, a Sri Lankan born globally-renowned strategic finance change manager who now runs his professional training and coaching consultancy in Sydney.
Why do we fail?
This may be a sensible question to be asked from ourselves and Aubrey capitalised on this opportunity to pose those few but tough questions which kept a powerhouse of Lankan business decision makers on their toes.
- Do you understand your customer expectations?
“I have been visiting Sri Lanka quite a few times during the last year,” said Aubrey. “I engaged one particular car driver on all these occasions and even referred him to a few other tourists as I thought he deserved it. So he struck a chord with me. But when I was planning my visit this time and dropped him a mail one month ahead asking him to help me to get around, I received a return mail from him declining flat out even without offering me an alternative option.”
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