Thursday, March 11, 2010

Extension To The Great CEOs List

To only put up 5 CEOs as great may be doing a disservice to many who can be categorised as greats as well. I have decided to extend the list:



Abdul Halim bin Harun - UMW

Dato’ Abdul Halim bin Harun was appointed to the Board of Directors of UMW Holdings Berhad on 15 October 1990, before becoming the current Group Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer on 5 April 2001. He received his formal education from Universiti Teknologi MARA and Emile Woolf College of Accountancy, United Kingdom. He is a member of the Malaysia-China Business Council, Malaysian Oil & Gas Services Council, Member of the Advisory Panel of Malaysia-Japan University Center, Member of the Advisory Board (Master of Science in International Business), Universiti Utara Malaysia and a Member of the Board of Trustees, MERCY Malaysia.

In 2007, he was awarded Malaysia’s CEO of the Year by Business Times. He was also a finalist in Asia Business Leaders by CNBC Asia for 2007. Prior to joining UMW Holdings Berhad, Dato’ Abdul Halim was the Managing Director of Klang Port Management Sdn. Bhd. and Klang Container Terminal Berhad.




Francis Yeoh - YTL Group of companies

The eldest son of Malaysian billionaire Yeoh Tiong Lay. He obtained a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) Degree in Civil Engineering from Kingston University, UK in 1978. Francis had his secondary school education at VI in KL where he was School Captain. He became the MD of YTL Corp in 1988. Under his stewardship, the YTL Group grew from a single listed entity in 1985 to a force comprising five listed companies, and is now one of the biggest conglomerates in Malaysia.

On February 13, 2004, he was conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from his alma mater, Kingston University. He was awarded Business Week's 25 Stars of Asia in 2003; and was ranked 21 by Fortune Asia's 25 Most Powerful Business Personalities in 2004. In 2006, he was conferred CBE by Queen Elizabeth II for his philanthropic endeavours.

To me, his strong points are the ability to crunch the numbers deep enough and when the numbers match up, he is not averse to raise capital to complete the deals. He will wait to strike when the time is ripe. In almost all his purchases, he ends up looking very smart when you look back after a few years.


managingdirector copy.jpg
KPJ Healthcare Bhd Managing Director Datin Paduka Siti Sa'diah Sheikh Bakir

Datin Paduka Siti Sa'diah has been the Managing Director of KPJ Healthcare since 1 March 1993. An Economics graduate from University Malaya in 1974, Datin Paduka began her career with JCorp in the same year. She has been directly involved with JCorp's Healthcare Division in 1978. She was the Chief Executive of KPJSB, the holding company of KPJ Healthcare, from 1989 until the restructuring of KPJ Healthcare in November 2002.

Datin Paduka is also a Director in other companies within the JCorp Group, such as Kulim (M) Berhad, Puteri Hotels Sdn Bhd, Willis (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and JMF Asset Management Sdn Bhd, as well as Klinik Waqaf An-Nur, a nongovernmental organisation dedicated to the provision of healthcare services to the less fortunate. Her commitment to excellence in healthcare has driven her to be active in professional organisations, such as becoming the Vice President of the Association of Private Hospitals in Malaysia (APHM), from 1994 to 1996, and the President of the Malaysian Society of Quality in Health (MSQH), since its inception in 1997.

Datin Paduka has also been a Board Member of MATRADE since 1999, Chairman of the Audit Committee of MATRADE since 2003, a member of the National Productivity Corporation's Consultative Panel on Healthcare since 2001, and a member of the National Patient Safety Council, Ministry of Health since 2003. Since 10 April 2004, Datin Paduka was elected as an Independent Director of Bursa.




Krishnan Tan Boon Seng - - IJM

He is likely to step down by December 2010. He joined IJM as financial controller in 1983 and was appointed deputy managing director on Nov 1, 1993. He rose in rank to assume the post of Group Managing Director on 1 January 1997. He was re-designated as Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of IJM on 26 February 2004. He qualified as a Certified Public Accountant in 1978 after graduating with a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) degree from University of Malaya in 1975. He also holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, USA.

Prior to joining IJM, he was with Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Berhad for 7 years, his last position was Group Financial Controller. His directorships in other public companies include IJM Plantations Berhad, Industrial Concrete Products Berhad, MASSCORP Berhad, Torsco Berhad and Grupo Concesionario del Oeste S.A. He is also President of COBRA (Combined Old Boys Rugby Association) since 1995 and a Trustee of Perdana Leadership Foundation since 2003.He became CEO and managing director on Feb 26, 2004.

IJM had its best growth period under his tenure. The acquisition of Road Builders was quite spectacular. It was also under Tan that IJM went successfully overseas in a big way.

2 comments:

METALRAGE said...

A real challenge for these stellar CEOs? Dislodge the entrenched players and fix our transportation system.

Our bus stands are naked. The sense of duty is absent. There's no real urgency to review routes/build inter station walkways/provide last mile connectivity etc. It does not take a bright CEO to how low hanging the fruit are. You don't need experience on how to run a bus co to be able to do so. It's basic logistical coordination and everything is predictable so you can learn along the way.

But it will require someone of real ability to inspire and to pull strings and to dislodge to make it work in our less than ideal local environment.

No hope from govt led initiative. I believe w/ a profit oriented private initiative, revamp is possible.

Tony Fernandez who takes off after Richard Branson, comes to mind. But just about anybody will do.

julian said...

would be great if you could provide roe's (among the many yardsticks)of these co's. thanks