Resilient companies will stand out
Businesses are also innovating to improve their standard of services
CHOOSING a winner in a downturn may be a tough call. Judges who presided over the selection of winners for The Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA) 2017 note that many of the companies have been affected by the weak market.
Chief judge of SOBA 2017 Datuk Eric Chong observed that the financial results of the participants were reflective of the economy. While many of them showed promising growth in 2014 and 2015, the general downtrend for 2016 was unmistakable. It was a tough year indeed.
However, he added that SMEs have demonstrated their resilience by manoeuvring through the challenging tides of the economy. Many of these small businesses are at the forefront of innovation and technological changes and have remained strong.
“In business, having ups and downs are a norm. What we need to look at is the resilience of the business players. The fact that in a challenging year, the response to the awards is still very good, I think that speaks volume of the Malaysian entrepreneurship. It is really strong. They don’t surrender and they keep ploughing forward.
“Those who receive awards are real fighters and real champions of their industries,” said Chong, who is also president of Branding Association of Malaysia (BAM).
He also noted that with the general flattening out of financial performances, participants whose results have declined year-on-year may actually still be performing better than their peers in the industries.
“So they are probably still leading in a certain way. Companies that were able to maintain their performance are considered well performed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers council member Datuk Mizanur Rahman Ghani, who is also one of the judges of the awards, said that more and more companies are moving into Industrial Revolution 4.0 technologies.
“There is greater move to automate. Basically, they are improving their standards to meet public expectations of the services they provide. And these are young companies. Even those who are providing services in the food and beverage and healthcare sectors are also improving the standards of their services.
“Of course, there are also the more technology-oriented companies. But all of them are definitely trying to raise their standards to be ahead of the competition,” said Mizanur.
Over the years, judges have commented that quality of the entries for SOBA have improved. Despite the weaker financial showing, Mizanur opined that the quality of the submissions this round were still good.
There were two judging sessions that took place for SOBA 2017, which were on November 2 and 9.
While performances have generally declined, Chong advised companies that were not profitable to refrain from participating in the awards.
“They should have a certain degree of profitability. It is not wrong to be making losses as every company is experiencing all types of things during this season. But as the management of the company, you should decide to participate in a competition only when you, yourself, is satisfied with the performance of the company.
“At the end of the day, the awards are about excellence. The profit and loss (P&L) statement is like a medical report and this is a medical review. So from the P&L, we can see whether the company is healthy or not. I think this should be prerequisite for any award to be given because it is a business award.
“So companies that are not profitable yet should work on it until they come out of it, then they would be in a good position to be in the race again. Before that, they should focus on building the company internally,” said Chong.
He also noted that companies with very large revenues but have low profitability may not be very deserving of the awards as low profit margins show that the company may not be sustainable.
He cautioned that this may also be due to “excessive tax avoidance”. In this case, the accounts may not be a true reflection of the strength of the company, which may affect judging.
“It would affect how judges assess these companies. So the financials are an indication of how the business is doing regardless of the category,” he said.
But Mizanur added that assessment for the Rising Star category was a little different, in that they do not consider the company’s performance in the current market alone.
What’s more important, he said, is to take a longer-term view to assess how sustainable the companies are.
One thing that The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce The second round of the judging session was carried out by (standing from left) Tai, Terence, Cheong, Dhia, Selvarany, Rizal, Karthi Palanisamy, (seated from left) Goh, Chong, Mizanur and Siew Wai. and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) deputy secretary general II Michael Chai noticed about the submissions received for the Best Green Initiative category was that there was a confusion over the core of the award.
“Companies participating in this category are in environment-related businesses. I think they are in the right business. But there is a difference between having a green business and running some green initiatives within the company. Best Green Initiative is about how companies exercise best green practices,” said Chai.
For the Female Entrepreneur of the Year category, Bursa Malaysia chief commercial officer Selvarany Rasiah said is was important for participants to demonstrate that they are the ones playing a leading role in the company and not just as partner to their husbands.
“To me, to get the Female Entrepreneur of the Year award, you must be the business driver. You must be the main person. There must be some integrity attached to the award,” she emphasised. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Datuk Eric Chong, president of Branding Association of Malaysia
Simon Wong, general manager of Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA)
Datuk Yap Yit Leong, secretary general of Federation of Malaysia Chinese Guilds Association (FEMACGA)
Michael Chai Woon Chew, deputy secretary general II of The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM)
Hilary Cheong, vice president of Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM)
Hanita Othman, vice president for primary market, commercial and development - securities market of Bursa Malaysia
Victor Kaw, member of Malaysian Advertisers Association
Nur Fatin Ibrahim, vice president of Kuala Lumpur Malay Chamber of Commerce (KLMCC)
Datuk See Kok Seng, vice president of Malaysia Entrepreneurs’ Development Association (PUMM)
10. Datuk Mizanur Rahman Ghani, council member of Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers
11. Wong Siew Wai, member of Media Specialists Association committee
12. Datuk Eric Tai, deputy treasurer of Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA)
13. Terence Wong, youth secretary of Federation of Malaysia Chinese Guilds Association (FEMACGA)
14. Lynn Dhia, member of Malaysian Advertisers Association
15. Selvarany Rasiah, chief commercial officer of Bursa Malaysia
16. Rizal Abdul Rahman, honorary secretary and youth council chairman of Kuala Lumpur Malay Chamber of Commerce (KLMCC)
17. Karthi Palanisamy, committee member of Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Malaysia (4As)
18. Datuk Billy Goh, honorary treasurer of Malaysia Entrepreneurs’ Development Association (PUMM)