CPF sets corporate values

President and CEO Adirek Sripatak said that aggressive expansion has driven
the conglomerate to adopt a tighter corporate strategy.

With a huge
workforce in subsidiaries in 20 countries, it is inevitable that junior workers
and some middle-level executives of the company do not share the same business
concepts with the top executives led by Dhanin Chearava-nont, chairman of CP
Group.

“Top executives like us are close to Khun Dhanin as we talk a lot.
But others can feel quite isolated. We need a single set of values to ensure the
continuity of corporate success,” Adirek said told the English language Thai
newspaper The Nation.

The CPF Way
Named the “CPF Way” the
program was drawn up to promote young management talent to learn about the
organisation’s culture via an exchange of views with top executives more
often.

It concentrates on six key practices:

• receptivity to change,
• personal mastery and shared learning,

• innovation,
• integrity and honesty,
• achievement orientation, and
• returns to Mother Earth.

Adirek believes that the
strategy – based on international practices – will drive the company from an
original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to a global brand manufacturer.

In
particular, the plan aims to change the mindset of its employees to concentrate
more on brand building, consumer needs and retail business channels.

The
“CPF Way” should support the company’s plan to achieve sustainable growth amid
fierce competition. The company plans to reach annual sales of Bt200 billion (€
4.35 billion) in the next three years. It reported total sales of Bt125 billion
(€ 2.72b) last year.

Knowledge transfer
Knowledge
transfer is a main focus, given that some executives have worked for the company
for 40 years while the company never stops recruiting new employees in response
to its global expansion.

One day every month there is a session where 10
selected employees, aged 39-45 years, present their ideas to improve their
respective areas to Dhanin and other top executives.

The recorded
presentation is also stored in the in-house electronic system so that other
employees are informed of the same issues. Next time, it could be their chance
to present their views.

“Accumulated experiences will lead them to the
right decisions and avoid mismanagement,” Adirek said.

More local
management
So far, CPF has promoted its Thai executives to lead newly
opened overseas units. Now, when the locals in respective countries are
subsequently promoted, Thai executives will be dispatched to somewhere
else.

Talented young executives will be trained in appropriate courses to
become effective leaders and an important engine to drive the company’s business
in the future.

The training programmes are written after visits to many
multinational companies such as GE and Boeing.

Their human-resource development schemes have become CPF’s
platform to stand for good practices from the West. But Thai management culture
is mingled to complete the training programmes of CPF.