Written by Dr. Rod Allan
Head, Postgraduate & Research Centre
The Executive Chairman of KDU University College, Dato’ Teo Chiang Quan (pic), spent an evening with the MBA class, sharing his personal experiences in business, as well as his reflections and thoughts on Jim Collins’ bestselling book ‘Good to Great’, a book admired for its well-placed, but sometimes rather surprising, insights.
Head, Postgraduate & Research Centre
The Executive Chairman of KDU University College, Dato’ Teo Chiang Quan (pic), spent an evening with the MBA class, sharing his personal experiences in business, as well as his reflections and thoughts on Jim Collins’ bestselling book ‘Good to Great’, a book admired for its well-placed, but sometimes rather surprising, insights.To clarify his personal position on the companies under his care, Dato’ Teo offered some opening remarks:
1. Paramount Berhad, of which Dato’ Teo is the Executive Deputy Chairman, is not a great company as described by Jim Collins; and Paramount’s businesses are not exactly grounded on Collins’ principles.
2. In matters of Paramount, or any of its subsidiaries, there is no single act, event or decision that can be ascribed as a ‘breakthrough’ as described in the context of the book. Instead, he asserts that the growth of his firms is attributed to a long chain of improvements and accumulated gains from past business decisions.
3. People are not the most important asset in an organization; it’s the ‘Right People’ who are.
Then, he got the audience to reflect on the idea that “good is the enemy of great” and why some companies make the leap and others don’t. Next, he presented the schema of the ‘Black Box’; the secret of these high performing businesses.
Then, he got the audience to reflect on the idea that “good is the enemy of great” and why some companies make the leap and others don’t. Next, he presented the schema of the ‘Black Box’; the secret of these high performing businesses.
