theceomagazine.com | 71The CEO Magazine: What is it like
working with a European company
and trying to make the business model
work in Asia?
Albert: The traditional mindset of a
European company is to design and build
something in Europe and then sell it around
the world. We all knew that was not going
to work in the long run because we
never received proper feedback from Asian
customers, such as what do they need,
is it relevant, or have they overdone the
certification? This is probably why some
of the staff from Europe came out to Asia.
In the past, there was also a distinct
difference between the European
technologies compared with their Asian
counterparts. But over the years, you can
see that the Asian manufacturers are also
learning very quickly and becoming more
competitive. Of course, the technology is still
not up to European standards, but the gap is
certainly narrowing.
It’s only a matter of time before Asian
manufacturers will be at a level very close to
the European equivalent. The gap is much
closer now compared with 10–20 years ago.
You mentioned that you’re a keen
badminton player. How has that helped
your approach to business?
It doesn’t matter who the other person is
when you’re playing a game. They can be the
CEO of a company or they could be a taxi
driver. It doesn’t matter. It has encouraged
me to build friendships with a lot of people
regardless of their background. Sport has
in a way shaped how I behave not only in
business management but as a person too.
When you’re in competitive sports, it
helps in developing your determination,
having an objective and forming a good
strategy. When you play a competitive game,
you need to do certain things in order to
win. You need to train, you need to be cool
under pressure, as well as have other crucial
attributes that are more or less helpful in
fostering leadership.How have you coordinated your
strategy in running all of Liebherr
Singapore’s seven divisions?
Because each division operates in its own
specialty industry and requires unique
knowledge, it’s impossible for me to know
every field, which is why I have general
managers for each of those divisions. For me,
it’s more about supporting them, and thenmaking sure the kinks are ironed out with
regards to the policies, strategies and
execution. Of all the divisions, I’m more
direct and hands-on with the Tower Cranes
and Mobile Cranes divisions, as that’s where
my background lies.
On top of that, the geographical coverage
of our divisions is also different. For example,
Aerospace and Appliances cover Asia–Pacific.
The Mobile Cranes Division also covers
Central Asia. Maritime and Earthmoving
are in South East Asia. Then there are
Liebherr’s sister companies in the region.
We have Liebherr in Thailand, Malaysia,
and China, to name a few, and we work
with them as well. It’s quite complex.How do you untangle all these
complexities across all those divisions?
First, one of the advantages I have for this
job is having been with the organisation
for a very long time. It’s been 22 years
now, and I worked my way up. Liebherr
is a family-owned company. It’s not like
one of those hot American companies
that hires and fires. You can go step by »“ Support is more than just giving orders and saying, ‘Okay,
we should do this and that.’ Support only comes because
you’ve been in the system for a long time.”
“Having Liebherr as one of
our strategic partners is truly
a great honour. By offering
Liebherr’s customers SMFL’s
leasing expertise and global
network, we are very excited to
forge ahead with a long-lasting
partnership with Liebherr in
Asia and beyond.” – Minami
Aida, Senior Managing
Director, Sumitomo Mitsui
Finance and Leasing Co., LtdInterview | INSPIRE