After almost three decades in the retail industry, The Mall Group believes it is time to start recruiting new leaders to bring fresh ideas to the business.
A succession plan is a key strategic goal for the next five years along with store renovation and expansion, both online and offline.
"We now have 100 founders at The Mall Group at an average age of 48-50. We need young blood to join our team to make our retail stores up-to-date and timeless," said Supaluck Umpujh, the group's vice-chairman.
There are only seven people from the Umpujh family's second generation and nine nephews and nieces from the third generation, compared to its arch-rival Central Group that has 24 members in the second generation and 170 in the third and fourth generations.
There are 500-600 mid- to high-level managers. The company needs to develop two successors for each management position and four to six successors for Ms Supaluck alone.
Ms Supaluck, 55, said the company started finding successors two years ago and will complete its process within the next three years. Successors will come both internally and externally, depending on their capability.
She emphasised the group doesn't need to be listed on the stock market.
"Moving faster than our capability is not our way of doing business. It doesn't mean that competitors who are faster will win the game. We have to be concerned about our bottom line and the capability of our tenants. If they fail, it will become a domino effect," Ms Supaluck said.
Though Central Group has expanded its business overseas for years, Ms Supaluck said she wants to strengthen its business locally as a priority.
"I also see opportunity overseas but we have to be cautious in our investment. If a successor is not ready, we may fail. For me it is not necessary to become No 1 in the retail market. We just want to become the market leader in each location we enter. We need to expand our business sustainably," Ms Supaluck said.
Normally, The Mall will open one outlet every two to three years after it is confident its existing stores have a strong foothold even if new players crop up.
The company expects 6% revenue growth to 50-60 billion baht by 2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment