'Brainstorming is one of our favourite techniques when we work on our future plans twice a year," says Thanong Chotisorayuth, managing director of Se-Education Public Company Limited. "Our mission is clear. We are aiming to improve Thailand's education, with every breath we take, since we are in the publication and knowledge business.
"Balancing personal ideology and business reality is necessary," he adds. "I went through this phenomenon during the first five years of our operations. Experience taught me well to balance properly among three main factors: customer expectations, our employees who should be happy, and investors who will receive reasonable returns in order to further invest and expand the business."
Driving on human capital: With his own dream to encourage self-learning among technology knowledge seekers, Mr Thanong founded Se-Ed 36 years ago with his senior colleagues from the same engineering school where he was also involved in an extracurricular electronics club. For this reason, technology publications have always been at the heart of Se-Ed's extensive product lines.
"We are not only in the business of publishing books and magazines, we also distribute books to our own stores and partner shops through our own distribution network," explains Mr Thanong. "Efficiency of internal communication and logistics are the key success factors. At this moment, no matter where our customers are in Thailand, they can order a book and pick it up at the branch they select on the next day."
Human capital is the key area on which Mr Thanong concentrates. In fact, Se-Ed's HR department has access to any department in order to ensure that all employees are happy with their work.
"We are working on an 'A3 project'," he says. "By encouraging our employees to propose different ways of business improvement, we challenge them to propose how to shorten a particular job, make it clearer to others, and in a way that can also be measured. All of these have to be elaborated on in a short format no longer than one page of A3 paper. Engaging employees is always the practice around here."
Innovative market analysis: As a normal practice, Mr Thanong is one of a few corporate leaders who elaborates extensively and discusses in depth how he considers and analyses issues, based on solid data and fact. By sharing his views regularly, he creates effective internal communication and a listening culture that is important in the knowledge business.
"Upon analysing the industry, we decided to compete on all three fronts - publishing, distribution and retailing. Generally speaking, due to the differences in their characteristics, it is not a common practice that any publisher will handle all three areas. This unique approach helps us to enjoy steady high growth while enhancing our competitive advantages," said Mr Thanong.
The publishing business, in his view, is like a single-elimination tournament. Either the book can be sold or it does not move, which means you have to stop selling that particular title. Information-based decision making is his typical and necessary practice. Mr Thanong consistently uses a measurement index - such as an accuracy index - to gauge the success of each title, and a stability index - how long a title will last - to support his decision.
Leading with his own style: A true believer in the self-sufficient economy, Mr Thanong himself is a frugal executive with a consultative style as his dominant style of leadership, since he always engages his team on various issues and aims for business results at the same time.
Although he has innovated a number of technology applications for use at Se-Ed, he does not always jump to try the newest hardware or software on the market. Smartphones are not his choice. His 10-year old digital watch has served him as a practical tool for calculations and appointment records.
"Employee training plays a key role in our organisational development," he concludes. "As we have desired to tackle the effectiveness of education in Thailand, we start with ourselves by putting upfront three main focuses on our ideology - to have a long-lasting business, a proactive attitude with speed and, last but not least, no sense of losing face in the working environment. Subordinates can raise any concern to their direct boss without fear of making their superiors feel uncomfortable."
Sorayuth Vathanavisuth is a former chief executive of the Thailand Management Association. He is actively involved in executive coaching and leadership development. Ajarn Sorayuth can be reached atcoach@trainprofessional.com.
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